Many modern musicians don’t bother to learn the art of sight reading sheet music anymore, which is a pity. If you do, however, know someone juggling their sheet music books, a fine stand such as this is a perfect gift.
There are a lot of wonky music stands on the market – made of metal thin enough to slice your hands and prone to falling over at the drop of a hat. It’s surprisingly hard to get such a seemingly simple product right.
A good music stand needs to be stable, yet fold into a compact form for travel. It needs to be adjustable to fit the height and position you play at. It sounds like this should be no issue but, honestly, if you find a good stand, never let go.
This is why this stand from Gleam is so popular. It’s priced very well, yet has proven to be a solid choice – both literally and figuratively. It’s height-adjustable from 35 inches to 55 inches; you can use it while sitting or standing. The tray holding the sheet music has a superb 180-degree tilt, which is literally as much as you’d want, since the music would fall off it you tilted things any further.
The stand itself looks pretty sturdy, but it can easily fold down to fit into the included travel bag. While in the end this is just a music stand, buying a bad one really does make life suck a little more.
If you want to give a musician peace of mind that their sheet music or tablature will be right where they need it, the Gleam stand is a fine choice overall.
