Practice rooms

The Blyth Centre has ten music practice rooms that are available for use by students and staff of Imperial College - four ensemble rehearsal rooms with grand pianos and six solo practice rooms with upright pianos.

• To use the facilities, you will need to register online and attend an induction meeting in person in the Blyth Gallery.
• The induction meeting will be held in the Blyth Gallery on Wednesdays at 12:30 and 15:00 and Fridays at 12:30  during term time ONLY.
• NO INDUCTION MEETINGS IN JULY - AUGUST 
  
• At the induction meeting we will discuss the rules and your rehearsal needs. You will need to tick your name on the register, to be granted access to the practice rooms.
• If you do not attend the in-person meeting and tick your name off the list, you will not have access to the practice rooms.
• If you cannot attend a meeting, please email Naomi Anderson-Eyles.
• Players wishing to use the grand pianos must produce evidence of having passed grade 8 or above of the standard Examination Board or equivalent. You can email a photo of your certificate.
• Ensemble Room 1 is used for teaching, auditions etc., but may occasionally be used with permission from Oliver Gooch or Naomi Anderson-Eyles.

Hours

All rooms (except Ensemble Room 1) are available to solo players and a group of two players from 8.00 to 23.00 Monday – Sunday.

Use of rooms and general rules

• You may only book one hour per day and not more than a week (7 days) in advance. You must book a room.
• You must put your Name and CID number in the booking.
• Do not book under another name, we check all bookings regularly.
• Do not use a phone or tablet to make a booking. The room booking system doesn’t work very well on mobile devices. Please use a laptop or a desktop computer.
• Do not take food or drink into the rooms — the potential for unintentional damage to pianos is too great.
• Please do not move the pianos.
• Please remember to switch off the power on the Clavinova keyboard when you have finished using it.
• Please do not move the coloured acoustic panels in the rooms as this marks the walls.
• Please only book ONE hour a day, and do not book the same time in the same room on consecutive days.
• Do not make reoccurring bookings.
• Hours: : 8:00 am – 11:00 pm Monday - Sunday.
• Please only book on the hour or on the half-hour (10.00 – 11.00 am or 10.30 am – 11.30 am). Any bookings made for quarter hours will be deleted.
• No amps or microphones or drum kits allowed in the practice rooms. Our rooms are sound proofed but NOT THAT sound proofed.

Please do not leave any items or  instruments in any of the practice rooms.

How to book a practice room

1. Go to the Blyth Centre SharePoint Site (this link will not work unless you have first registered).
2. Click on the name of the room you would like to book, find the time you would like to use in the room, double click in the time slot you would like to book.
3. A new window should appear with a form to fill in. Please use your name in the 'Name' field and CID (the number found on your college ID) in the CID field; when you make a booking - this is important as we may need to contact you.
4. Enter the correct start and end times for your booking - it defaults to the date and time when you are making the booking so you'll probably need to change it. You do not need to enter the location or a description, and please note that you may not use the 'All Day Event' or 'Recurrence' fields.
5. Click save and close the window.

Important information for bookings

Bookings may not be made more than one week ahead.  Although it is possible to do this in SharePoint, any recurring bookings or bookings made more than a week in advance will be deleted unless prior permission has been given by Oliver Gooch or Naomi Anderson-Eyles

• You may only book one hour per day and not more than a week in advance.

• Do not book under another name, we check all bookings regularly. 

• Do NOT block book rooms for society rehearsals. If your society or small group needs more than one hour please come see Naomi to discuss your rehearsal needs.

• Please only book an hour a day, and do not book the same time in the same room on consecutive days. We may remove your booking if you do. 

• Hours: 8:00 am – 11:00 pm Monday - Sunday.
  

• Please only book on the hour or on the half hour (10.00 – 11.00 am or 10.30 am – 11.30 am). Any bookings made for quarter hours will be deleted. 

• Do not take food or drink into the rooms — the potential for unintentional damage to pianos is too great.

• Please do not move the pianos.

• Please do not move the coloured acoustic panels in the rooms as this marks the walls.

• Please remember to switch off the power on the Clavinova keyboard when you have finished using it.

• Cellists and bass players - please help to prevent damage to the floors by using a spike protector.

• Ensembles - please put stands and chairs back by the wall. If you borrow a stand from another room please return it once you have finished using it.

• Instrumentalists other than pianists please note that there is no storage space for instruments in the Centre. Please do not leave instruments in any of the practice rooms.

External bookings

The practice rooms in the Blyth Centre can be hired by external organisations for auditions or examinations purposes. Recent users have included Ulser Orchestra, ABRSM and National Youth Orchestra. For further informaiton about hire charges, or to view the facilities plase contact