Systems in Music Therapy: Instrument Storage

Ah, systems. I often think about this particular post series during the week as I go through my regular routine. The thoughts that go through my head include things like, "is this a system?" and "is this even interesting to anyone other than me?" If the answer to both questions is affirmative, then I figure out what to write about.

Lately, I've seen queries about how people arrange their instrument storage, so I took a look at my system of organization. Here it is...

Just like everything else in this series, this is just how I do this task - it is not a recommendation or requirement or even a strong suggestions. It is simply my way of doing things. These posts are meant to give you a glimpse into one way of being a music therapist - not THE way of being a music therapist. Find YOUR way and make it work for you. If things aren't working for you, then look at all the ways and find the combination that you need to do what you need to do in your space.

So, how do I organize my instruments? I definitely have a system that I use, and it makes sense to me. My interns have lived with the system (mainly because I pull rank and tell them that it is my clinic, so I need things where I put them - I'm SOOOO much older, you know!!), and some of them have found the system makes sense. Others have remained quiet until they were finished with their placements.

Here's my system.

I put things that I often use together in the same container. I have classroom sets of wrist jingle bells, rhythm sticks, shaker eggs, and triangles. Those all go in one box. The more unique wooden instruments are in another box. The novel instruments - strange looking or funny instruments - have their own boxes. Every thing is labeled and goes in a specific place in the cabinet.

I do this both at home and at my job.

That's not all, though.

My instrument storage moves into how I take instruments from place to place as well. I am not currently an itinerant therapist, but when I was, I had another system that allowed me to keep track of instruments, easily track where instruments got lost, and complete an inventory after every session. I had boxes.

Ooh, doesn't that sound exciting?

At the time, I was working in four buildings with two interns. We had a storage room where we kept our instruments. I had completed an inventory before we had left clinic-based services and gone to itinerant services, so I knew what was in storage. It became a bit of a hassle to figure out where things were at all times, so we developed our system.

The first thing that we did was get our own boxes. One intern used blue boxes, the other used red/pink boxes, and I used clear boxes to tote our materials from place to place. The reason behind all of these colors? Quick switches between sessions! We would load up our boxes with the supplies that we needed during our own unique sessions, and then I knew that I could grab the clear boxes and everything that I needed would be right there at my fingertips!

By the way, I love plastic scrapbooking boxes from Michaels - they are 13inX13inX3in, and they come in all sorts of colors. I prefer the clear ones, but the colored ones are very handy for organizing materials for particular types of sessions. When it's just me, I use one color for my sessions for older students, another color for my younger students, and yet another color for the middle aged students. In the picture here, you can see my current theme boxes - one per month. 

I have morphed the boxes that we used as itinerant therapists into personal storage at home. Inside my closet, I have a series of shoe storage shelves that I've repurposed into theme organization. There are twelve boxes each with a month label on the front. Inside each box is a plastic envelope that is velcroed to the lid of the box. This is where I keep printed out TMEs, sheet music, and pieces of paper that I need - master copies and/or extra copies of session materials. I also include any theme-specific pieces that I need - bulletin board letters or musician of the month papers or clues. The envelopes are removable, if needed.

The box storage includes whatever works for the themes I've assigned for each month. My October box is the most full right now. I have lots of books, visual aids, and TMEs for October - most of them are Halloween-based. I may need to get another box for Halloween only. There are books, die cuts, file folders, puzzles, whatever paper-type materials I need to run the designated TMEs. These boxes do not include instruments - we'll get to those in a bit...

So, when it is October, I can get the designated box out of the closet, and I have ready-made sessions inside. I may need to make more copies of things or take the ideas and put them into a session strategy, but all the supplemental materials are there at my fingertips!

Once I have my theme boxes, I can then flesh out the rest of my session strategies with the instruments and other things that I may need. To tote instruments, I often use the same 13X13X3in boxes, but things don't always fit, so I tend to go for bags. I have bags that match the colors of my boxes to help me accomplish fast switches between sessions.

Let me elucidate about that point a bit more.

I often have sessions right after each other. Those sessions often include very different clients with extremely different goals. The session strategy often changes as well. Due to these changes, I prepare materials before sessions even start so I can accomplish these quick changes without interruption. So, everything that goes with my sessions for older students are stored in the same color boxes and bags. I know that I can grab the red box and the red bags and all of my materials will be present. When I am finished, I can put the red storage away and grab the blue set to be ready for the next session. (Remember when I said that I use color-coding for LOTS of things? Here's another example of how color helps me!)

Now, there are things that I use in every session. For example, one of those things might be shaker eggs. Every session strategy that I have for Easter time may include times when clients are using shaker eggs. When this happens, I put those eggs in my "Always" bag. This is the bag that goes with me to every session - it has the things that cross session type and is always with me. In addition to instruments, I include my marketing materials, copies of my business card, and the iPod and speakers. It is a unique bag that doesn't look like the others - I've recently changed my "Always" bag to one that I got from the Disney Movie Club! It makes me happy to pick it up and take it around with me!

The last part of this particular system is the check-out system. This was something that was very helpful when there were three of us moving across four buildings, and it is something that I have adapted to use for my personal collection of instruments. When I take things out of my instrument storage, I write it down in a tracking book. When I bring things back, I check to see that I have the same number of instruments that I had when I left. If I don't have that same number, then I have a pretty good idea where I last used that instrument. (That's another benefit for having different boxes for different types of sessions!) That helps me track down the instrument for later.

This is one of the things that I love to do - setting up systems for others to use to make their lives a bit easier. I've found my way of doing things - what is your way? What types of things challenge you about instrument storage? Are there any tips here that you want to try?? 

Let me know in the comments below!