School of The Rock

 

School of the Rock(tm) Discussion Forum Signup Page

The SchoolOfTheRock.com™ discussion forums offer a safe place to discuss Contemporary Christian Music, music performance, worship leading, saxophones and other musical instruments, and thorny theological questions.

Over the years, some of the articles on our web page have generated a lot of reader interest, but, unfortunately, our readers had no way of knowing that we were also hearing from other folks with similar experiences, concerns, and questions. With the forums, our readers can interact with each other and not just with me.

You can use this page to sign up for:

  • The discussion forums at SchoolOfTheRock.com/forums. This is a place for discussion of topics related to Christian music and Saxophones (yes, that's an odd combination, but I have an odd history.) Unlike our private FB site, anybody can view the discussions, and most of the posts stay online indefinitely, so you can come back and look something up five years from now. However, you can use a nickname to protect your identity from other members and outsiders, plus membership is still strictly controlled, so you don't have to worry about rude people and "trolls."

  • Our secret Facebook group: Independent Christian Musicians, - sorry you can't see it before you sign up, but that's how we can safeguard members who want to discuss serious topics, without everybody on the internet being notified. On the other hand, the way this works, you need to use your default personal facebook account to access it. So everyone within the group will know who you are. That said, we monitor every post and keep strict control over the tone and content of the discussion, so rude people get uninvited in a hurry.

    Our free e-mail Momma Don't 'Low(tm) newsletter, which publishes updates about our music sites, including SchoolOfTheRock (Christian and Saxophones), CreekDontRise.com (acoustic, folk, and related forms), and Classic Train Songs.


Note for Real People Who Want to Sign Up - I would rather have ten people I know and trust on these forums than a thousand I don't. You may think I'm being intrusive or demanding by requiring you to give me real information before you sign up, but on other forums I've managed, that was the only way I could guarantee that every member feels safe from sniping or worse.

Sadly, every week dozens of spammers and jokesters fill out our forms thinking that somehow their unwelcome advertisements or content will show up on our sites (they don't). Some of those fake request from spammers even come with real people's names and e-mails attached - they've harvested someone else's address book so their requests would look legit. So I'm now asking people who want to subscribe to our forums to supply their real full name, city, state, and some information about themselves and their interests so we know it's it's not just a random spam attempt. You can also check off boxes that apply to you, and you can use the comment field to ask questions if you want. Considering how much personal information I've shared over the years on these web pages, I don't think that's asking too much. Again, NONE of your personal information will ever be revealed, sold, traded, or used in any way except for me to have a better idea of who my readers are.

Update for 2016 - A few years ago, when someone signed up with partial or apparently fake information, I used to e-mail them back and ask them to verify the request. As often than not, they had never heard of us - some spammer had just used their e-mail address in a vain attempt to hack our site. Unfortunately, that kind of followup on our part meant that we spend hours following up on would-be hackers that we could have spent helping out real people with real questions.

So, sadly, if you attempt to sign up with partial or apparently fake information, or a generic comment like "this looks like a fun site," we will delete your request without even getting back to you. I heartily apologize for any inconvenience, but the fake sign-up requests have gotten out of control at our end, and we want to devote our attention to real people.

Finally, we'd like to know more about our reader base, too. So if you don't mind filling in a little survey, that will help us figure out what kinds of articles we should be working on next.

Paul Race

SchoolOfTheRock.com™



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Membership Standards - Because our first priority is keeping our discussions safe for all honest, courteous people who want to participate, please tell us whether you agree that:

  1. Your interest in joining these forums is to discuss the interests and related topics that they were created to support.
  2. You will treat other members with courteousy and respect, on and off these forums.
  3. You will refrain from advertising products - even related products - without previous permission of the site moderator. (We gladly promote the web pages and products of members who are truly supporting the site with information, tips, and resources. But we don't want folk signing up JUST so they can keep promoting their Etsy listings or something.)
  4. You understand that providing incomplete or fraudulent information during the signup may cause your registration to be deleted without notice or cause your membership to be terminated if it is discovered later.
  5. You will not take credit for or resell our members' contributions even off the forum.
  6. You understand that your participation here is by invitation of the site moderator and can be terminated at any time if the moderator determines that you have violated these membership standards.

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      If you answered yes to the above question, you must provide your personal facebook identity in the following box

      If you have a FB musician/artist page, please provide the Facebook name or URL of the site in the following box (optional if not signing up for the FB Independent Christian Musician forum or if you don't have a FB musician/artist page yet.)

      If you have any web sites for your music (or your band's music) please provide the URL(s) in the following box (optional if not signing up for the FB Independent Christian Musician forum or if you haven't started any web pages yet.)






Would you like to receive our free online e-mail music newsletter Momma Don't 'Low(tm)? "Momma Don't 'Low" notifies you when new articles about music, musical instruments, music performance, and music careers appear on this site or on our sister site Creek Don't Rise(tm).
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Thanks for getting in touch. When you hit the "Submit" button, an e-mail will be sent to us. If you asked any questions we will get back as soon as possible.


Paul Race playing a banjo. Click to go to Paul's music home page.A Note from Paul: Whatever else you get out of our pages, I hope you enjoy your music and figure out how to make enjoyable music for those around you as well.

And please stay in touch!

    - Paul Race Click to see Paul's music page on Facebook Click to see Paul's music blog page Click to see Paul's music home page Click to see Paul's YouTube Channel. Click to contact Paul through this page. Click to learn about our Momma Don't Low Newsletter.

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Visit musings about music on our sister site, School of the Rock With a few tools and an hour or two of work, you can make your guitar, banjo, or mandolin much more responsive.  Instruments with movable bridges can have better-than-new intonation as well. Acoustic-based, traditional, singer-songwriter, and folk music with a Western focus. Check out our article on finding good used guitars.
Carols of many countries, including music, lyrics, and the story behind the songs. X and Y-generation Christians take Contemporary Christian music, including worship, for granted, but the first generation of Contemporary Christian musicians faced strong, and often bitter resistance. Different kinds of music call for different kinds of banjos.  Just trying to steer you in the right direction. New, used, or vintage - tips for whatever your needs and preferences. Wax recordings from the early 1900s, mostly collected by George Nelson.  Download them all for a 'period' album. Explains the various kinds of acoustic guitar and what to look for in each.
Look to Riverboat Music buyers' guide for descriptions of musical instruments by people who play musical instruments. Learn 5-string banjo at your own speed, with many examples and user-friendly explanations. Explains the various kinds of banjos and what each is good for. Learn more about our newsletter for roots-based and acoustic music. Folks with Bb or Eb instruments can contribute to worship services, but the WAY they do depends on the way the worship leader approaches the music. A page devoted to some of Paul's own music endeavors.