The Parlor Songs dot Com Guide to Collecting Sheet Music

Note to the reader: This article was first written in 2006 when the sheet music market was at a peak as far as prices paid. This 2011 update reflects a market that has hit rock bottom with prices as low as I've ever seen and sheet music that would have been snapped up a few years ago going unbid for and remaining unsold. Now is a great time to collect sheet music at bargain prices. As with most things in our economy, when better times arrive, hopefully values for collectible sheet music will improve as well.
R. Reublin, May, 2011

We have seen a wide range of sheet music over the years at Parlorsongs.com and we have had many questions from our readers about collecting sheet music. Questions like: Where do I get sheet music? How much does it cost? What makes some more valuable than others? This guide has been written to help answer those questions and others that you may have about collecting sheet music.

It seems that collectibles take just about any form, from Mickey Mouse memorabilia to sports cards and anything else you can imagine. For any collector, finding new items and building a collection that covers the full range of a product or item can be a rewarding as well as a frustrating task. Sheet music represents both opportunities and challenges that many other collectibles do not. The opportunity lies in the rich, wide variety of sheet music that has been printed and distributed over the years. With well over two centuries of printed music to choose from, you can be guaranteed that your niche will provide plenty of opportunity to add to your collection. The fact that certain eras of sheet music produced millions of copies makes it relatively easy to amass a fairly large collection in a relatively short period. The challenges come in finding sheets in good condition, finding some of them at all and in getting them at reasonable prices.

You can specialize in just about any period, style or type of music and still successfully build a good collection. For example, some collectors might choose to focus only on a single composer such as Scott Joplin, sheets with movie or stage stars featured or even sheets by a given publisher such as Vandersloot (although collecting by publisher is not common). The most prominent example of a focused specialty is the collection of E. T. Paull lithographs. Though many ET Paull publications are easy to find, there are some that are exceptionally rare, and the joy of the hunt for the them can exhaust much time as well as your pocketbook. Other collectors focus on themes. An example is our transportation theme in this month's feature ( February, 2001), which can result in a wonderfully beautiful collection of covers and exciting music. Here is yet another great transportation themed song, Motor King. The cover of this work by E. H. Pfeiffer is a striking example of the wonderful artwork that makes these songs much more than music, but fine American art also. This song was published in 1910. Click on the cover to see and hear the score; click here to listen to the MIDI version. In this one cover, the artist managed to capture virtually every motor transport mode available at the time. This song by the way, originally was written as a piano solo march but became so popular the composer recruited Jack Drislane to add lyrics and it was reissued in this song version. As with many songs, Motor King can be found in more than one cover graphic. Often, songs were reissued and you may find several different editions of a given song.

In some cases, people collect the sheet music mainly for the art or cover theme. At ParlorSongs we are just as interested in the music, for we believe that it is as much a statement of our history as the artwork on the sheets. In addition to cover or title themes, many people choose to focus only on musical styles. For example ragtime, fox-trot, jazz or marches. You can also collect by era; 1890's, early 1900's, 1940's etc. It seems the possibilities are endless. Generally, each era has distinctive artwork and you can find various styles of art (as well as music) across the board in sheet music. The earlier years, prior to 1890 or so, are marked by engraved covers and those with artwork comprise a smaller percentage of the totals issued. Take a look at the cover from the 1858 song, Down In Alabam', included in our February, 2001 feature as a part of our discussion of The Old Grey Mare. This cover is typical of much of the music from that period. In spite of what might appear as a rather plain cover, the fancy type or print, often elevates interest in certain topical sheets and as a result, they can become valuable collector items. Of course there are still many beautifully illustrated sheets to be found from the mid 19th century, but they are less common. Some have full color illustrations such as one of my favorites in my personal collection, The Leslie Polka, from 1865. Others have actual photographs attached to the cover. At the time we first wrote this article in 2006 we said "these sheets are generally quite scarce and can be rather expensive, often selling for $75 or more per sheet." However now, in 2011 the sheet music market has virtually collapsed and prices are very low, sheets that often sold on eBay for near $100 are going for less than $10-20. There are many sheets from the period with Victorian prints also pasted on the cover and though pleasant to look at, are not as valuable as the color or photo illustrations. For some examples of mid-to-late 19th century illustrations on sheet music, revisit our January, 2000 feature on "The Dead Zone" of American music. Next month ( March, 2001), in our feature about songs of the sea and ships, we will have at least one or two pieces from that period with artwork. As far as 19th century sheets go, some of the most valuable are Confederate issues, full color Civil War sheets and those relating to technology, political events, actual events such as disasters and minstrel sheets.

The main point is that just about any theme or combination of themes is possible. Whatever personally interests you will do you just fine. We at ParlorSongs tend to focus on the period from around 1860 up to the early 1920's and as you have seen, we collect virtually all subjects and styles. Of course, one reason for that is so we can bring you the widest possible range of music and artwork. Another reason is the copyright limitations that one encounters with works published after Jan. 1, 1923. It is also because we thoroughly enjoy all the music from this period. Our objective is to preserve both the art and the music, your interest might be just the art. However, keep one thing in mind if you collect for the art only, don't do as some people do and intentionally separate the cover, frame it and discard the music! Doing so completely destroys any future collecting value and is simply a terribly destructive practice! One last thought before we move on: collecting sheet music is very rewarding and though we have a lot to say about values and costs in this essay, it is important that we say that it is the enjoyment of collecting and the preservation of these important historical documents that drives us and most collectors. The beauty of the sheets and the music is what enchants us. Of course, in doing so, one can amass a collection of formidable value, but that is not the end to which most collectors aspire. At Parlor Songs, the value means little to us, as is the case with most serious collectors.