I like to pass out a full music folder at the first rehearsal – the folders I prepped today have about fifteen pieces in them.
How, then, do you organize them? Straight alphabetical? By genre? (separate the jazz, the pop, the classical, etc.) How about chronological by date of composition?
In the end, I do a variation on alphabetical – all music in alphabetical order, but with any holiday music (which we can’t perform all year) in the very rear of the folder. In front of the first piece is the performance calendar for the year and these exercises.
It’s clear and easy to find your music. It has everything they need to get them through a long and busy year. And it’s easy to add to as the year goes on.