Five Places to Practise Piano in Birmingham, UK
Practising piano on a regular basis is essential to progressing efficiently with your piano playing and to making piano lessons worthwhile. Purchasing a piano, though, is a big investment, and not all students starting off with piano lessons are prepared to invest in an instrument right away.
Fortunately, there are ways to get this vital piano practise time in even before you have bought a piano for your home - one is to travel to a location with a piano to do your practising.
If you have a friend or family member willing to let you use their piano that can be an ideal solution, but if not, here are five great places in Birmingham, UK you can practise piano.
The Library of Birmingham has rooms with pianos that you can hire to practice at the generous rate of £5 per hour. It is recommended to book ahead to reserve your room and time. To book a room, phone 0121 242 4242 from Monday to Friday, 11am-5pm, and ask for the Music Library.
Formerly Midlands Arts Centre, MAC Birmingham is another great option, with five well-equipped music rooms. Rooms vary in size and can accommodate groups as well as individuals, and several are fitted with sound panels. Music stands are available on request and many of the rooms contain upright pianos. Prices vary from £8 to £25, depending on the room. Click here for a full list of the rooms and details.
Robannas Studios is recording and rehearsal facility meant more for bands, however they do offer keyboard rentals at £10 a session, and thus can be used for individual piano practise. Room prices range from £10 to £25, or you can rent your own private space for just £40 per week, with lock and key access. To make a booking, contact Robannas Studios with the date, start & finish time, your name & any specials (e.g. requesting a particular room, and mentioning keyboard rental) by phone - 0121 333 3201, text - 07783764202, e-mail - robannas.studios@btinternet.com, or Facebook Message - facebook.com/robannas.
Hockley Street Studios has some great rooms for individual and band practise. If you are practising jazz or pop/rock piano you might want to book Room 20 which has a dual-manual electric organ, and is available for £8 per hour, with a whopping 50% discount if you are rehearsing solo (i.e. without a band). Otherwise you can rent a keyboard for your practise session. Contact Hockley Street Studios for more details and to book a room.
5. The Pump (for Youth)
Like Hockley Street, The Pump is better for piano students interested in contemporary music styles, and especially songwriting and production. Their studio has a range of of high-quality instruments and a fully functional recording studio, complete with Logic Pro 9 and Reason. The centre is geared towards youth, and young people can hire the studio to practise on the midi keyboard, or record music mixes and their vocals for just £5 per hour, with full support and guidance from a studio technician. Call 0121 675 8381 to book.
Know of other places to practise piano in Birmingham, UK? Add them in the comments below.
And if you want to add some structure and direction to your piano practising, check out our information about piano lessons in Birmingham.