<p>My son's headed to the jazz program at Eastman. I'm gathering his supplies and wondering how college kids keep track of all that sheet music and other course work. He has classical theory, jazz theory, misc. jazz ensembles, probably a piano class, private classical bass lessons, orchestra and a writing seminar. Do kids put all that sheet music in binders? Can they punch holes in it? While we're on the subject, is it handed out or does he have to buy it? Thanks for any info!</p>
<p>Normally any ensemble music will be loaned by the school to the student for free. It will normally come in a folder for that particular group (whether the group is orchestra, jazz band, etc.). Some smaller ensembles (i.e. combos) might keep their music in binders. Orchestral music is usually not holepunched or placed in binders.</p>
<p>Most private instructors will expect students to purchase most of the music they learn for lessons, although some might hand out copies of certain exercises or etudes for free. Most of the private instructors will leave it to the student as to how they choose to organize their music, although a few may have systems that they impose on the students. For many instruments, much of the music that students learn in their private lessons does not lend itself well to holepunching (i.e. 300-page volumes of Beethoven sonatas), but it wouldn’t hurt to send a duotang along in case your son starts getting lots of single-paged sheets from his private instructor. </p>
<p>Piano classes vary: some have the students do most of their work out of one or two books. Other instructors like to hand out single sheets on a regular basis (duotang or small binder would be helpful here).</p>
<p>As for theory classes and other academic classes, it is almost always left to the student as to how to organize their notes, handouts, exercises, and assignments. Holepunching is typical here. If binders or duotangs worked well in high school for organizing these types of things, then continuing with them is probably wise. My observation is that most students successfully organize their academic work in a single binder with some dividers; if one has multiple binders, it is too cumbersome to carry them all around and it is too easy to grab the wrong binder and mix them up.</p>
<p>I would not get too many organizing type supplies. Do a starter set and let him figure out the best way when he gets there. There are too many unknowns and each school is different. Many like to get supplies with the school name on them, too.</p>
<p>Agreed about not getting too much ahead of time. At Eastman, ensembles receive their loaned music in folders and they have to return all the parts at the end of the semester. For lessons, combos, my S has used a couple of options.</p>
<p>We bought clear page protectors (the ones that open on the top are better than the ones that open top & right side) and he put them in a binder. That way, you don’t punch holes through info you might need. You can put sheet music in there and as a jazz major, he’ll have a lot of lose sheets of music. S was also big on photocopying things from books (which he purchased) and including them in his binder rather than carrying the whole book. </p>
<p>S periodically makes his own binder of songs he wants to work on. Everything is printed/photocopied (he purchases the music whenever available but works with the copies). Then he used a punch binder with laminated sheets of card stock as the cover. This will fit easily in his backpack, the laminate protects the edges somewhat, and it’s not as bulky as a 3-ring binder. This time he even put blank pages of music paper in the back for spur of the moment inspiration.</p>
<p>My son took two file drawers with him as a freshman. They were regular file size drawers and could be taken apart so they could be side by side or stacked on top of one another (bought at Staples…don’t know if they even make them anymore). He put them on the floor of his closet side by side…with shoes on the top (guys don’t own LONG clothes). His personall music was filed in these in hanging folders. </p>
<p>Music from the school for ensembles was in black folders provided by the school…and needed to be returned too.</p>
<p>Not knowing the floor space issue, D packed an “underbed container” full of her music. I printed up two sheets of labels with her name and contact info and she packed the thing full. On the topic of binders, she emptied out past binders and packed five that she already had. I will now no longer need the three hole punch so she packed that, too.</p>
<p>not sure how this will work out in a dorm room, but, here at home, we have a rattan basket (with squared off base, not curved). It’s about 10" wide, 11" tall, and 16" long from front to back. The top is open. The music stands upright. I added sturdy plastic dividers that are taller than the music, labeled A-Z. (I used cheap flexible kitchen cutting boards, but lots of things would work). Music is stored alphabetically, by composer. Books that are a compilation are in the front. </p>
<p>We like this as the titles can be read straight on, rather than turning our head sideways as we’d have to do with a traditional file drawer. It’s like the way records or music is displayed in stores, so it seemed familiar and workable to us.</p>
<p>The system has easy growth potential; when/if a particular letter has too much to make it easy to find what she’s looking for, she can split it up by composer name (ie, add additional plastic dividers). When the basket fills up, we can add additional baskets, and label the front of them if necessary. Depending on where she’s living, we can get baskets that are the right depth, color, style, etc. to fit on a shelf, or under the bed, etc.</p>