HOW TO CONTACT ANOTHER STUDENT OR TEACHER?
You can send email to anyone in this community by going to his/her personal pages. When you sign into your account, you will see "Who's Online" on your right side bar. By clicking on any one of those students (who is also online at the same time you are online) in the Who's Online window, you can visit his/her personal pages. Once you are in another student's personal pages, you can click on "Contact" tab to initiate an email with personal message to that student.

WHEN TO CONTACT ANOTHER USER?
Before sending a personal message to anyone, you may want to take a moment to assess the quality of that message, give enough consideration to the privacy of the recipient of that message and evaluate whether this message is appropriate for the forum setup or personal message exchanges. As this community operates on a "honor" system, the ambient quality of this community is upheld by every individual in this community, that means everyone of us.

WHAT DOES HAPPEN WHEN YOU SEND PERSONAL MESSAGE?
When you send a personal message, you message is delivered to the email address registered by the recipient. Every student in this site has registered an email address at the time of signing in. If it is a valid email address, your email message will reach the intended student. The target recipient can read your message as a part of an email body, but he/she can't reply to that email. He/she has to sign in to this site to contact you through your personal pages as the way you did in the first place.

Go to your Student Page by clicking on your own name. Click the tab User Info, then scroll down to Picture. Choose a file or image and "upload" it and it will now appear on your page.

As you will see in the Terms of Service, membership to the Tony Trischka School of Banjo is a 3 month RECURRING subscription. That means on the 90th day your membership will AUTOMATICALLY RENEW for $60. You will see a charge from Tony Trischka School of Banjo on your credit card statement.

If you want to cancel your membership, just go to your Student Page and click on the "Subscription" tab and click "Cancel Subscription". Note that you will still be able to use the site until your current subscription term expires. If you want to edit your billing information, click on the "Billing Info" tab on your Student Page.

You can find students two ways. Just click on their name in the Who's Online box OR just do a search in the Find Student Search box on the right nav panel.

Click on your name in the Who's Online box and get to your Student Page. You can click on the tab that says "EDIT" then click on Privacy Settings. You can make yourself Visible or Invisible on Instant Messenger as well as Who's Online.

Go to My TTSB on the right nav panel and click on My Student Page. You'll see a tab called "Billing Information" at the top of the window that you can click on to change your settings. The Edit tab allows you to change your password and Personal information you're sharing on your Student Page.

When you sign on you'll see the status of your video submission in the right navigation panel under My TTSB.

When Tony Trischka has responded to your video, the status will change under My TTSB and you'll see your Master Class appear under the appropriate category on the left nav panel.

Who's online is everyone that is signed on and opted to be visible to other members of the site. The people listed on chat are members that have opened chat and want to be visible to other users.

Your membership is a 3 month subscription that will automatically renew in 90 days from the day you join. If you want to look at your account, go to your Student Page and look under Subscriptions for more information.

Our system allows 50 MB files to be uploaded for submission to Tony Trischka and for your StudentPage.
You'll find more information on specifics under the Uploading Student Video FAQ.
Email:
webmaster@tonybanjo.com

You can always contact the webmaster@tonybanjo.com. It is monitored regularly and we answer as quickly as we can. Also, leave a note in the Shout Box or post something in the Forum. If there is a technical problem we are quick to post the announcement, but if something undetected is happening, we appreciate knowing about it.

Our mailing address is:
ArtistWorks, Inc
69 Coombs Street
Napa, CA 94559
1-800-326-5596

Although Tony Trischka School of Banjo reserves the right to raise the enrollment fee, we feel the current price of $60 for 3 months is reasonable and a great value. We do not expect to raise the price in the near future, but would make an announcement with adequate notice before it changes. You can cancel your account at any time by going to your Student Page, we don't make it difficult. We want happy banjo players!

General guidelines:

You are submitting a video for Tony to review your technique, style and proficiency. The material should be based on the video curriculum you see on the left navigation panel of the site. When you record yourself, be sure to tell Tony your user name (no need to give your full name, but we need to know how to identify you) and also tell Tony the subject of your video (eg Forward Roll, Sally Johnson, Scale in G Major or Composing a Tune in 30 seconds etc. )

This is important: check to be sure Tony can see both hands in the video. The banjo is a long instrument so you may have to back up a little so both hands are visible.

If you are sending an original piece of music, please give the full title, but we ask that you appreciate that most students are here to work their way through the banjo video curriculum progressively in order to improve. Tony will prioritize the video submissions as they come in. He reviews every video and then responds with comments, suggestions and new assignments.

