Hey guys! This forum has been such a tremendous help to me through the audition season, and although it was a long journey to get here, I feel very happy and content with my decision! I’m so so glad that I ended up being able to major in musical theatre, and seeing my schedule is just making me more and more excited for classes to start.
As I’m packing to start college in just a few weeks, I ran into the problem of what to do about sheet music! On my schedule, I have both individual lessons and studio lessons, which I’m sure is normal for most MT students. I’m just not sure how much sheet music to bring… If anyone on here has experienced this, I would love your insight!
Bare minimum, I assume (please correct me if this isn’t the case) that I would bring my whole rep binder, with all the songs that I know in it. Other than that, I’m not sure what I’ll need! Would other sheet music books that I already have be helpful or even necessary?
Any music my D needed for lessons etc was provided by her instructors. They also had a huge library of music. If there was something my D needed from home for any reason, I scanned it as a pdf and sent it. A lot of students make their music into pdf’s so they can print off whatever they need and have their own library on their computer.
Apologies for the grammar/spelling/typos. I know at CCPA Roosevelt there is a very extensive collection of sheet music as well as music itself, which my son discovered almost as soon as he moved in. I imagine it’s the same at other programs. (At CCPA you are also within a block of the performing arts library at Harold Washington Library.) And also, as others have pointed out, sheet music is very easy to mail or email if you need it. I wouldn’t go overboard.
I teach in a Musical Theatre program. Like others have said, the music library is likely to have an extensive collection, and teachers are also likely to have extensive personal collections.
It is also quite easy to purchase sheet music off musicnotes, and other sites… including directly from the composers.
I agree with others not to go overboard, and would suggest bringing your current repertory book, and other music that you think you may want to work this fall in hard copy form. Consider scanning any other sheet music you may own and saving it online (something like Google docs), or to a flash drive. That way you will not be dependent on contacting others when you want access to the music you own, but you will not have too much music taking up physical space in your dorm room.
If you plan to participate in vocal competitions, like NATS (some musical theatre programs are more involved with these than others) you will need the original purchased versions of your music, so hold on to purchased originals in a place where they are accessible.
My d’s experience in her first two years is in line with exactly what the posts above have said - she left almost all of her sheet music at home, other than her rep book, and has procured what she has needed from online purchases or copies from various sources at school. Scanning in music and then uploading it to an online repository like Google Docs is a great idea if you have a large personal library that you want to be able to access instantly.
I really like @EmsDad suggestion. I try to get my kids to scan and save all their music online but they fight me - then they lose it in their right key - then I have to re-buy in musicnotes!
I suggest what others have said: Just take your “go to” songs that you would typically have in your binder, and put the rest in Google Docs. Having it in Google Docs will mean that you’ll have your music at your fingertips anywhere and you can print it as you need it. One time my kid had an unexpected opportunity to audition while on a fun trip to NYC, and was quickly able to go to Staples and access the needed sheet music via one of their computers and print it right there.
Another tip: When you buy music from Music Notes (or elsewhere), when you go to print it, just save it as a PDF. It’s easy to do on a Mac and Safari; just look for the PDF toggle on the lower left side of the print screen and “Save as PDF.”