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The Best Music Book Clips

Instead of clothespins and binder clips, look for music book clips and page holders to keep your sheet music secure

By Kathleen Walsh

Kathleen Walsh

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November 13, 2019

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Keeping sheet music from flying off the stand during a windy outdoor gig or getting a book to stay open at the piano requires a sturdy music book clip. Paperclips or clothespins can be useful — though inelegant — solutions in a pinch, but we’d recommend getting a product actually designed for the purpose of keeping your music together.

Things to Consider When Buying a Music Book Clip

Music clips are pretty straightforward construction-wise, but there are a few different types to think about.

Pronged: These page holders, often metal, look a bit like old-fashioned hair combs. They have a curved horseshoe shape and four prongs which slip between the pages of your book, basket weave-style, to hold the book open at the correct place. We think these are the most attractive clip solutions and our favorite for holding a book open. They are less useful for loose sheets, however.

Clear Plastic: A pair of translucent plastic clips are hardly heirlooms, but they are extremely practical for loose sheets. The see-through material is intended to not obstruct your view of your music while you play, while strong plastic keeps your pages securely in place.

Binder: Many music book clips are designed like binder clips. You could, in fact, use a regular binder clip for your music sheets, but we like music book specific clips because they have a wider and thinner shape, which is less likely to get in the way of the music you’re trying to read. Also, they’re more attractive.

1. Metal Music Book Clip and Page Holder

Just because it performs a humble function doesn’t mean your page holder can’t be fancy. Users like the decorative treble clef etching and elegant shape of this four-pronged metal music book clip. We also like that its generous size and strong metal material means it can reliably hold several pages at once no matter how bulky your music book.

metal music book clip page holder

Buy Metal Music Book Clip and Page Holder $12.99

2. Page Holder for Sheet Music Stands

Another four-pronged metal clip, we like this page holder because it is strong enough not to bend or warp, even when used with large books. But it is also thin enough to use as a bookmark when needed.

page holder sheet music

Buy Page Holder for Sheet Music Stands $10.97

3. Music Stand Page Holder

These page clips are intended to be used as a pair, and are made of translucent plastic so as not to obscure the music you’re trying to read. Musicians love how easy they are to change out when needed, and that they are a more elegant solution to keeping pages from blowing in the wind than, say, clothespins.

clear music page holder

Buy Music Stand Page Holder $10.97

4. WOGOD Music Book Clip

These bright red clips are convenient, straightforward, and strong enough to pin down around a dozen pages together even in strong winds. We particularly like that they are packaged as a set of four, which is ideal for anyone who tends to lose small equipment accessories.

wogod music book clip

Buy WOGOD Music Book Clip $7.90

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