Managing practice space with multiple instruments

[bisous]

Every family that I know with lots of musical kids has instruments out in the front room. I don't think it looks bad but I could see that bothering me a lot at least in our current situation. (We have ONE main room so it would be in my way all the time!) I do think your kids NEED to put their instruments away every time. The cases are not beautiful but maybe you could work out an organized storage solution? Like they tuck under the mantle in special shelves or something like that? I feel like having the instruments very easily accessible means that they are practiced more easily and more often and there are huge advantages to that.

[mmsmom]

Our dining room doubles as a music room. It has DS’s guitar on a stand, DD’s keyboard also on a stand and DS’s drum that is on a stand but goes back and forth to school in a case too. Thankfully the room is big enough to accommodate. They take turns practicing. Theoretically DD could practice with headphones so they could do it at same time but they just goof off if they are in there together.

[rlu]

DS has both trumpet and baritone. They are both in cases. He's only playing baritone for school this year, but is working on the bugle merit badge so the trumpet is getting used as well. He practices in the living room but stores them in his bedroom. That baritone takes up a ton of room, luckily the school provided it for him (they provided two: one for home use, the better one for in-class and concert use) so it will be going back at the end of the school year. The trumpet is ours.

He has the fold-up type music stand and it lives in his room as well.

We have an electronic keyboard currently living behind DH's recliner in the corner. It doesn't have a stand so it's leaning against the wall. Probably not good for it but it's over 30 years old and not used often. I wonder if it still works. This was my sister's when we were kids and she practiced using headphones as the sound upset the dog (as in howling and trying to get away).

eta: I forgot about the ukulele. That has a stand and lives in DS's room. DH has a guitar on a stand that lives in the office/den. We also have the elementary school recorder somewhere in DS's room. Jeez, we have more than I thought.

[emily]

We have ours in our main living space. Our formal living room is basically our music room. We have a baby grand that DD and DS1 play. DD started violin this year and recently got a 3/4 acoustic guitar. Add to it DHs two guitars and I have more cases on the floor than I can handle. I prefer for DS1 and DD to practice where I can hear them so don’t mind it all downstairs but all the cases on the floor drives me batty. Oh yeah, we also have a drum set upstairs in the playroom. Our house is loud.


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[vonfirmath]

I played flute through high school, and would not use a flute stand as a storage option - like you said, too easy to get kicked! IME, flute stands are to hold the flute for a few minutes while the person is playing a different instrument (piccolo in my case). I kept my flute in its case, since I had to take it back and forth to school every day, and practiced in my room. My kids keep their instruments in their room and practice there. DH is a musician and keeps his guitars in our room in their cases. Wooden stringed instruments need to be kept at the proper humidity levels so the wood doesn't get too dry (prone to cracking). We live in a dry climate so DH has to take special care with his acoustic guitar - just something to consider as you decide where/how to store your kids stringed instruments.

I played Clarinet and my sister played flute. We both put up our instruments EVERY time when practicing. Its the way you prevent them being sat upon/spilled upon/etc.