If you were to walk into our home you’d know instantly that Trevor and I love simplicity and detest clutter. Our house is completely white; walls, furniture, kitchen, carpet (yes… even with two kids!) and we purposefully avoid having “flat surfaces” like end tables, dressers, sofa tables…nothing that can collect knick knacks or mess. It’s pretty stark around here… and we love it!
So when we asked for readers’ questions and received many queries regarding “how to organize your piano studio” we thought it would be a great topic to touch on from our minimalist point of view!
The Top 3 Studio Clutter Monsters and How to Tame Them
There are 3 piano studio clutter monsters that lurk in every piano studio around the world. If left un-tamed they threaten to take over not only your space… but also your time! Check out my solutions to these 3 clutter monsters and give them a try!
1. Supplementary Piano Music
If you’re like me, you collect supplementary music like crazy. I love to have the absolute perfect piece to call on when I need to inject some motivation or reinforce a concept. But to be effective I need to be able to find it quickly; kids don’t do well with waiting while their teacher shuffles through stacks of sheet music. Here are 3 ways to keep your supplementary music from looking like the Leaning Tower of Pisa:
a) Hole punch and keep it in a binder: I organize my binders according to level, season, and classical vs. popular. Each binder is labeled on the spine and the supplementary sheets are hole-punched and inserted behind dividers. This keeps them looking brand new too as the edges don’t get tattered. Each piece is labeled with my studio name and phone number so students remember to return them once they are loaned out. The hole-punched music also fits nicely into my students’ own binders for easy access.
b) Keep relevant or regularly used sheets in a hanging folder. I use one of these at my home studio. I fill each slot with the materials I know I’ll be using that week and it’s right there at my fingertips (yet still tucked away) when I need it.
c) Go digital! All of the Teach Piano Today materials are distributed as digital files that you can print forever, so this makes this aspect of keeping your materials straight really easy. With an inexpensive printer in your studio you can print as needed, or you can keep the copies you use most frequently in an accordion folder beside your piano.
2. Piano Teaching Games
I love to teach theory using carefully-chosen piano teaching games. But all of the different game boards, flashcards and game pieces can be easily lost… or can stack up in a messy pile full of dice and bent cards. Here are 3 ways you can keep your piano teaching games neat and tidy:
a) Manila envelopes and an accordion folder: Each game board from most printable piano teaching games (definitely the ones from Teach Piano Today!) fit into a manila envelope. With a Ziploc bag to contain game pieces and dice, they can both slide inside the envelope. I print off the instructions and tape them to the front of the envelope for easy reference, and then slide it into an accordion folder with each section of the folder labeled according to the topic or concept.
b) Snap top containers and a shelf: Load up on clear plastic snap-top containers at your local dollar store and put everything you need for the game inside. Label the front and place it face-out on a shelf in your studio. This works well for games that contain pieces that are 3D that don’t fit inside a manila envelope (like our Micro Cars game!)
c) Cheque envelopes: This is my favorite way of storing small manipulatives or sets of flashcards. They’re tidy, they’re easy to store and they make it really easy to grab what you need in the moment.
3. Piano Books
As piano teachers, we tend to collect piano books by the truckload. Second copies of method books, anthologies, collections, supplementary books, sight-reading books… they can make even the strongest shelf sag. Here are my top 2 ways to keep your piano books organized:
a) Sort, sort, and sort again: Make some decisions about what you actually use on a frequent basis. I love my huge faded, cracked, and tattered books of Beethoven Sonatas that were passed down to me from my Grandma… but I really don’t use them often enough to have them take up 3 inches of shelf space! Decide what you use weekly, what you use monthly, and what you keep for sentimental reasons or for your own personal use. Dole out shelf space according to how often you use the books (ie. Christmas books can be packed away in a box until you need them). Be willing to pass on books you have never ever opened to another teacher who may use them more often. Unused piano books are just sad!
b) Use Magazine Dividers: These cardboard or plastic folders can make your life so much easier. Divide your bookshelf into sections that make sense to you (ie. sight-reading and ear training, duet books, method lesson books, method performance books, etc.) Label each folder accordingly, fill it with the corresponding books, and then put them on your shelf! This way, you can grab an entire folder at a time without the other books flopping down into the empty space and you’re never thumbing through reams of books looking for what you need.
An organized studio is a happy studio…
With one Saturday morning’s worth of work, you can completely change the way your piano studio operates when it comes to the materials you use most often. You’ll find yourself being more efficient and using materials that you may never have used before simply because they were difficult to find or cumbersome to use. You’ll also find that an organized studio makes for a very happy piano teacher, and that’s always a good thing!
