At my high school, music practice rooms were a big deal. If you had a half an hour off from classes and wanted to make sure you didn’t forget that Shostakovich, you had to sign in, swear that you were truly using the space for practice and not for other nefarious purposes, grab a key from the receptionist, run upstairs, open the door, and, finally, turn your backpack into a makeshift doorstop so you wouldn’t get locked out as you dashed back down the steps to return the key. Punahou practicers were also often rudely interrupted in their exercises by music teachers, who always had the right to kick students out.

It should be no surprise, then, that I expected the Cornell practice room system to be similarly draconian.

The little orange posters placed around Lincoln Hall bulletin boards aren’t much help. Each states that a deposit and key is required for grand piano rooms, but neglect to describe the protocol for the rest. This (combined with that whole “starting college” thing) caused a terrible deterioration of my piano skills during my freshman year.

As a sage sophomore, I’m here to let all prospective-freshers know that practice rooms are open to anyone during Lincoln’s regular hours every day. Now, of course, there are a lot of Cornellians who already know this, so it’s always the case that they might be occupied–best to get there early if you want to reserve your spot!

Something else to keep in mind is that, despite claims to the contrary, there’s really no such thing as “sound-proof” here: I can always hear that Broadway tenor belting out his tunes next door when I’m playing Debussy. That said, the rooms are clean, well-lit places with beautiful upright pianos. I’ve even made a little video to demonstrate my particular favorite’s gorgeous tone. (Ten points to anyone who recognizes the song! Also, you should probably let this dude load before trying to play it. Trust me.)

To my equally old and wise readers: what would’ve been useful for you to know during your (presumably long gone) freshman year? Let me know in the comments!