How do you organize?

  1. TTT
    TTT
    I’ve got several songs, we’re starting to get into chords and notation in my beginners class.
    I’m about to run out for a three-ring binder and start copying pages from the book to mark up.
    But I’m wondering how other people organize their materials, if there’s a system you like?
  2. Sue Rieter
    Sue Rieter
    Organize? What's organize? (shuffling through different piles and folders)

    I'll answer my own question: Something I really need to do
  3. Southern Man
    Southern Man
    I have a three ring binder. And also a folder. And a couple of books. And some random sheets scattered about.

    If I am taking a course, I do try to keep everything together, usually in the 3-ring.
  4. iaindr
    iaindr
    I have a clamp binder (no holes), which is great for quickly removing or shuffling the order of sheets. Feels more like organised chaos, which suits me just fine. Also thinking of trying PDF copies on my iPad - pros and cons anyone?
  5. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    Alphabetically in a folder on my computer in tabledit format. There is presumably a better way. But my computer is in my den/office/cave and that is where I practice, so the computer is fine for me.
  6. Stacey Morris
    Stacey Morris
    I went to the same organizational school that Sue did. My Dad used to say I was a pilot -- pile it here, pile it there...
  7. Sue Rieter
    Sue Rieter
    So, SOMorris, being a mandolin player now, that would make one a pilot with an instrument rating
    (I like that expression of your Dad's)
  8. Louise NM
    Louise NM
    Oh, you people. "A" folder? One binder? A few books?

    I have stacks of books. Four stacks I can think of, but there are surely more books running around loose. (Mel Bay's sales are really great!) I think I have six plastic pocket folders of mandolin music: the black one has material from the online course I'm taking; purple is later baroque era, orange is early baroque and renaissance; light blue has Bach on one side and Celtic & trad tunes on the other; dark blue for contemporary composers; dark green holds some really handy etudes and Rudy Cipolla pieces. (OK, so I spent too much time cruising IMSLP and printing out stuff during lockdown.) Three-ring binders? Yup. One has the trios I'm playing with friends, arranged by composer. Another has the stuff for the contradance band, separated in to sections for jigs, reels, waltzes, and other, then alphabetized by the name of the first tune in the set. Another has a couple of old method books I downloaded. Oh, and there's one more with a ton of Celtic and old-time tunes in alto clef for mandola.

    To answer your question, TTT, I think I would go with a folder for the class materials. A three-ring binder is great when you want to keep pages in strict order, or have a ton of pages you need to impose order upon. A folder makes it easier to just grab a couple things in random order.
  9. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    I have these 3-ring binders:

    Practice Book - anything I'm currently working on.
    Christmas
    Wohlfahrt Studies
    Music - first position w/chords, first position w/o/chords, third position, waltzes, hymns
    Gig Book - music to potentially play & sing at a jam
    Chord Book - collection of chord shapes
    Jam Session Survival - Brad Laird's book, plus some music I can actually play & sing at jams
    Other Musician Tunes - collection of (mostly) chord sheets for songs other musicians have played at jams
    Misc - Brad Laird's "Mandolin Instruction Course," Mandolin Cafe (mostly how-to printouts, Brad Laird's "Mandolin Master Class," & Pete Martin's "Creating and Using Double Stops"
  10. Sue Rieter
    Sue Rieter
    Nine binders, wow. I bet you don't have too many loose music papers hanging around either, Sherry. I feel like being an accountant gives you an edge on organization. I'm working closely with our town treasurer on a project right now, and her organizational skills are amazing.
  11. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    My husband once said if I spent as much time practicing as I do organizing, I would be amazing.
  12. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    My husband once said if I spent as much time practicing as I do organizing, I would be amazing.
  13. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    Sorry. Internet issues.
  14. NDO
    NDO
    Sue, instrument rating is my favorite post lately

    Sherry, I wish I was more organized. I keep a list of my memorized songs (35!) in Notes on my phone along with another list of 30 or 40 wannabes. I keep screen shots of chord and lyric sheets in notes also for about half of them but I try to play them all often enough that I don’t refer to them… most of the chord sheets are for wannabes or ones I have recently learned.

    I do have a big stack of chord and lyrics sheets I copied from my bandmate, probably a hundred great songs or so. They’re alphabetized by title and stuck in a folder. My daughter borrowed and misplaced them for a few months but I have them back now so I’m trying to decide whether to use the clip, hole punch, file-by-pile, or random association method of using them
  15. Sue Rieter
    Sue Rieter
    Also, when you have multiple different instruments (mandolins, mandola, octophone, banjo mandolin ...), it presents additional organization challenges. You need the added IFR rating (Instrument Filing Rules)
  16. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    Good one, Sue!
  17. Stacey Morris
    Stacey Morris
    I like that one also, Sue, along with the "Instrument Rating." I actually have one of those.
  18. Sue Rieter
    Sue Rieter
    Heh heh, so do i. Also a float plane rating.

    (I haven't been out flying in a long time, though)
  19. Louise NM
    Louise NM
    I think I need to call my friend. He has long talked about designing and building a piece of furniture called a "piling cabinet," designed to accommodate, well, various sizes of piles. There's a sizable market for it!
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