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.

Christie can help students prepare for any audition, recital or competition. For examination systems she prefers to prepare her students for the national conservatory examination system instead of individual state systems which are inconsistent in their content and judging.
Just let Christie know what you are preparing for and include this topic in your video submission for her to evaluate and respond to.

Pricing is determined by the expenses of running the site and servers, the number of students, and many other factors. ArtistWorks tries to keep the pricing "family friendly". Although Peery Piano Online reserves the right to raise the price of the three-month subscription, we have no plans to raise the price in the near future. If we decide to make changes to the pricing will make an announcement with adequate notice long before the change.

As you will see in the Terms of Service, membership to Peery Piano Online is a 3 month RECURRING subscription. That means on the 90th day your membership will AUTOMATICALLY RENEW for $TBD. You will see a charge from Peery Piano Online on your credit card statement, or on your Pay Pal account.

If you want to cancel your membership, 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.

Just click on their name in the Who's Online box (on the right Peery Community navigation bar). That will take you to their page. Pretty much any time you see another student's name, you can click on it and get to their Student Page. Also, you do a search in the "Search" field just below the Who's Online box. You can search by first or last name, or by location, or any other information that someone may have published on their "My Student Page". You can also see who has signed on recently in the "Recent Users" list, near the bottom of the Peery Community navigation bar.

Click on "My Student Page" which is found on the "Peery Community" navigation bar. Once you are at your "My Student Page" page, you can click on the tab at the top of the page that says "EDIT". Then you'll see another set of tabs. Click on the one that says "Privacy Settings." You can make yourself Visible or Invisible on Who's Online (if you are invisible, you won't appear on the "Who's Online" list. In the Privacy Settings you can also "opt out" of the Piano Chat feature.

Go the the "Peery Community" right navigation bar, then you'll see "My Student Page". Click on this. Near top portion of your Student Page you'll see a tab called "Billing Info." Click on that tab. Then you can select the "Edit" tab which allows you to edit (change) your password, and change other billing information.

Go to the area that says "Curriculum" on the left navigation bar. You'll see, just below the word "Curriculum" an item called "Getting Started." Go there to watch videos where Christie explains exactly how Peery Piano Online works. You can also re-watch the "NEW STUDENT WELCOME" video by clicking on that name on the bottom of the left navigation bar.

You can leave a "Shout Out" message whenever you like. All students will see the the Shout Out board; it's a great place to express your thoughts.

You can complete your own "Student" page... add photos and videos, and tell everyone about yourself!

You can visit other student's "Student Page" and leave a friendly message their guest books.

You can invite anyone who is online to enter into an instant message-style conversation. Just click on the little yellow chat icon beside their user name. Go ahead and invite someone! Make a new friend!

You can build of list of people you've chatted with in your Buddy List. When you click on "Chat" in the top navigation, you'll be able to quickly see which of your friends are online right now.

You can see who's logged in lately in the "Recent Users" list

You can leave comments on most lessons and Master Classes

You can take part in Forums, which are topic-based discussions

You can use the "Search" field to find other students with similar interests to yours

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.

At various points during the lessons, Christie will tell you to send a video, and exactly what the video should be. Christie will watch your video, and provide either written form, or with a video. In either case, Christie will let you know what you need to do to improve and move forward.

You can always contact the webmaster@peerypiano.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.

Our mailing address is:
ArtistWorks, Inc
68 Coombs Drive
Building C1
Napa, CA 94559
1-800-326-5596

Go the your "Student Page". Near the top of the page you'll see "Billing Info" in a tab. Select this tab, and choose "Cancel my account." You'll be able to continue using the site until your current 90-day enrollment period ends.

If you prefer, you can write an email to webmaster@peerypiano.com and request that your account be cancelled.

The great thing about this site is that you can get direct feedback from Christie. You'll first need to upload a video so she 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 your video ultimately gets converted to Adobe Flash anyway, you can go ahead and convert it yourself and send us a .flv file if you like. Once you have recorded a video and are ready to send it, click on the SUBMIT VIDEOS button in the top navigation bar. The video will go into PPO's "queue" (a holding area). Christie will review your video and post a video or written response in the Feedback Center (on the left navigation bar) under Master Class. Your video, paired with Christie's response, will appear within the category you chose when you submitted your video. Once Christie has posted a response, you'll get a notification on the right navigation bar under "MY PEERY PIANO".

