Collecting Sheet Music

Awhile ago, hubby and I ran a good-cop-bad-cop play for a box of old sheet music. I’m still going through it all, delighting at all the great graphics, fabulous lyrics and cool connections to composers, songwriters and other folks as I list it here in the Collectors’ Quest community. (You should know me well enough by now to know that researching is a huge part of the joy of collecting for me.)

You shouldn’t judge sheet music by it’s cover any more than you should a book, but let’s face it, the nifty graphics and photos of celebrities are mighty cool. It’s one way that sheet music is a coveted cross-collectible.

Harry Potter fans wave their wands bidding paddles for sheet music with wizards, cat lovers and Halloween collectors fancy the Black Cat March, vamps vie for roaring 20’s sheet music (along with theater and movie memorabilia hounds, if it’s from a musical) — all competing with music lovers for vintage sheet music.

Along with songwriters and composers, there are often multiple performers, and multiple arrangements (piano, guitar — even for the ukelele).

For over two centuries sheet music has been printed; so no one, really, is exempt from collecting sheet music once they see what’s all available.

The wide variety of sheet music isn’t the only reason to love it. Since some songs were printed in millions of copies, even very old sheet music can be easy enough to find — and affordable. Condition is always a part of an item’s value, so if you’re charmed by something enough not to care about its condition you can get vintage sheet music for a song. While this makes sheet music an area of collecting which is easy for beginners, those who like a challenge will find many printed musical ‘holy grails’ to spend a lifetime pursuing as well.

Being both small in size and light in weight makes printed music not only inexpensive to ship but easy to store too. While some preserve their collection in neat protective plastic sleeves, others put the pretty papers behind glass and properly frame them (we hope) — not just for safe preservation, but to display as part of their home decor.

While there’s so much to love about old sheet music, there’s more unloved, under-appreciated sheet music in this world than this collector cares to think about.

This point was driven home when the seller of my most recent box of vintage sheet music asked me, “You’re not going to paper your walls with this, are you?”

Stunned, I could only manage to tell her, “No, of course not!” But on the way to the van I had to ask hubby (and myself), “Can you do that? Paper walls with sheet music?”

Not that I would. But the idea of seeing walls papered in sheet music is very intriguing… Perhaps one day I’ll investigate that and other altered art projects with copies made from scans. (I’d hate to make a collector — or seller — cry.) But right now, I’m having lots of fun with them as they are.

For more on collecting sheet music, see ParlorSongs.com.

Images of wizard and cat sheet music via SheetMusicCenter.com.