The TTSB allows you to get direct feedback from Tony Trischka and the Tony Trischka School of Banjo. You'll first need to upload a video so we can see what you are doing. You can use any camera or webcam, as long as you can eventually get the video into one of the formats we "understand." For now, we are allowing .mov (for Mac computer users), or .wmv (for Windows computer users). Since it ultimately gets converted to Adobe Flash anyway, you can go ahead and convert it yourself and send it as a .flv file if you like. There is more information at the Submit Videos page. Click on the SUBMIT VIDEOS button in the top left tab of the Menu bar. The video will go into TTSB's "queue" (a holding area). Tony Trischka will review your video and post a video or written response in the FEEDBACK CENTER department under Master Class on the Left Nav Panel. Your video, paired with Tony Trischka' response, will appear within the category you chose when you submitted your video

First, be sure the file size is no bigger than 50 MB Then be sure the file is either appended with ".mov" or ".wmv" or ".flv". Also be sure your file name does not have any spaces in it. Any more problems? email webmaster@tonybanjo.com. We'll help you as quickly as possible and this email is monitored regularly. Check the Forums as well and the Shout Box in case there is a known problem on the site.

Your video submission should not be much longer than 2 minutes. The content should be based on the material that Tony Trischka has covered in the Video Lessons and indicative of the level you want him to review and respond with Feedback. TUNES are naturally a bit longer, but please avoid extended solos for critique. Tony Trischka wants to review every video submitted to him, so keeping your submission to about 2 minutes gives everyone the chance to hear from him. However, if you would like to "Showcase" a longer video or solo/improv, post it on your Student Page for everyone to comment on and enjoy!

Your video upload should not take more than a minute or two if you have kept it to 50MB and it is around 2 or 3 minutes in length. If you feel like your upload has stalled, it might be wise to simply stop the Upload and try again. The easiest way to do this is to simply click on your browser's "reload" button. That will clear the upload form and allow you to try again. You should verify that your file is OK, it shouldn't be longer than around 50 MB. Also, make sure the file type is .mov, .wmv, or .flv which are our supported file types. Finally, be sure you haven't put any spaces or special characters in the file name. If you continue to have problems, we monitor the webmaster email regularly. Please email us at webmaster@tonybanjo.com. Check the Forums and the Shout Box on Home Base in case there is a known problem.

How to create a .mov video using iMovie 9 (the latest version).

1. In iMove, choose the "Share" menu
2. Choose "Export using QuickTime ..."
3. Name your file (please don't use spaces or special characters)
4. At the bottom, there are two "pop-up" menus.
Export: Choose "Movie to Quicktime Movie"
Use: Choose "Broadband- Medium"

5. Click "Save"

Now here's more information than you need, so ignore the rest if you like. If you use the above approach, this is the set of settings you'll have:

Video
Compressor: H.264
Quality: High
Frame rate 15
Key frame rate: 75
Bitrate: 220 Kbit/sec
Frame reordering: yes
Encoding mode: multi-pass
Dimensions 320 x 240

Audio
Format: AAC
Sample Rate 32,000 kHz
(recommended)
Channels: Stereo (L,R)
Bit rate 80 kbps

This gives you a sense of a nice set of settings for TTSB videos.

Here's some quick guidance that should make it easier for you to upload videos.

This feature is for you to share your creativity and talent with fellow guitarists at the TTSB. Entertain us!
Maximum size to submit is 50MB and the name of your file can NOT contain any spaces.
IF your video is less than 10 seconds long the icon below the player will not display properly
The "Frame grab" that is on the player initially is taken from the 10th second into the video. So if you want to control what goes there, place a nice image at the 10 second spot
If you use a Mac, create an .mov file (you can use iMovie).
If you use a Windows computer, create an .wmv (you can use Windows Movie Maker).
You can also send an .flv file (Adobe Flash video).
Make sure you have good light when you make your video.
If you have a movie or video in a different format, you will need to convert it to either .mov or .wmv before you upload it. Watch this space for more information about this.
We are working on expanding the kinds of videos we will accept.
Once you upload your video, you and the other TTSB students can watch it on your "My Student Page".
Be mindful of the TTSB Terms of Service. Do not upload copyrighted material and no profanity or vulgarity etc.
Keep TTSB a friendly place! Please do not upload anything offensive to the TTSB community. Use your common sense please!
TTSB reserves the right to remove any videos it deems inappropriate.

More questions? webmaster@tonybanjo.com

Right now we only support "flv", "mov" and "wmv" files..m4v is coming!

In the meantime, you can only use these file formats. IF you are using one of them and you're still getting the bad file name error, be sure you do not have any spaces in the file name. Go back and check -- many Mac users are accustomed to being able to put spaces in their file names. Eliminate any characters other than letters, just to be safe. If you continue to have problems, please email the webmaster, we monitor that email regularly.
webmaster@tonybanjo.com.

First click on your name in the Who's Online box. Click User Info on the top tab. Then you will see 3 underlined options, Account Settings, Personal Information and Privacy Settings. Click each one and they will open up a template that will allow you to change your information.

Click UPLOAD VIDEOS to share fun sessions or just hanging out. TTSB encourages discretion with these videos and reminds you that students of all ages are here.

Click MANAGE MY PICTURES to add, remove or edit photos to your Student Page. To ADD a photo, click the Manage Photos link and Choose a file, then click UPLOAD. The photo will show up on your Image Gallery where you can then give it a title or delete it. **Be sure to click the SUBMIT button at the bottom so that photos show up on your page.

