273 88 00 How does a MIDI keyboard talk to my computer? MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. MIDI is a common standard that allows computers and musical instruments to communicate and synchronize with one another. MIDI keyboards are software instruments, which means instead of sending sound signals to a computer like a microphone does, they send software messages that specify the pitch, intensity, and other characteristics of each note. 8 Position your cursor over the main display area and click Play. GarageBand plays a song without instruction that you can play along with. 9 Play your keyboard to match the notes in the song. 0 Click the Record button ( ) to record your playing. An instructional video plays, teaching you how to play a song. ● Keys on the keyboard are labeled to show the notes played during the lesson. ● You can click the timeline to skip to different parts of the lesson. ● You can click the Play button ( ) to pause the lesson. How do I connect a MIDI keyboard to my computer? You can connect your MIDI keyboard to the USB port of your computer using MIDI- to-USB cabling. This may come with your instrument or you can buy it separately. Some newer MIDI devices include USB ports on the instruments themselves, letting you use a USB-to-USB cable. chapter 15 WORKING WITH GARAGEBAND ’09 Learning to Play Music 274 !! @@ $$ ● GarageBand records the playing, creating a red region in the timeline as it records. ● You can click and drag the slider to adjust the volume of the lesson. ● You can click and drag the playhead to move to another part of the song. ! Click the Play button ( ) to stop recording and pause the song. Take a Piano Lesson (continued) As you follow along with a song in a lesson, you can adjust the tempo to slow the beat down or turn on a metronome to help you keep time. You can record yourself as you play and then open the recording in the GarageBand editor. As you improve, you can download more advanced lessons and complete them. See “Download a Lesson” for details. Take a Piano Lesson (continued) ● The recorded region turns green. Green regions represent software instrument recordings. @ Click and drag the slider to change the tempo of the lesson. You can drag to the left to slow the song down to make it easier to play along with. # If a warning dialog appears telling you the instructor’s voice will be muted, click OK. GarageBand changes the tempo. ● The new tempo is shown here. ● You can click here to turn on a metronome, which plays clicks along with the song to help you keep the beat. $ Click the Play button ( ). 275 %% && ^^ How do I delete a recording from a lesson? You can delete a recording from a lesson if you no longer have a need for it or want to record it over again. 1 Click a recorded region. GarageBand selects the region. You can -click to select multiple regions at once to delete. 2 Press Delete . ● GarageBand deletes the recording. GarageBand plays the lesson with the new tempo. Note: You can play along with the song but cannot record when the tempo is set to other than normal. % Click the Play button ( ) again to pause the song. ^ Click Open in GarageBand. GarageBand opens the lesson in the editing view. ● The lesson instruments are placed in separate tracks. ● Your recording is placed in a track. & Click the Play button ( ) to play the lesson song. Note: For more about playing and editing music, see Chapter 12. 11 chapter 15 WORKING WITH GARAGEBAND ’09 Learning to Play Music 276 22 33 77 55 66 44 1 If you are using an acoustic guitar, connect a microphone to your computer to record the guitar. If you are using an electric guitar, connect the guitar directly to the computer. Note: For more about connecting microphones and instruments, see the tip on the next page and the sections in Chapter 13. 2 Click File and then New. The GarageBand window appears. 3 Click Learn to Play. 4 Click a guitar lesson. 5 Click Choose. The Lesson workspace opens. This example shows Guitar Lesson 1. 6 Position the cursor over the main lesson area. Learn and Play options are displayed. Different chapter options may appear if you are completing a different lesson. 7 Click Learn. Take a Guitar Lesson You can take a guitar lesson in GarageBand to learn the basics of using the instrument. Lessons involve instructional video and songs that you can strum along with. An on-screen fret board shows you which strings to strum and where to place your fingers. Take a Guitar Lesson 277 88 00 8 Position your cursor over the main lesson area and click Play. GarageBand plays the song without instruction so you can play along. 