The Reeding Room
May 15, 2024
Danny King
Google Sheets Meets a Music Major’s Summer Break
I recently posted an Instagram story that shares a glimpse at a Google Sheet of all the repertoire I am planning to learn this summer. This caught some attention! “How do you organize your summer practice? Woah that’s a lot of music to learn! How do you make a drop down menu and color code?” I’m so thrilled to see many of you are as nerdy about organization as I am. As I close out a successful semester and half way done with my master’s degree, I’m determined to do more in my final year of school. I’m planning to have two recitals next year, prioritize concerto competitions over festival auditions, improve my score on placement auditions, and actually learn the stuff that I have been putting off… Now that I’m on summer break where I’ll be enjoying the quiet grass of Omaha, Nebraska, the humidity and sunburns of Miami, Florida, and the wind in the Windy City that is Chicago, my practicing productivity starts with organizing a plan with a Google Sheet.
Here are the categories of repertoire I’m preparing:
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Orchestral Excerpts [you may also add Band Excerpts if you are looking at auditioning for military bands]
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Solo (alone); this includes etudes
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Solos with piano (or orchestra)
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Chamber Music
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Technique; articulation, scales, arpeggios, etc.
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Full Ensemble
Reason for practicing the above:
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Audition
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Recital
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Practice
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Festival
Google Sheet Headings
First row will contain these column headers. Expand the width of each column by dragging the lines between the letters. You will want enough room that each piece fits in the box. I recommend changing the background color to a light grey so they stand out by highlighting the top row and selecting “Fill color” in the top menu.
Composer: Last name only to simplify
Piece & Mvts.: The title of the full piece, then add movements. For example, do not just write “scherzo,” write “A Midsummer Night’s Dream, scherzo”
Notes: How many excerpts per piece, what auxiliary instrument you need, tempo markings, memorization, recording session, etc.
Category: This is where you will label the repertoire's category as I discussed above.
Reason: Why are you playing this?
Dropdown Menus
Add dropdown menus in the “Category” and “Reason” columns with these steps:
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Click on the empty box below one of the columns to highlight the box
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Press Insert at the top of the spreadsheet
3. Select Dropdown toward the bottom of options
4. Where it says “Option 1” replace with the categories or reasons we listed above. Add more as needed.
5. Change the color by clicking on the grey circle to select the colors you wish to use. Here is what I used for each category and reason. I prefer cooler lighter tones.
6. Press Done to save dropdown menus.
7. Apply the dropdown menu for each column by clicking on the box with the drop down menu, click on the blue circle in the bottom right corner, and drag down so you have as many as you need.
8. When you press on the down arrow of the dropdown menu you just created, you can select which category best fits the description of the piece you are studying.
That's It!
You are now ready to type in each piece you are wanting to learn and practice, the composer, any notes you need to make, and use the dropdown menus you just created! Here is what mine looked like when I was done. Of course, you can always add more and remove as you think is best for your summer practicing goals.
Until next time in The Reeding Room!