More questions? write to webmaster@tonybanjo.com. We're here to help!

After you have listened to a Track, you can see it on your computer screen, just click "Download." The file will go wherever your normal Internet browser downloads go. If you have a "helper" application specified for MP3 files (such as iTunes), iTunes will be automatically launched and with your new file ready to play

This may be related to how many people you currently have on your Buddy List. Click on the Chat button and when the window launches, click the little "x" by a few of the names on your Buddy List to exclude them. Your typing speed should increase as you lessen the names on your list. This is a temporary fix and a permanent one is on the way.

Go to "My Student Page", then click the "User Info" tab, then click the "Privacy Settings" tab. You can remove them from the Chat Blocked Users List, and you will then be able to receive chat invitations from them again.

Just click on the "Chat" item found on the top navigation bar, located between "Tours" and "Photos".

You can "opt out" of chat simply by changing your privacy settings. But Tony strongly encourages you not to do that. Why? Because he has found that being part of this supportive banjo community can greatly accelerate your banjo playing progress. And every person at the TTSB wants to learn to play banjo better. The whole community is friendly and respectful, and you should not need to worry about anonymous bad Internet behavior here. You can make new online friends from all over the world. You are safe here, and interaction is key. That said, if you still prefer not to participate in chat, go to your "My Student Page", then go to the "User Info" tab, then the "Privacy Settings" tab. Once there, you can manage your "visibility".

Once you have chatted with a fellow TTSB student, they "stick" to your Buddy List. Anytime you and your Buddy List friend have your Banjo Chat windows open, you bypass the invitation exchange and can simply start typing. In other words, your Banjo Chat Buddy List is an "open channel" to all of those on your Buddy List. (Simply remove the person from your Buddy List if you prefer to reinstate the "invitation" for that person.)

You can select your individual buddies by clicking on their "tab" on your Buddy List.

Yes, you can have several chat conversations going at once. Each of your "Buddy List" friends are on an individual "tab". You will see "ready to chat" on the tab of any of your buddies that is online and who has their Banjo Chat window open. Click on their "tab" and start typing. If you are chatting with one person, and another of your buddies sends you some chat text, you will see an indication on their "tab."

There is a little 'x' to the right of the names in your Buddy List. If you want to remove someone, simply click on the 'x'. They will be instantly removed. You can remove anyone at any time. You can add them back simply by chatting with them again (using the "Who's Online" list).

Just invite them to a Chat! Once you have chatted with them, they are automatically added to your Buddy List.

The Buddy List is your list of TTSB friends, and it is found on the left side of the Banjo Chat window. You can always see your Banjo Chat window by clicking on "Chat" on the top navigation bar (between "Tours" and "Photos"). Your Buddy List makes it easy to keep track of your friends at the TTSB. Any person with whom you have chatted "sticks" to your Buddy List until you 'x' them away. Over time, you will build a list of your favorite TTSB friends, and you will know instantly which of them are online by looking at your Buddy List. When the "Who's Online" list gets long, it may be hard to find your friends on Who's Online list.

We have designed our chat system to work on as many different kinds of browsers as possible. The browser you are using may have strict rules about "Pop up" windows, and it may misperceive the incoming Banjo Chat window as an unsolicited "Popup" window. On some browsers, you may see a little notice that says something like "TTSB Chat has sent a Popup window. Do you want to accept it?" If so, say yes.

After you accept a Chat invitation, a little notification is placed telling you that "Chat is starting". It also says "if the Chat window doesn't appear click here." Do so.

You can also simply click "Chat" on the top navigation bar (between "Tours" and "Photos"). This will bring the chat window to the top. Bear in mind that the person inviting you to Chat may have changed their mind or logged off, in which case the chat will not begin because the invitee is no longer there.

If the large TTSB window is blocking the little Banjo Chat window, sometimes it is hard to find the Banjo Chat window. You can always click on the "Chat" item on the top navigation bar.

On the right navigation column (labeled "TTSB community"), there is a list of "Who's Online." Any person who is available for chat will have a little yellow chat icon beside their name. You can click on the chat icon beside the user name of the person with who you wish to chat. When you do, an invitation is issued to that person. Let's say you are "BanjoBob" and you see that PatriciaB is online, and you are interested in chatting with her. When you issue an invitation, "PatriciaB gets this message:

Incoming Chat Invitation
BanjoBob would like to chat.

Accept the chat invitation
Decline the chat invitation
Decline and block all invitations from

Simply click on "Accept" to accept the chat invitation. The "Banjo Chat" window should come forward.

It is automatic. When you login to the TTSB, you are automatically able to use the chat system. You can see other TTSB students in the "Who's Online" list (on the right navigation column). The little yellow chat "icon" tells you that they are available to chat.

Also known as "Instant Messaging", chat is a feature that allows students to communicate with each other in real time. A special window called "Banjo Chat" is opened, and in it you can type text messages to members of the TTSB community.