Reserving a Practice Room

Practice rooms may be reserved by registered music majors and minors at the Blair School of Music, by Vanderbilt students who are enrolled in performance lessons at Blair, and by precollege and adult students enrolled in performance lessons at Blair.

No. Due to limited availability, only students at Blair who are registered for performance classes are allowed to use the practice rooms. Out of respect for our students, please find an alternative location to practice.

Students are able to reserve practice rooms via the EMS Scheduling System during the schedule booking period. The booking period typically starts the first full week of classes and ends midway through the second week.

In general, practice rooms can be reserved between the hours of 8 a.m.-11 p.m. Note: On most nights, the Blair building is locked at 9 p.m. Blair students can access the building after 9 p.m. through the main front entrance, using their Vanderbilt ID cards.

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 2-3:30 p.m. practice rooms are not available for reservation. During these times, all of the larger practice rooms and classrooms are reserved for chamber ensembles. All other rooms are available on a first come, first served basis. This is due to very high numbers of requests during these times coupled with very limited availability.

Students may reserve a practice room for up to three (3) hours per day.

Reservation requests are taken at the beginning of each semester. Reservations last for one semester, from the day the schedule is posted through the end of finals.

You will receive a confirmation email from the Blair Registrar once the schedule has been completed. This email will include your reservations for the semester. Note: Your assignment may be different from what you originally requested, depending on availability. Whether your reservation has been approved or not, you should receive email correspondence from the Blair registrar. If the schedule has been posted and you have not received a confirmation email, please contact the Blair Registrar immediately.

The schedule is typically posted three or four days after the end of the request period.

With almost 200 Blair undergraduates and even more precollege and adult students, and only 30 practice rooms, space and time are at a premium, especially during the most popular hours (9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday).

Reservations are assigned by seniority and the order in which they're received. Blair seniors get the first choice. Priority then goes, in descending order, to juniors, sophomores, freshmen and finally precollege and adult students.

If the room you request is not available, the best efforts are made to give you a different space during your requested time that has similar qualities to the original room. If all the rooms are booked before your assignment can be made, the scheduling coordinator will work with you to find an alternate time that fits into your schedule. To find space in a practice room please view our Browse for Space Tutorial.

Reservations for a particular block of time will occasionally get booked up before all requests can be accommodated. However, not all students who are booked into your preferred time slot will necessarily accept that slot. If you are wait-listed, the events coordinator will contact you if space opens up during your requested block. Otherwise, she will work with you to try to find an acceptable alternative time.

EMS stands for Event Management Systems. It's an online scheduling service that allows you to look for available time and request a classroom, practice room or performance hall. 

With the exception of the percussion rooms, all practice rooms on the first floor are available for any Blair student to book.

All of the practice rooms on the second floor are available to any Blair student.

On the third floor, practice rooms 3121, 3149, 3150, 3151 and 3152 are available for any Blair student to book. Practice Rooms 3147 and 3148 are also available to all Blair students, but the priority for these rooms is given to vocal majors.

No keys are necessary for any these rooms.

There are specific rooms designated for piano majors to practice. All of these rooms are located on the third floor and are marked "Piano Majors Only." The designated rooms are 3129, 3131, 3133 and 3142, each of which houses a grand piano, and 3145 and 3146, each of which houses two grand pianos.

Keys must be checked out in order to gain access to practice rooms designated for piano majors. To obtain a key, a permission form must be signed by the appropriate faculty member and returned to the Receptionist at the front desk in the main office. A refundable cash deposit of $30 is required for each key.

Practice rooms designated for percussion majors can be found on the first floor. These rooms are 1139, 1141, 1143, 1145 and 1153. Please check with your performance teacher on the policies and procedures of using these rooms. These rooms are not reserved through EMS.

Keys must be checked out in order to gain access to practice rooms designated for piano majors. To obtain a key, a permission form must be signed by the appropriate faculty member and returned to the Receptionist at the front desk in the main office. A refundable cash deposit of $30 is required for each key.

Vocal majors have first priority to reserve practice rooms 3147 and 3148. Both of these rooms have tile floors and an upright piano. No key is required for these rooms.

There are designated rooms for harpsichord practice. Students who are approved can schedule harpsichord rooms with the Events Coordinator.

No! Food and drink are strictly prohibited in the practice rooms! They can be very damaging to the instruments. Please keep all food and drink out of these spaces. If you are caught eating or drinking in a practice room, your reservation privileges may be revoked for the remainder of the semester.

Contact Building & Facilities Manager Jared Wonderly if there are any maintenance issues in the practice rooms or elsewhere around the building.

Contact Events Coordinator Heather White for help in reserving a practice room.

Some practice rooms require keys for access. To obtain a key, a permission form must be signed by the appropriate faculty member and returned to the Receptionist at the front desk in the main office. A refundable cash deposit of $30 is required for each key.

Contact Jeff Stevens for piano tuning or other piano-related concerns.

If you have a question regarding practice room scheduling or procedures that aren't addressed, contact the Events Coordinator.