If you have waited a long time, and the video doesn't complete uploading, there is a problem. To start over, 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. Why did the file transfer not work? There could be many reasons, some of which may be related to Internet traffic or other connection issues. But it could also be something from your side. Here's some things to check: First, be sure the file size is no bigger than 50 MB. Here's how: On Mac, select the your video file ("single click" it), then type Command-i ("get info"). On Windows, "right click" your video file, then select "Properties."
Secondly, be sure the filename has either ".mov", ".wmv", or ".flv" at the end of the name. These are the most common video types and the only video formats we support. Also be sure your file name does not have any spaces or strange characters in it. Letters and numbers, the "underbar" character, and the "dash" character are fine. The total length of the file name should be 16 characters or less.
If you are still having problems, email our technical staff at email webmaster@peerypiano.com. We'll help you as quickly as possible.

Your video should not be much longer than 2 minutes unless Christie has advised you otherwise. You should only send in the specific exercises Christie called for in the lessons. Christie will review every video submitted to her, so keep your submission to about 2 minutes. If you would like to showcase a longer video or solo/improv, post it as a "demo" video on your Student Page for everyone to enjoy. On demo videos you can play anything you like!

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@peerypiano.com.

iMovie comes free with all Macintoshes. If you are attaching a video camera to your Mac via Firewire, you can use iMovie to record your movie. If you have used another program (like Quicktime) to record your movie, you can use iMovie to edit it. iMovie provides many tutorials on making and editing videos. Once you have completed your video, here's how to create a .mov video (this was written to match iMovie 9).

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 PPO 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 musicians. Entertain us!

- The maximum size to for your video should be 50MB

- The name of your file must not contain any spaces (can can use letters, numbers, the under bar character, and the dash character).

- An odd one: if your video is less than 10 seconds long the icon below the player will not display properly because it taken from the 10th second into the video. So if you want to control what goes there, be sure something nice is in the 10 second spot

- If you use a Mac, create an .mov file (you can use iMovie or Quicktime).

- 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). Most webcams come with software for recording videos. All are fine as long as you can create a .mov or .wmv file with them.

- 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.

- We are working on expanding the kinds of videos we will accept.

- Once you upload your video, you and other students can watch it on your "My Student Page".

- Be mindful of our Terms of Service. Do not upload copyrighted material and please, no profanity or vulgarity.

- Let's keep this a friendly place! Use your common sense and be supportive of each other!

Of course the PPO reserves the right to remove any videos it deems inappropriate.

More questions? Email us at webmaster@peerypiano.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@peerypiano.com

First click on your name in the Who's Online box. Click EDIT on the top tab and you can fill in all your vital information that you want to share.
Click UPLOAD VIDEOS to share fun sessions or just hanging out. PPO 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@peerypiano.com. We're here to help!

A "track" is a piece of music uploaded by a student to share with all of us. You can listen to a track by clicking on the "play" arrow. Or, click "Download" and the MP3 file will be downloaded to your computer 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 song will ready to play.

This may be related to how many people you currently have on your Buddy List using Chat. Click on the Chat button at the top of the page 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.

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

On the right navigation column (labeled "PPO 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 "Bob" 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
Bob 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 "Chat" window should come forward.

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 to the right of "Tours".

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 Chat window as an unsolicited "Popup" window. On some browsers, you may see a little notice that says something like "PPO 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 (to the right of "Tours"). 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 PPO window is blocking the little Chat window, sometimes it is hard to find the Chat window. You can always click on the "Chat" item on the top navigation bar.

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

You can "opt out" of chat simply by changing your privacy settings. But Christie strongly encourages you not to do that. Why? Because she has found that being part of this supportive community can greatly accelerate your playing progress. And every person at the PPO wants to learn to play their instrument 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 PPO student, they "stick" to your Buddy List. Anytime you and your Buddy List friend have your Chat windows open, you bypass the invitation exchange and can simply start typing. In other words, your 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.)

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 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 PPO friends, and it is found on the left side of the Chat window. You can always see your Chat window by clicking on "Chat" on the top navigation bar (to the right of "Tours"). Your Buddy List makes it easy to keep track of your friends at the PPO. 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 PPO 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.

It is automatic. When you login to Peery Piano Online, you are automatically able to use the chat system. You can see other PPO 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.