Community Guidelines

Last updated: May 1, 2025

Welcome!

Thank you for joining the Trumpet with Paul Community! This space is designed to help trumpet and cornet players connect, learn, and grow together in a supportive environment. By joining this community, you agree to follow these guidelines to ensure a positive experience for everyone.

Our Community Values

1. Respect and Encouragement: We treat each other with kindness and respect. Every player is on their own unique musical journey, and we celebrate progress at all levels.

2. Constructive Feedback: When offering feedback, we focus on being helpful, specific, and encouraging. We communicate in ways we'd want to receive feedback ourselves.

3. Inclusive Environment: We welcome players of all backgrounds, skill levels, ages, and experiences. Everyone's voice and perspective matters here.

4. Growth Mindset: We embrace challenges as opportunities to improve. Mistakes are valuable learning experiences, not failures.

5. Supportive Interactions: We lift each other up through encouragement, celebrating victories (both big and small), and offering help when someone faces challenges.

Community Expectations

Our community thrives on curiosity and mutual respect. We value questions over absolute statements and personal experiences over universal declarations:

DO:

• Share your playing, ask questions, and seek advice
• Offer constructive, specific feedback when requested
• Celebrate others' progress and achievements
• Respect differing opinions and approaches to trumpet playing
• Ask questions rather than making declarative statements about "the right way"
• Share your experiences framed as personal perspectives, not universal truths
• Report any concerns to community moderators

DON'T:

• Use disrespectful language or behavior toward any community member
• Make comparisons that diminish others' achievements or progress
• Share content unrelated to trumpet playing, music education, or our community focus
• Present your approach as the only valid method for trumpet playing
• Give unsolicited advice that wasn't requested by another member
• Promote products, services, or external events without prior approval
• Share others' recordings or personal information without explicit permission

Content Guidelines

1. Recordings and Videos: Feel free to share your playing for feedback or celebration! When posting:

   • Clearly state whether you're looking for feedback or just sharing
   • If requesting feedback, specify what aspects you'd like input on
   • Keep videos to reasonable lengths

2. Questions and Discussions: We encourage questions about technique, repertoire, equipment, or any trumpet-related topic. When asking:

   • Be specific about what you're trying to learn
   • Share what you've already tried when relevant
   • Remember there are no "silly" questions here—we all started somewhere

3. Sharing Resources: We encourage sharing helpful resources, but please:

   • Only share materials you have permission to distribute
   • Give proper credit to creators and sources
   • Avoid sharing entire method books or copyrighted materials

Live Gatherings

For live gatherings within the community:

• Join on time if possible
• Come prepared if specific preparation was requested
• Be present and engaged during the session
• Respect others' time during group discussions
• Technical issues happen—we'll be patient with each other

Privacy and Confidentiality

• Respect the privacy of other community members
• Do not share recordings, comments, or personal information from this community elsewhere without explicit permission
• Remember that this is a learning environment where people should feel comfortable being vulnerable with their playing and questions

Consequences

If community guidelines are not followed, these steps may be taken:

1. A friendly reminder about our community values
2. A private message to discuss concerns
3. Temporary limitation of participation privileges
4. Removal from the community in cases of repeated or severe violations

Updates to Guidelines

By joining the Trumpet with Paul Community, you agree to uphold these guidelines and contribute to our positive, supportive learning environment. Let's make music and grow together! These guidelines may be evolve and be updated as our community grows. 

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More Fine Print

• Online Studio Policy - If you're taking lessons with Paul
• Community Guidelines - For participating in our online community forum
• Privacy Policy - How trumpetwithpaul.com handles your information
• Terms and Conditions - The legal framework for using trumpetwithpaul.com

These policies are designed to help create a positive, professional, and productive environment for everyone.