I keep my sheet music in a 3-ring binder. Trying to turn pages smoothly is a challenge for me. I am working on adjusting my fingering just prior to turning the page. My question is this: Is there a type of binder that makes page turning easier (e.g. a different design on the rings themselves)? Thank you so much.
Page-Turning Question
- Thread starter Rizzo
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I often take sheets out of my binders and place them side by side to avoid this very situation. Sometimes I'll even copy the next page to do this, to enable a smoother transition between pages
But I have now transferred a good proportion of my sheet music to my Lenovo tablet, (pdf files) and my Daughter bought me a Lekato sheet turner pedal and it has transformed the way I use music
I bought the full version of 'Mobile Sheets' and turning pages is now as easy as just tapping the pedal once with my foot.
Might be worth considering.
But I have now transferred a good proportion of my sheet music to my Lenovo tablet, (pdf files) and my Daughter bought me a Lekato sheet turner pedal and it has transformed the way I use music
I bought the full version of 'Mobile Sheets' and turning pages is now as easy as just tapping the pedal once with my foot.
Might be worth considering.
Nobody I know uses binders anymore except for me. I love my binders, I guess Im a sentimental. All my colleagues now use tablets. I'm about to make the jump soon. Too many advantages to ignore, jajaja. The tablets are lightweight, smaller, brighter and easier to see, plus the unlimited capacity. You can have immediate back ups of all the music sheets, chords or lyrics. They even have programs to scan my hand written music, chords and notes. Technology in that department has improved a lot. Good luck.
I'm using an iPad Pro (12.9" diagonal) together with Bluetooth BT-200 pedals to turn pages. Personally, I think an animated MIDI score would be ideal (think "follow the bouncing ball.") But I already had a lot of paper music with annotations, and I'm not such a skilled player that I could reliably convert it to MIDI in one take. So in the Apple store I found the program Newzik which allows you to scan or photograph scores and import them into the program.
The iPad Pro works great with the Apple Pencil, and the Newzik program also allows you to place virtual annotations on the digital score in "layers," such that they could be turned off for other users, etc.
I've always struggled with jumps like "D.C. al Coda" etc. Those conventions were a necessary economizer for lengthy songs scored on paper. Newzik does allow "jumps" or shortcuts. However I usually just re-scan the relevant part of the score and place it in the sequence on the next page, etc. Having a song that runs 11 or 12 pages is no problem on a tablet, and it's a LOT less to carry when I go on vacation, etc.
IMO a tablet and foot pedals are a no-brainer, but you should probably experiment with different apps and work-flow to find something that meets your needs. My $.02.
The iPad Pro works great with the Apple Pencil, and the Newzik program also allows you to place virtual annotations on the digital score in "layers," such that they could be turned off for other users, etc.
I've always struggled with jumps like "D.C. al Coda" etc. Those conventions were a necessary economizer for lengthy songs scored on paper. Newzik does allow "jumps" or shortcuts. However I usually just re-scan the relevant part of the score and place it in the sequence on the next page, etc. Having a song that runs 11 or 12 pages is no problem on a tablet, and it's a LOT less to carry when I go on vacation, etc.
IMO a tablet and foot pedals are a no-brainer, but you should probably experiment with different apps and work-flow to find something that meets your needs. My $.02.
Rayblewit
Love Music / Love Life
I use binders.
I put my music into plastic protective sleeves.
Just fold up the bottom right corner of the sleeve about 1" or so before you start playing.
When you play and get to the last bar or two, flip over the page at the corner fold. When doing a second run, flip it back.
4 ring binders give more stability than 3 or 2 ring. Flipping is easier with 4 rings.
R
I put my music into plastic protective sleeves.
Just fold up the bottom right corner of the sleeve about 1" or so before you start playing.
When you play and get to the last bar or two, flip over the page at the corner fold. When doing a second run, flip it back.
4 ring binders give more stability than 3 or 2 ring. Flipping is easier with 4 rings.
R
I also do sort of the same as Ray and store sheet music in four ring binders but do not use sleeves.
What I do if I have a song that covers four pages is to have pages 2 & 3 with the holes punched in them in the binder so they are both visible, then trim the first and forth down in width, attach P1 to P2 with tape and the same with P3 & P4. The trim allows P1 & P4 to be folded over and the binder closed. Open the pages to display all four sides of the song at the same time.
