Practice Room Policy

There are 52 acoustically-treated practice rooms on campus which are available (some only by key check-out through Campus Security) for students taking major lessons at the Conservatory. These rooms receive an enormous amount of use, and reasonable steps are taken to protect the longevity and beauty of our valuable instruments. Accidental spills, burn marks, and food debris are some of the sources of considerable damage that are observed in our practice rooms. Careful cooperative effort of every student enables everyone to achieve maximum benefit from, and to protect the condition of, our facilities. Toward that end, students need to adhere to the following guidelines:

1. Students must place their ID cards, with the photograph facing outward, in the ID card clips mounted on practice room doors for the duration of their practice sessions.

2. Eating, drinking, and smoking are prohibited in all practice rooms and concert halls. Water bottles for singers and wind instrumentalists are permitted, but must be placed on the shelves provided or on the floor.

3. Please do not place any items (i.e., book bags, pocketbooks, instrument cases etc.) on top of the pianos. Items should be placed on the floor, or on the shelves or hooks provided.

4. As a courtesy to fellow students, practice sessions are limited to a period not to exceed three hours. Students using key access practice rooms must lock the door and return the keys to Campus Security at the conclusion of their practice sessions. Students may check out the key for an additional three hours from Campus Security if no other student is waiting for the room.

5. Possessions may not be left in a room to reserve it. A room left unoccupied for 10 minutes is available. In an effort to reduce thefts, Campus Security may lock an unoccupied practice room if there are unsecured items in it.

6. If chairs or stands are moved from other practice rooms, or if a piano is moved within a room, all items should be returned to their original locations at the end of each practice session. (Note: Students are advised to bring a personal portable stand to practice sessions).

7. For security purposes, coverings may not be placed over the windows in the doors of the practice rooms.

8. To protect our floors, cellists and double bass students are asked to use rubber tips or stoppers on their instrument end pins.

9. Piano Practice Priority: Sixteen rooms have signs identifying them as piano priority practice rooms. Piano majors will have first right of access to these rooms and may ask non-pianists to leave rooms designated as piano practice priority rooms.

10. Piano Priority Locked Rooms: There are four locked piano priority rooms (G02, G04, G07 and G09). Students must go to the Campus Security Office to secure a key to these rooms. These rooms are kept locked to maintain the quality of the pianos.

11. Chamber Music Practice Priority: Four rooms— 253 (chamber w/ piano), 239 (chamber w/o piano), 242, and 244 (quartet/quintet)—are designated for chamber music priority. Chamber groups with all members present may ask other students to vacate these rooms. Pianists have second priority for the piano chamber music rooms. On Saturdays, some of these chamber music priority rooms are used for teaching in the Preparatory and will not be available to Conservatory students for practicing between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. Chamber music groups may reserve Saturday rehearsal times in Conservatory rooms with the Registrar’s Office by 4:30 pm on Fridays. In addition, the registrar can assign available rooms in Leakin Hall to students needing a place to practice with their chamber group.

12. Dual Piano Priority: Room 237 is designated as a dual piano priority room.

13. Double Bass Practice Priority: Room 420, the practice room closest to the double bass studio, is a bass priority practice room. Double bass students will have the prerogative to ask other instrumentalists to vacate the room.

14. Percussion Practice Priority: Six to eight rooms in proximity to the percussion studio are locked percussion priority practice rooms. Students must go to the Campus Security Office to secure a key to these rooms.

15. Voice Practice Priority: Room 129 is designated as a voice priority practice room. Vocalists have the prerogative to ask other students to vacate the room.

16. Harp Practice Rooms 34 and 35 on the plaza level are locked practice rooms designated as harp-only practice rooms. All harp students will be given keys.

17. Jazz Practice Rooms: Three rooms on the second floor of Leakin Hall are designated as jazz practice rooms.

18. Practicing is not permitted in a teaching studio without the written permission of all the teachers assigned to the studio. At all times, teaching in these rooms takes precedence over practicing. Students with access to a teaching studio should be sure that the studio is not needed for teaching before beginning to practice. Keep in mind that, in addition to a teacher’s regular teaching schedule, a teacher may need a room to teach a make-up or special lessons.

19. Hours of availability: Practice rooms located in the Wenger hallway are available 24 hours a day. Organ students are permitted to use Griswold Hall 24 hours a day with permission of the studio teacher. All other practice rooms will be closed from 2 am until 6 am. If a practice room is locked that should be unlocked, contact Campus Security for assistance.

20. Practice rooms and other campus facilities may not be used for non- Peabody related instruction (i.e. private instruction).

21. Practicing in hallways and other public areas is strongly discouraged as it may be disruptive to classes, performances, and offices in the area. Failure to heed a request to cease playing may result in disciplinary action.

These policies exist to optimize the availability of our finite number of rooms and to protect our instruments as much as possible. Students who violate these policies are subject to fines. The fines will be as follows:

$100 Failure to comply with request of practice room monitor, including Campus Security officer (No warnings)
$50 Drink or food on the pianos or concert halls $50 Possessions left in an abandoned room for more than 10 minutes
$50 Failing to replace items (stands, chairs, etc.) removed from practice rooms
$50 Failure to yield priority in marked rooms
$50 Exceeding three-hour time limit (i.e. keeping a key to a locked practice room for more than three hours)
$25 Covering practice room window $25 Failure to display ID properly (in window, photo facing outward)
$10 Non-food items (other than music) placed on pianos

Fines will double for repeat violations. Chronic violations of the policy may result in disciplinary action which may include a revocation of privileges to use the practice rooms, among other sanctions.

Students will be notified in writing of a violation citation and will have seven days from the date of the notification to appeal in writing to the associate dean for student affairs. A timely appeal will result in an opportunity to meet with the associate dean for student affairs who will consider any relevant information the student wishes to present. In the absence of an appeal, the sanction in the notice will be put into effect. Questions regarding this policy may be directed to the Student Affairs Office.