<p>A question for parents who have already had the experience of sending their children off to conservatory/college to study music. How much of their own personal library should the students bring with them their first year, and what is the attitude about xeroxed music for practice purposes? It worries me a bit sending everything, yet it's hard to know what they will need or miss if they leave collections of music at home. I picture important volumes being left in practice rooms, etc.</p>
<p>Less is more, like much of packing for college. 
Scale books, etudes, a couple of current pieces should be fine to start with - just make sure you work with you child on the home storage system so you have an idea where to look when they call in a panic and need “the X concerto” right away! (And the teacher will probably want you to order some new materials online anyway.)</p>
<p>In high school, especially for summer programs, I photocopied almost everything, but now the key thing seems to be to have the student’s name clearly marked on the music.</p>
<p>My daughter takes a plastic file folder sized ton of sheet music, the kind you can buy at Staples, although if she were flying and not driving to school she would probably take less. Lately I have been scanning the music she requests me to send and emailing PDFs for her to print. Then we both have a digital copy for future emergencies. Also: her school has a good library and sheet music store, so if she needs a new piece she can acquire it very quickly.</p>
<p>The perils of posting on a phone-- I mean tub, not ton.</p>
<p>Thank you for the suggestions. Love the file folder idea. We’re flying, but copying makes lots of sense. Thanks all!</p>
<p>If your child’s school has a decent music library (and most of the conservatory schools do), he or she should be able to get copies of almost everything they need from there. They may have to ask for a librarian’s help (gasp!) but except for music they use for their own daily practice and want available immediately they should be able to get practice, ensemble and class related scores from the library. S is bringing some of his etude books and new, fresh copies of his Bb Real Books, but that’s about it.</p>
<p>My son’s applied music professor posts what is required for each level (freshman, sophomore, etc) on his studio website. The first year my son had a couple of the books already, the remainder I purchased online for less than a hundred bucks. The first day of private lessons my son brought all the books except for a couple to class, apparently that was the correct answer, the professor checked his books against the list and then scolded him for not being prepaired (not bringing the other two).</p>
<p>Outside of that list, nothing was expected or needed. This year my son was able to leave about half of those first year books at home and needed four new ones, and it will continue that way for the next two years.</p>
<p>His applied music professor also provided an “audition manual” which contained about 100 pieces of music in printable PDF form that are commonly used for audition pieces, a practice manual in pdf form (basically like a sylubus thats takes 8 semesters to complete, with week by week assignments), and he required the purchase of his own version of a musicians daily practice book (kind of a combination of a day planner calendar with space for both student and teacher notes and places to keep a log of practice hours.</p>
<p>For ensembles and other classes, all materials were provided or were in the textbooks.</p>
<p>Like another poster said, just bring the minimum that is required, they really won’t have much time for anything else.</p>
<p>Have him take what he needs for immediate use. School music libraries should have anything that might need in a hurry. That’s what I did with my D when she went, and then she decided that she wanted quite a bit more of what she’d left at home. Luckily, her opera scores, anthologies and everything else fit neatly into a couple of those “one price” shipping boxes from the Post Office. I’m pretty sure that was a major contributor to the negative bottom line of the PO, because those boxes were really, really heavy, but each cost around $12 to send!!</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for responding! The flat rate idea box is a keeper - looks like they still offer those. Yay!</p>
<p>Note that Media Rate for printed materials, cds, and dvds is cheaper than the Flat Rate boxes. However, there is no tracking and it takes up to two weeks. I’ve worked in publishing for decades and that is how we ship everything. Including the box waiting to go to Bard filled with a huge number of study scores. (The music library at Bard is the one negative about the school, as far as I’m concerned. I envy Juilliard’s library and music store!)</p>
<p>SpiritManager, are you ever nervous that the scores will be lost in the mail? We’ve had some USPS packages go astray over the past couple of years. And, scanning oversized scores is probably impractical. :(</p>
<p>Yes, I am always worried about things getting lost in the mail - which is why the tracking for Priority Mail may be worth the money for some packages. But we’ve shipped scores back and forth now for many years without a problem. The worst was when it took two months to get a shipment from the UK (the BEST place to order contemporary scores - but SLOW.)</p>
<p>And, yes, we have quite an investment in scores - but they’re essential textbooks for my son. Which is why he carts them back and forth for the breaks.</p>
<p>When I send something important via the flat rate, Priority boxes, like I did today, I consider it well worth it to pay the extra 60cents for tracking. You would be amazed at how much music you can pack into those boxes!</p>
<p>I’ve had a couple of bad experiences with packages that I paid to track, but that got lost (both times they were applications with deadlines!) Tracking showed that the package was picked up and in transit, but the package could not be located. Both times we resent the entire application by FedEx…and the original one was eventually delivered, but weeks later. Once, my sister sent me a package. Tracking showed that it was “delivered” but it disappeared. Arrived on my doorstep two years later, looking as if it had been chewed by dogs. So that’s why I try to scan sheet music (if it has irreplaceable notations) before mailing.</p>
<p>D3 is currently waiting for her bed linens to be delivered to her new apartment. Apparently FedEx can’t find the giant 24 story apartment complex in the middle of 1-2 story buildings and a park…</p>
<p>Meanwhile, any recommendations for something to store large quantities of sheet music? We’ve got an old-fashioned music cabinet that’s full up, several boxes in the basement, and piles of music overflowing the shelves in the living room and family room. I’d like to find something other than yet another cardboard box. (Many of these are that awkward slightly oversized paper.)</p>