Quick Answer

Simple solutions for keeping music books open can make practice more comfortable, organized, and efficient for string players. Many musicians struggle with books closing unexpectedly during practice, especially when using thick method books, etudes, or spiral-bound collections. Practical accessories and setup adjustments can help students focus more on playing and less on managing pages.

Helpful music stand solutions can:

• keep books open securely
• improve visibility while practicing
• reduce interruptions during practice sessions
• make page turns easier
• improve posture and comfort

A more organized practice setup often helps students stay focused and motivated during longer practice sessions.

We teach with and practice with hard-to-open music books too. It has been so difficult to keep them open that we have never stopped searching for different book clips and solutions to the problem.

There’s the student “too tired to clip the book so I’ll just whack the page with the bow” move.

There’s the “responsible adult” careful bend open at the spine, lengthwise.

There’s the frustrated “Cassia-in-a-hurry-in-a-lesson” bend: halfway down the book, perpendicular to the spine, bending as if to break the spine. That one works really well!

• It’s too expensive. The costs for printing and storing our catalog as spiral books would be well over a million dollars. This would necessitate doubling or tripling the current costs of the books.
• Not enough availability. Our books are printed all around the world and shipped to retail stores and customers in the countries in which they are printed. These services are not available for spiral books right now and making the books available outside the US would cause shipping costs to exceed the cost of the book in nearly all cases.

We are working to offer some of the thickest books in spiral editions on this website. If there’s a book you teach with a lot that you’d like to see in a spiral edition, let us know and we’ll put it on the spiral list!

The first clip we found was through our grandmother. She somehow came across these clips and gave them to us for Christmas one year. They worked really well for us!

Several years ago, we started carrying them on the website.

Our students really have trouble figuring out how they work. I mean, straight-A, top-of-their-class, amazing-cello-playing students can’t seem to remember that the outer spikes of the clip should be on the outside of the book, facing them.

It’s not a reason not to use these clips but if you are recommending them to a student, have them practice using them in the lesson. 

These Mini clips we’ve found are working well so far!

Students can figure them out, which is a good sign.

They work best when the book has been bent open a little.

Thankfully, the book binding for this type of book is quite strong and can hold up to quite a bit of bending.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are good ways to keep sheet music open while practicing?

String players often use:

• music stand clips
• clothespins
• page holders
• magnets
• spiral-bound books
• wider stand trays
• tablet page-turning systems

Simple practice setup improvements can make reading music much easier and more comfortable during daily practice.

Are tablet readers useful for musicians?

Many musicians use tablets and digital sheet music readers to reduce page-turning problems and organize large music libraries more easily. Tablet setups can also allow players to use page-turning pedals, adjustable brightness, annotation tools, and portable music storage during lessons, rehearsals, and performances. If you use a tablet, visit Learn Strings for PDF copies of our books!

Can practice setup affect music practice quality?

A comfortable and organized practice space can help musicians stay focused and practice more efficiently. Good lighting, stable music stands, easy page access, and comfortable seating can reduce distractions and make longer practice sessions more manageable and enjoyable.