How to organize digital sheet music

Start with a small, steady system

Most libraries become a mess because the system is too clever. Pick a few rules you will follow when you are tired. Apply them to new music as it arrives, and tidy the old music a little at a time.

A good library answers three questions fast: what is this piece, what is it for, and where is the latest version?

Name files so they sort

Use one pattern for every file. Put the composer first or the title first, and never mix them.

Title, composer, then detail: Nocturne Op 9 No 2, Chopin, Henle.
Add the key or the part when it matters: Autumn Leaves, Cm, lead sheet; Symphony 5, Clarinet 1.
Skip dates in the name unless the version changes: v2 is clearer.
Avoid scan, final and new. They mean nothing in a year.

Reader apps usually show the title inside the file or let you set it. Set the title and the composer there so you can search by either.

Tag by how you use the music

Folders force each piece into one place. Tags let a piece live in several. A Bach prelude can be piano, baroque, recital and teaching at once.

Instrument or part: piano, flute, alto, bass line.
Level: beginner, intermediate, advanced.
Use: recital, church, wedding, exam, sight-reading.
Status: learning, polished, retired.
Source: public domain, purchased, from my teacher.

Five to ten tags is plenty. If you need a new one every week, you are being too specific.

Build a setlist for each event

A setlist is an ordered list of pieces for one event: a concert, a Sunday service, a lesson or a practice session. It saves you from hunting for the next piece when you are playing.

Make one for each performance or lesson, and name it with the date or the event.
Put the pieces in the order you will play them, and add alternates at the end.
Open the setlist at home and click through once, so you know every piece loads.
Keep the old setlists. They are a record of what you played and a start for next time.

Keep your markings with the music

Pencil marks, fingerings, bowings, breath marks and circled warnings are some of the most valuable things in a library. They are also the easiest to lose if you keep them in a separate copy.

Mark inside the reader, not on a screenshot.
Use consistent symbols. Choose one color for fingerings and one for cautions.
Mark the turn, the repeat and the cue you tend to miss.
Before you change an edition, check whether your markings move with it.

In SheetScroll, annotations such as pencil, highlighter, fingerings and symbols stay with their bars in every view. That includes half-page turns and two-page layouts. Annotations are free.

Back up and sync

A library on one device is one dropped tablet from gone. Use the 3-2-1 rule: three copies, on two kinds of storage, with one away from home.

Backup: export the library to a file now and then, and store it on a computer or a drive.
Sync: keep the same library on your devices, so a new tablet is ready in minutes.
Originals: keep the original PDFs and scans in a folder you control, apart from the app.
Test it: once a year, restore the backup to check it works.

SheetScroll keeps its own copy of what you add and never changes your original. Its library stays on the device, with no account. For sync you can use your own iCloud Drive, Google Drive where offered, or a folder that another app syncs; what sync sends is end-to-end encrypted. To move a library without sync, use Settings, then Storage, then Backup.

Moving from another app

If your library lives in another reader, export it before you change. SheetScroll can bring a forScore or MobileSheets library across with its titles, tags and setlists: in the library choose Add, then From another app.

Free sheet music is also built in. Choose Add, then Free sheet music, to browse more than 8,000 public-domain scores.

Questions

What is the best way to organize digital sheet music?

Use one file-naming pattern, a few tags that match how you use the music, a setlist for each event, and a backup in a second place.

Should I use folders or tags?

Tags, if your app has them. A piece often fits several groups, and a folder allows only one.

How do I back up my sheet music library?

Keep your original files, export the library to a file now and then, and sync to a second device or to cloud storage you own. In SheetScroll, Settings, Storage, Backup does this.

Can I move my forScore library to another app?

SheetScroll brings a forScore or MobileSheets library across with its titles, tags and setlists, using Add, then From another app.

Do I lose my markings if I change apps?

It depends on the app. Check the export options first, and keep your original files so you can always start again.