Dear All Piano People,

I have been playing the piano since 2000 and since then I have amassed a very large collection of sheet music. Most of it I have never played. In fact, I have enough sheet music to be able to practise for the rest of my life and never run short! I just seem to see sheet music in the shops and if it takes my fancy and I can afford it, I buy it. Has anyone else brought alot of sheet music? Maybe I should start a 12-step group for recovering music addicts!

One day at a time.....

Shelton

Can I join?!

Im addicted, i can't stop!

i believe an addiction is forming. perhaps i can nip it in the bud?

Yes I have a serious problem with this. I've even had to have a unit built for the whole side of my music room just to house it, and it's still spilled over into the garage, loft, kitchen.

I have more music than I will ever be able to play in my lifetime and yet I still buy more.

I did think about selling a load on EBay. Did sell some but just can't seem to part with any more. Guaranteed that if I get rid of it, I'll need it the next day....so....I'll just have to buy a new house just for my music

Shelton,
most musicians buy and collect large amounts of sheet music over the years, so you are not alone in that. One thing that you said that would concern me a bit was that you keep buying loads of (new) books that you dont even play. That seems to imply that you may be addicted to buying and spending money rather than the actual music itself. Could it be a case of comfort spending? You know, addicted to that pleasant feeling when we buy something new? The same feeling when unwrapping a present. Some people are addicted to that sensation in the same way that others are addicted to say chocolate.
Maybe you are just keen to build up a decent collection at the moment? No harm in that as it is nice to have a reference Library especially if you are a teacher.
I am exactly the same and have hundreds of piano music books in my collection. Luckily, a lot of them were bought from second-hand bookstores so they didn't cost too much money. I recently started to catalogue all my old Examination books/Progressive Pieces etc in the hope that I would be able to find pieces quickly whenever I needed them for a pupil. At last count I was up to 474 pieces catalogued and still have loads and loads of other things to do like Compendium books and Pop and Jazz stuff etc as well as a whole load of music in the shed.
Recently, I started playing the violin and I have already collected about 50 books. I was lucky here again though because I went to a local second-hand bookstore a couple of weeks ago and ended up buying 22 books for £20...what a bargain! I am slowly playing through all the books and also recording all the piano accompaniments so it has been money well spent.
I would say that at some time or another I have played about 95% of the music in my collection, even just having a go at sight reading a lot of the pieces. At first I thought I might have been a bit over the top with the violin books that I've been buying but I'm making good use of them and over the next few weeks/months hope to get through pretty much all of them.

Gae

P.S. The wonderful Violin books I got second-hand were:-

Hours of Pleasure for the Violin Book 1 (Augener)
A Collection of Graded Pieces for Violin and Pianoforte Grade 5 (AB)
Compositions & Arrangements for Violin & Pianoforte Minuet in G (Richard Jones) (AB)
Compositions & Arrangements for Violin & Pianoforte Adagio in B minor (Handel) (AB)
Nine short pieces for Violin & Piano (Reginald Redman) (Augener)
Violin Examinations Grade 1 Lists A & B 1955 (AB)
Violin Examinations Grade II Lists A & B 1955 (AB)
Violin Examinations Grade III Lists A & B 1957 & 1958 (AB)
Violin Examinations Grade II Lists A & B 1955 & 1956 (AB)
Violin Examinations Grade IV Lists A & B 1961 & 1962 (AB)
Miniature Pieces Violin and Piano Arthur Somervell (Berners Edition)
Fiddler's Choice Grade III (AB)
The Second Year Violin Method Piano Accompaniment (Eta Cohen)
Suzuki Violin School Violin Part Vol.1
Elementary Progressive Studies for Violin First Set (Herbert Kinsey) (AB)
Elementary Progressive Studies for Violin Third Set (Herbert Kinsey) (AB)
A Tune a Day Book Three
Old Fiddle Pieces (Ist position) A. Moffat
Violin Sight Reading Pieces Book I (AB)
Old Masters for Young Players Book II (A. Moffat)
Old Masters for Young Players Book III (A. Moffat)
Handel Violin Sonatas IV-VI Violin and Piano (Novello Edition)

Dont worry...I "cut & paste" the list!!!

