Host a session
Post a practice session or performance, invite people, and run the room: spotlight, mute, record, add sheet music, and edit or cancel.
To host you need a subscription, credits, or free member access as a Sonatina camper. See Free accounts, credits and subscriptions.
Post a session
Web browser
- On Piano Gather, click the + button at the top of the menu (New Session).
- Choose a Session Mode: Practice, Perform or Camp Gather.
- Fill in the details (below) and click Post Session.
If you're paying with credits, the top of the form shows what the session costs and your balance.
Mac or Windows app
- Click the + button at the top of the sidebar (New session).
- Choose Practice, Perform or Camp Gather at the top.
- Fill in the details (below) and click Post.
iPad or iPhone app
- On the Home tab, tap the round + button.
- Choose Practice, Perform or Camp at the top.
- Fill in the details (below) and tap Post.
The kinds of session:
- Practice: practice alongside others, or anything that isn't a performance.
- Perform: you play and the others listen.
- Camp Gather: for people from one of your Sonatina camps.
The details. Everything except the date and time is optional:
- Repertoire: what you're working on. This is the headline on your card.
- Date and time: in your own time zone. Everyone else sees it in theirs.
- Duration: 30 minutes to 2 hours.
- Spots: from 1 visitor up to open (unlimited).
- Note for visitors: e.g. what kind of practice buddy you're looking for.
- Country: puts your flag on the card.
Note: There are no repeating sessions yet. Post each one separately.
Invite people
Private session. Turn on Private session and search for people by name. Only the people you invite can RSVP. A private session still appears in everyone's list, marked Private, but nobody else can join it.
By email. Put addresses in Additional emails, separated by commas or spaces. Each person gets an invitation. Once they've signed in to Piano Gather with that same email and verified it, they can RSVP. For a private session, anyone without an account is asked to make one first; then add them by name.
Your guests don't pay. Anyone you invite, by name or by email, can RSVP and join on a free account: no subscription, credits or $1 tip. You're the one paying for the session. (Camp Gathers work by camp list instead.)
Camp Gather. Choose your camp and year under Your camp connection. When you post, everyone enrolled in that camp gets an email invitation.
Who gets emailed:
- People you invite get an invitation when you post.
- Public practice sessions and performances are also announced to members who've turned on open-session notifications.
- When you edit a session, the people who RSVP'd hear about any change that affects them, and new invitees are sent their invitation. Earlier invitees aren't emailed again.
Edit, cancel or email your guests
Web browser
Open the ⋯ menu on your card:
- Edit session changes any of the details.
- Delete session cancels it and emails everyone who RSVP'd.
- Email RSVPers (or Email invitees, Email camp invitees) writes to your guests.
Mac or Windows app
Open the ⋮ menu on your card:
- Edit session changes any of the details.
- Delete session cancels it and emails everyone who RSVP'd.
- Email RSVPers (or Email invitees, Email camp invitees) writes to your guests.
iPad or iPhone app
Tap your session to open it:
- Edit (top right) changes any of the details. Tap Save when you're done.
- Cancel session (in red, at the bottom) cancels it and emails everyone who RSVP'd.
- Message attendees (or Email campers) writes to your guests.
On credits, a longer or larger session costs the difference and a shorter one refunds it. If you cancel before anybody has entered the room, you get all your credits back. Once a session has ended it can no longer be edited or cancelled.
Add sheet music
You can upload up to 20 PDF scores to a session. During the call people open them with the Score button. You turn everyone's page, or pick someone to turn pages for you. Scores can't be written on; to show markings, mirror an iPad you're annotating on and share that screen.
Web browser
Open the ⋯ menu on your card and choose Music stand.
Mac or Windows app
Open the ⋮ menu on your card and choose Music stand (or Add a score).
iPad or iPhone app
Tap your session, and under Music stand tap Choose PDFs….
Run the room
You can go in 30 minutes before the start. These controls are yours alone:
Web browser
- Grid / Spotlight / 1-on-1 sets the layout for everyone (see Layouts).
- Mute All mutes everyone and locks their microphones. Unlock lets them unmute again.
- Record records the session.
- Share shares your screen.
- Each person's video has a ⋮ menu with Spotlight, Mute, Invite to share screen and Remove. In Spotlight you can also click someone's video to feature them, and click again to bring the spotlight back to yourself.
Mac or Windows app
- Grid / Spotlight / 1-on-1 sets the layout for everyone (see Layouts).
- Mute all mutes everyone and locks their microphones. Unlock mics lets them unmute again.
- Record records the session; it says Stop while recording.
- Share screen shares your screen. Asset queue plays YouTube videos, videos from your computer and PDFs to the room, with their sound; see Controls during a session. Wear headphones for videos.
- Each person's video has a menu with Spotlight, Mute, Invite to share screen and Remove from session.
- Connections, at the top of the window, shows everyone's connection quality.
iPad or iPhone app
- On an iPad, the layout and Mute all are on the control bar. On an iPhone they're in Call settings, under Layout and Participant mics.
- Record is at the top right. It asks you to confirm, and locks the screen's rotation while recording.
- Press and hold someone's video (or tap its ⋮) for Spotlight, Mute, Invite to share screen and Remove from session.
- You can't share your own screen from the app.
Removed someone by mistake? Click Undo, or Allow back under the list of removed people.
Recordings appear in History for you and everyone who RSVP'd, and are kept for 90 days. A long recording can take a few minutes after the session to show up.
Ending
The session ends on its own at the scheduled time, and recording stops with it. Two minutes before the end you get a one-time +5 min button if you need a little longer.
Afterwards: History
Open History. Each past session shows who came, its recording if there was one, and notes. Everyone who was there can add notes, which they all see. As host you can also Message all participants, and on the web and Mac/Windows app share a PDF handout with the group.