*If you’re unfamiliar with the materials I talked about, you can see the links below:
Jessica Pawlitzki says
What a great post! It’s delightful to read and everything you wrote is true and helpful. An organized studio makes it so much easier, and more fun, to teach! (No matter the instrument. I’m a voice teacher.)
I especially second your opinion about tucking away seasonal books. My holiday binders and books are on the lowest shelf – in fall they get an upgrade to 2 shelves higher and in January they are back on the lowest shelf.
Jessica
Andrea says
…and isn’t it great when the Christmas books creep closer and closer to the top?! I love Christmas music time 🙂
jeannie myers says
I find it hard to throw away music books also. I ended up buying 8-drawer filing cabinets to organize. One is filled with Christmas, one for praise and worship/hymns; one for current curriculum; one for vocals; one for theory and games; one for songwriting and seasonal; one for adults and jazz; one for old music and free-for-all. Luckily, I have a huge closet on the side of my office to put them in but after 10 months of organizing, everything is in its place and I have every drawer labeled. I love it! I am from the old school where paper is still king! I know I have to go to apps, etc. . .but maybe someday.
Andrea says
It’s true Jeannie… I don’t think an app will ever be able to replace the feeling of an old and beloved music book (or cracking the spine of a brand new one!)
Kimberly Wright says
Thanks for all the effort you put into your blog posts. They are always practical and helpful.
Andrea says
So glad to hear it Kimberly! Thanks for your kind comment 🙂
Alice says
Thanks for the ideas. Clutter is my worst enemy. Many of your ideas I use. Others I need to use! Could you describe your hanging folder system for frequently used papers? I go to my (nicely organized) binders frequently during the day to take out what I need. I don’t mind because I need the exercise 🙂 but it’s not the most efficient way to do things.
Andrea says
Hi Alice,
If you click on the link at the bottom of the post you’ll see a picture of what the hanging folder looks like. For weeks when I have a hand-out or printable to send home, or if I’m handing out halloween music etc. then I tuck it into the folders so there are no loose papers floating around – they’re neat and tidy and there when I need them. I use this hanging folder for materials I need week to week.
Heidis says
Hi Andrea! This was a great post! I love being organized too. Just wanted to share how I organize my games, in case it can help someone else out there. I once got a spa gift set (from one of my students:) that came in a low wooden box with dividers. Kind of like a utensil tray. In one section are all my decks of cards, standing on edge. One small section holds my different kinds of dice. And a long section has my game pieces in it, such as little animal figures and micro cars. I have this on a shelf beside my box of flat marbles (for bingo and such), and my box of boxed card games. The shelf above has my big bag of scale/key blocks, my fly swatters (for games!), and my prize box. I love having everything handy, especially being able to flip through the card sets easily in my wooden tray and having all the game components out, yet organized, so I can improvise and make up games on the spot. 🙂 Oh yes, my game boards are right below, in magazine holders, along with my music books. My magnet sets (WunderKeys and rhythm) are in flat baskets, stacked.
Thanks for sharing your ideas!
Andrea says
That box sounds perfect! Now if only more of our students would give us spa gift sets… 😉
Karen says
Thanks! That was exactly what I needed!
Caroline Quinn says
I have over 50 students and there is a folder for each child kept in a file cabinet. They are organized by the date they come. This way, I just bring the folder or music in the folder to the child. Everything is kept in a music office and my piano is in the living room. It’s just a quick walk and this keeps the clutter down. It’s still not perfect. At the end of the day, I put everything away and prepare for the next day. Kids seems to like the idea that they have their own folder and that I have put aside their special songs. Organization is key.
Marilyn Shirts says
I love your 4 folder types of storage, and I would add
one more type, a 4 drawer metal filing cabinet, the size that hold’s the larger file folders. Nice!! I didn’t think I would like it, but my husband brought one home anyway, Wow! I love it. Every book that’s not on my book shelves, goes in there. It also holds those taller awkward size books, thick or thin. I can see the titles quickly. I keep it in my garage, but since it has books (like Christmas) that I need only occasionally, it surprisingly works just great in there!
Annie says
I was just wondering if you used regular sized binders or oversized binders for your sheet music. I really love this idea for organizing my music, but when I hole punched one of them and slid it into my binder the music stuck out the top and the bottom.
Andrea says
Hi Annie! Just regular-sized binders that fit 8.5×11 size paper. I’ve never had anything stick out so just make sure you’re using a normal binder 🙂