Sheet Music Solutions for MS Choirs

[nafmeadmin]

Hi all,

I’m taking over a middle school choral program in the Fall, and am trying to decide how best to handle giving the kids the music. I have multiple sections of each grade-level choir, and don’t have enough octavos to give each kid their own copy. In another gig, I had enough folders for one class with copies of music corresponding to the number I owned, and each folder was shared by 1 kid in each class. This wasn’t bad, but I was replacing copies a fair amount, and because of the sharing I couldn’t hold anyone responsible for the music getting destroyed.

So, does anyone have a tried-and-true method for use of sheet music with middle school choirs that have multiple sections? I’m all ears 🙂

-Matt

[nafmeadmin]

With my elementary choir this year I invested in some plastic portfolios and plastic sheet covers. Put copies of music in each sheet protector (front and back) and then put them into the portfolios in the concert order. Portfolios were from Staples; black with concealed fasteners. I thought of doing this a few weeks before the concert when I was at my wit’s end with stapling music into paper folders. I didn’t bother telling the kids that the pieces were already in concert order; we naturally rehearsed them in varying orders. That worked very well; papers never came out. The plastic sheet covers I found at BJ’s Wholesale Club: a box of 200 for about $10!! I would give the kids all of the concert pieces at once. During down moments you can tell them to read a new piece. With these you could write in permanent marker a folder # on the cover. It’s not difficult to change out music. Good luck!!

[nafmeadmin]

I buy enough copies for ALL of my students to abide by copyright law, but they stay in the filing cabinet. I then I make photocopies that the students can write on them with pencil and colored pencils. They keep that music in 3-ring binders that they keep in my room in a folder cabinet. Then I recycle any copies that students don’t want to hold on to at the end of the semester or year. If a kid rips a piece of music, it’s okay – I have a few extras on hand, and it doesn’t mean I have to get all crazy on them. I want kids to be able to take their music home if they want, and I know that if I let them walk out with the actual octavos, I’d be spending a lot on replacements every year, which my budget simply can’t afford. (By the way, when we do All County, etc., those kids do get actual octavos, so some kids in my groups do learn how to deal with caring for music in a responsible way…. I just don’t do that with most of my students.)

[nafmeadmin]

I’m in a new school (see frantic post). The director before me somehow put all the music on a screen using an LCD projector. Must have scanned it? So the kids didn’t even have the music. What do you think about this? Not sure what I should do.

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