Music stand

A music stand is a pedestal or elevated rack designed to hold a paper score or sheets of music in position for reading. Most music stands for orchestral, chamber music or solo orchestra-family instruments (violin, oboe, trumpet, etc.) can be raised or lowered to accommodate seated or standing performers or performers of different heights. Many types of keyboard instruments have a built-in or removable music rack or stand where sheet music can be placed. Music stands enable musicians to read sheet music or scores while playing an instrument or conducting, as the stand leaves the hands free. Music stands are sometimes used by singers, but for choirs, singers typically hold their sheet music in a folder and singers doing solo recitals or opera performances typically memorize the lyrics and melodies. Some singers use stands, such as lounge singers and wedding vocalists who have a repertoire of hundreds of songs, which makes remembering all of the verses difficult.

There are various types of music stands for different purposes and intended users. Folding stands collapse, which makes them convenient to take to rehearsals and performances out of the home. Folding stands are typically used by amateur musicians at rehearsals and performances. Professional musicians are more likely to limit their use of folding stands to rehearsals held outside of normal performance venues (e.g., a chamber music rehearsal at a private home) or small gigs. Non-folding stands tend to be used by professional orchestras and big bands for rehearsals and concerts.

Folding stands range from inexpensive, lightweight models made of metal, which are designed to hold a few pages of sheet music or a thin songbook, to stronger, more expensive heavy-duty models. Metal folding stands often have solid wire extensions or metal "arms" which can be folded out to support more than two pages of music or over-size sheets or pages. This is the kind most often used by music students in youth orchestras. Lightweight folding stands are designed to collapsible; if folding stands did not collapse, they would be awkward and unwieldy to carry. The collapsible nature of folding stands makes them small enough to slip into many instrument cases or backpacks. This feature makes folding stands more portable. As such, they are a popular stand type for rehearsals, auditions and even some types of performances. Amateur orchestras and some youth orchestras may ask members to bring folding stands to rehearsals, and sometimes also to performances, as this saves the ensemble the cost of buying or renting, and transporting one or more racks of non-folding stands.

...
Wikipedia