I have tons of music too - I think i have nearly every beginner book and repertoire pieces for clarinet! Plus sax, piano, flute, recorder music - need I go on?!

Yes we have amassed a sizeable collection of music - piano, violin, cello, flute, recorder, hymn arrangements.....,haven't found a decent way of organising it so everyone can find what they need - tend to end up with little piles of it dotted all over the room.
Any ideas - I thought everyone could have their own music together but too much overlap between what everyone's playing. ?organise by instrument - mine gets muddled up with everyone else's (I'm quite possessive about my flute music!). Or one big pile so that the kids yell "I can't find my music"!

QUOTE (Gae @ Apr 5 2005, 09:39 PM)

At last count I was up to 474 pieces catalogued and still have a load more books left to do.

I was just thinking last weekend that I need some sort of filing system for all my music books. At the start of the year I am quite organised , but by half term I have books all over the house. Some of the accompaniments I played for March exams are STILL in the car.
Surprisingly, I can usually find what I need - until I tidy up!

It's very frightening to learn just how much it would cost to replace sheet music or even re-acquire deleted OUP music.

To replace Beethoven's clothback sonatas in 3 vols would be 75 quid.

Most of my music is for my students. I supply all their music (included in the price of the lesson). I also have a good filing system. I use those magazine 'boxes'. A bit like this

Each 'file' is labelled, 'aural', 'piano time', exam 2005 etc. I have about 50 off these files now, kept in alphabetical order. It sure makes for easier tidying up and finding things. I store them on shelves all along the wall. It's easy to get books out and put them away.

I keep SR books in a suspended filing cabinet right by the piano...sorted into grades. 90% of the time I can find what I want and get it out within seconds. The other 10% of the times it's music that I rarely use and I don't have filed. It works really well.

Everything is catalogued though on excel, though I'm not quite so good at keeping that up to date.

Yeah.. join the club, I have a whole three deep-shelved bookcase full! (If that makes sense! ) About 300 books I think. I love buying music, however it's a shame I don't get to play as much as I'd like.

Why not collect music, people collect dolls, books, stamps etc! Go for it

Joy

QUOTE (noodle @ Apr 5 2005, 11:07 PM)

At the start of the year I am quite organised , but by half term I have books all over the house.  Some of the accompaniments I played for March exams are STILL in the car. Surprisingly, I can usually find what I need - until I tidy up!

This sounds just like me. At the beginning of every term I say to myself I will put away all the music that's accumulated in piles around the music room, and sometimes I manage it.

My students get used to me saying 'I've got just the piece you want, now where did I put it?' and then scrabbling through piles of stuff on top of the piano, on the table or in the 'to be filed' box. I try and keep the sightreading and aural books together in a magazine folder so I can get at them easily, and I've just started another one for the duet books I often use in lessons.

I do have some nice fitted cupboards for my music, but I can't get at them easily during a lesson.

To return to the original topic, I justify most of the money I spend on sheet music by needing to know the exam syllabus contents in order to guide the students to select the most suitable exam pieces. Fortunately with the flute most of the key repertoire is on one exam syllabus or another.

My grandmother played piano and so did my mum so i have inherited A LOT of music much of it is like 50 years old but still very much useable.

Beethoven's sonatas will NEVER go out of date!

Music is very expensive in zimbabwe, there is only one place to get it, that is at this lady's house which is far away. I go there every now and again (when im feeling bucksed up) and spend an absolute fortune. (She rips it as well because she knows shes the only place !!!)

You should come up here and visit 'Vintage Strings' - it's a second hand pinao / violin / viola etc shop run by very nice people. They obviously pick up a lot of old pianos from houses, and lots of them have those stools you can lift the lid up and put music in. It all goes into a big box that they let you rummage through - you can have anythnig that takes your fancy in return for a contribution to their charity collection box.

An adicts dream!!

I inherited a book of waltzes from my great-aunt which was published in 1922 - the typefaces are quite different but it's still useable

hey, all of you addicts can give your sheet music to me , i dont have much, i mainly print most of my music of the internet, but books would be nicer