9 Play your guitar to match the notes in the song. 0 Click the Record button ( ) to record your playing. An instructional video plays, teaching you how to play a song. ● Guitar strings vibrate to show which ones are played during the lesson. ● The fret board is labeled to show finger placement. ● You can click the timeline to skip to different parts of the lesson. ● You can click the Play button ( ) to pause the lesson. ON ON ON OFF OFF OFF I get feedback when I record my lesson. How do I fix this? Feedback is the high- pitched noise that can occur when recording with a microphone. You can click Setup and then select Monitor Off from the My Input Device menu to avoid feedback when recording during a lesson. How do I specify how a guitar is connected to my computer? When you are taking a lesson, you can click Setup and then choose from the My Input Device menu in the window that appears. Choose Guitar if you are connected through the audio input port, Internal Mic if you are playing through the built-in microphone of the computer, or External Guitar if your guitar is connected to an audio interface. chapter 15 WORKING WITH GARAGEBAND ’09 Learning to Play Music 278 !! $$ @@ ● GarageBand records the playing, creating a red region as it records. ● You can click and drag the slider to adjust the volume of the lesson. ● You can click and drag the playhead to move to another part of the song. ! Click the Play button ( ) to stop recording and pause the song. Take a Guitar Lesson (continued) As you follow along with a song in a lesson, you can adjust the tempo to slow the beat down or turn on a metronome to help you keep the beat. You can record yourself as you play and then open the recording in the GarageBand editor. As you improve, you can download more advanced lessons and complete them. See “Download a Lesson” for details. Take a Guitar Lesson (continued) ● The recorded region turns purple. Purple regions represent real instrument recordings. @ Click and drag the slider to change the tempo of the lesson. You can drag to the left to slow the song down to make it easier to play along with. # If a warning dialog appears telling you the instructor’s voice will be muted, click OK. GarageBand changes the tempo. ● The new tempo is shown here. ● You can click here to turn on a metronome, which plays clicks along with the song to help you keep the beat. $ Click the Play button ( ). 279 %% ^^ How do I tune my guitar with GarageBand? Follow these steps: 1 Connect your guitar to the computer and open a guitar lesson. 2 Click Tuner. The GarageBand tuner appears. 3 Click a string to tune. 4 Play the corresponding string on the guitar. ● If the string is out of tune, a note appears in red. ● A bar on either side also appears, indicating whether the note is flat or sharp. GarageBand plays the lesson with the new tempo. Note: You can play along with the song but cannot record when the tempo is set to other than normal. % Click the Play button ( ) again to pause the song. ^ Click Open in GarageBand. 55 GarageBand opens the lesson in the editing view. ● The lesson instruments are placed in separate tracks. ● Your recording is placed in a track. & Click the Play button ( ) to play the lesson song. Note: For more about playing and editing music, see Chapter 12. 5 Adjust the tuning peg for the string on the guitar, following the directions on the screen. When the string is in tune, the note appears in blue. 6 Repeat steps 3 to 5 for all the strings. chapter 15 WORKING WITH GARAGEBAND ’09 Learning to Play Music 280 11 22 33 55 44 1 Click File and then New. The GarageBand window appears. 2 Click Lesson Store. 3 Click Basic Lessons. Download a Lesson GarageBand comes with one piano lesson and one guitar lesson installed. You can download additional lessons of varying skill levels from the Internet into GarageBand. Download a Lesson The basic lessons appear. ● You can scroll to view more lessons. 4 Click Download. 5 Click Download in the confirmation dialog that appears. 281 77 66 How do I purchase lessons from famous music artists? You can purchase and then download piano and guitar lessons from famous music artists at the Lesson Store. 1 In the GarageBand window, click Lesson Store. 2 If Artist Lessons is not selected, click to select it. GarageBand displays the artist lessons. 3 Click Buy Now for the lesson you want to purchase. GarageBand prompts you to sign in to your Apple account or create one if you are a new customer. After signing in or creating an account, you can follow the steps to purchase and download the lesson. ● GarageBand downloads and installs the new lesson. 6 To play the lesson, click to select it. 7 Click Choose. GarageBand opens the lesson. Note: For more details about completing a lesson, see “Take a Piano Lesson” and “Take a Guitar Lesson.” 11 22 33 chapter 15 WORKING WITH GARAGEBAND ’09 Learning to Play Music 282 Instructor Instrument Instructor Instrument Band Instruments Band Instruments Instructor Voice Instructor Voice Your Instrument Your Instrument 22 44 33 GarageBand opens the volume settings. 3 Click and drag the sliders to adjust the volumes. ● You can click to minimize the volume for a track. ● You can click to maximize the volume for a track. 4 Click . 1 Open a piano or guitar lesson. Note: See “Take a Piano Lesson” or “Take a Guitar Lesson” for details. 2 Click Mixer. Adjust Lesson Volumes You can change the volumes of the different tracks that make up the lesson audio, including the instructor voice, instructor instrument, band instruments, and your instrument. Giving your instrument higher volume can help you determine if you are playing along with the song. Adjust Lesson Volumes . are placed in separate tracks. ● Your recording is placed in a track. & Click the Play button ( ) to play the lesson song. Note: For more about playing and editing music, see Chapter. tune, a note appears in red. ● A bar on either side also appears, indicating whether the note is flat or sharp. GarageBand plays the lesson with the new tempo. Note: You can play along with. are placed in separate tracks. ● Your recording is placed in a track. & Click the Play button ( ) to play the lesson song. Note: For more about playing and editing music, see Chapter