I'm in the process of switching to a tablet discussed in the recent tread: https://www.keyboardforums.com/threads/managing-sheet-music-app-for-ensemble.35419/
I've picked up an Apple iPad Pro 12.9" tablet and plan to purchase ForScore and a Butterfly Bluetooth page turning pedal. My only concern is that I sing with a sea shanty ensemble that busks outdoors much of the time, it could also be a concern for someone playing a keyboard outdoors as well. We're going to have our first off-book performance later this month, so if that goes well we'll probably only use the tablet indoors for rehearsals. We'll see.
I've picked up an Apple iPad Pro 12.9" tablet and plan to purchase ForScore and a Butterfly Bluetooth page turning pedal. My only concern is that I sing with a sea shanty ensemble that busks outdoors much of the time, it could also be a concern for someone playing a keyboard outdoors as well. We're going to have our first off-book performance later this month, so if that goes well we'll probably only use the tablet indoors for rehearsals. We'll see.
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I know. I'm old. I also use paper, but I must remove the sheets from the 4-inch 3-ring binder before playing. Scotch tape is also a necessity when the songs are multi-paged. 6-page songs are maintained as 2 3-pagers. One hits the floor when I must go to page 4. I have learned to put a small piece of tape on either side of pages 4-6, so they don't go to the floor also.
That being said, most of my fellow choir directors have moved to tablets. I have too many little handwritten notes on the 250+ hymns I've played over the last 30 years at the same church to move in that direction.
If nothing else, hope this was entertaining.
I don't play really long scores yet so typically only flip once per song. I put a sticky note on the back of page two near the bottom for a handle and find it works well.
My piano teacher taught me a "'cheat" as well. On the bottom of your current page, pencil in the melody notes and chord(s) for the first bar on the next page and you can be working on them as you flip.
My piano teacher taught me a "'cheat" as well. On the bottom of your current page, pencil in the melody notes and chord(s) for the first bar on the next page and you can be working on them as you flip.
Maybe set up a duet with this person:
en.wikipedia.org
Sorry I could not resist LOL.
Paige Turner (musician) - Wikipedia
Sorry I could not resist LOL.
There are 2-sheet holders available that I use to help eliminate page turning. You can load 2 sheets side by side in one holder. The holder folds in half for easy storage in a 3-ring binder. It's easy to use 2 of them for a 4-page song. I have a songbook that has a lot of songs with 3 or 4 pages and some that start on the right page and end on the page turn. This makes it a lot easier. I do have to copy some pages to get it all worked out but it's so much easier than page turning or taking pages out and have them fall while I'm playing.
I have started using Mobile Sheets. It does have the ability to turn pages by facial gesture. I haven't mastered the gesture yet. I saw where Anna Lapwood, famous organist from England, uses a tablet. On one occasion, her tablet stopped working while playing during a performance. Luckily, she was able to complete the piece from memory. This would be my ultimate fear in using a tablet.
I have started using Mobile Sheets. It does have the ability to turn pages by facial gesture. I haven't mastered the gesture yet. I saw where Anna Lapwood, famous organist from England, uses a tablet. On one occasion, her tablet stopped working while playing during a performance. Luckily, she was able to complete the piece from memory. This would be my ultimate fear in using a tablet.
I have a tablet that I use for some of my music and haven't experienced any problems with turning pages on some of my longer scores, yet. For my remaining music, I remove the printed pages from my 3 ring binder and just arrange them on my music rack so they stay in place. My longest music pieces are 4 and 5 pages and those are on my tablet. My wife bought a page turner pedal for her tablet but has only used it once in the 6 months she's had it. We're both kind of old fashioned musicians in that we prefer printed sheet music. I don't typically have any problems with turning pages when I have to but she does. I've been playing longer than she has so maybe I'm more accustomed to turning pages than she is. For my most played church hymns, I have them committed to memory and can play them without written music. I consider myself VERY fortunate to have this talent as well as being able to play by ear and read music. FWIW, I only consider myself to be an amateur musician and now just play for fun and to minister to others with my music.
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I will try Newzik-----I have an older program ---mobilenotes----does all the clever stuff but only accepts PDF files, so cant bring in written music
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You need to move on from paper. Scan your scores into an ipad running Forscore. You can get a bluetooth switch or a footpedal to change pages. Demos exist on Youtube.
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