Can anyone here give me any tips on holding sheet music books in place? Really thick books can't be held in place by clips and they will get messed up if I force them to stay open by opening them all the way...

Thanks!

Use the big black paper clips like this one (but bigger):



and clip it to the top of your book. It will help. (But good luck turning the page )

I use one of those metal things that looks like a lower-case cursive letter m. You stick it in the middle of the book and it holds the pages open. Though, usually I just prop other piano books on the sides of the book.

Any good quality book can handle that - you'll have to 'break the spine' to make it stay open. It's a bit of a shame and spoils the good looks, but can't be avoided. Doesn't work well with books that are glued rather than sewn....

I'm probably the worse page turner there are when I play piano, so I try to minimize the effort as much as possible. I help solve the probem by scanning the pages with a scanner, then punch holes for a standard clip notebook. I place hole protector rings on the punched holes to prevent hole damage when I turn the pages. This method helps tremendously.
Randy

My Piano Teacher tells me to bend the spine to make it stay.

I don't want to hurt the book.
D:

Although, I suggest getting tape or something.
Not too strong of tape, though.

You don't want to rip the pages.
That would be bad.

Masking tape would work well.
Anything is possible, really.

I photocopy the pages I need and tape them together so that I can have as many as four pages in front of me. Also, I put these pages in a loose leaf binder so that I have all the pieces together that I am currently studying. In this way, if I play somewhere else, I don't have to lug around many books.

Mozartiana

I hate page turns so much that it's an extra incentive to memorize. I've even begun memorizing some of my accompaniment stuff for this reason. When I'm working on something new, though....I bend the spine. And I've only had to replace a scant few books....

I'm nervous about turning other people's pages.

But I also hate doing it while I'm playing. Especially the really thick books where I have other books propping up both sides. I then have to stop playing, move the books, turn the page, and put the books back. Horrible way of doing it, I know.

But now - with my thick books with just a spine - I take them to Kinkos or some other copy store and have them slice off the spine and replace it with a spiral thing. Still have to turn pages, but they turn so much easier and stay in place.

I bend the spine, but it often doesn't work too well. I then get angry and wreck the book until it finally stays open. I only wreck thick books though, not the small ones. The small ones tend to stay open at the page I want them to be open at.

I also hate turning the page while I'm playing. Therefore I always try to memorize the piece I'm playing from the top of my head. Makes it so much easier to play.

It's especially helpful when you're accompanying, because it gives you more brain capacity to communicate properly with your soloist/ensemble. But it's never expected for you to memorize accompaniment, so no one ever does...

Interesting, that would mean I am 'no one' . I always memorize everything. No falling papers, no page turning, no annoying books that won't stay open.

I have been lazy about memorizing accompanying before now. I still play with the music in front of me, but it's mostly memorized, to the point that it doesn't matter too terribly much when I turn the page. So I might as well put a bit of extra work into it, because it does make things much easier.