Accompanist rehearsals before exams and auditions

Make rehearsals a bookable service with slots at the length you work best, ask for the scores before the first session, and plan at least one rehearsal well before the exam or audition and a short run-through closer to the day. Singers and instrumentalists book their rehearsal online and write the date of their exam and the pieces in the note. You arrive prepared, they get their tempos and breaths settled with you, and nobody discovers the piano part for the first time the week before.

An accompanist's rehearsals cluster around the same dates: exam sessions, conservatoire auditions, end-of-year recitals, competitions. Students of the same teacher can need you in the same weeks, sometimes on the same afternoon. Without a clear system, requests come in by text, email and word of mouth, each with a different idea of when you're free, and some arrive with the score only on the day.

A booking page puts your rehearsal times in one place, lets each student pick a slot, and lets you set the conditions (scores in advance, what the price covers) before anyone books.

Say in the service description that the scores must reach you a few days before the rehearsal. Book doesn't handle file attachments, so ask for them by email.

On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page. You open slots for each service at the length it takes; the student picks a service, then a free slot. One place per slot, since you rehearse with one student at a time.

Durations and prices are examples: set your own. If you also play at the exam or concert itself, that date is usually fixed by the exam board or the venue: agree it directly with the student and add it to your calendar yourself.

The public booking form asks for first name, last name, email and phone, plus an optional note that you read in your new-booking email. Ask for the exam or audition date, the pieces, and their teacher's name. The note can't be edited after booking, so put the questions in the description, where students read them before they book.

Open extra rehearsal slots in the weeks before exam sessions, and fewer the rest of the year. You can repeat slots each week on chosen weekdays until a date, for example every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon until the end of the exam period. When a teacher sends you several students for the same exam, create slots for each and book them in yourself from your calendar: first and last name are required, email and phone optional. With one place, a booked slot is full and disappears from your page.

Leave a short gap between rehearsals to read the next score and let the next student warm up. Slots are yours to shape, so a 30-minute rehearsal can start every 40 minutes.

Students can't move bookings online: they contact you, and you reschedule or cancel from your bookings list. Book doesn't email them about changes, so confirm the new time yourself. With calendar sync (Google, iPhone, Mac), rehearsals sit next to your own practice, teaching and concerts. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.