Music Lessons Anyone?
For the last few years Apple’s GarageBand application has allowed musicians to plug in their keyboards or electric guitars, process the sound and record their ideas on their Macintosh computers. Because it comes free on every new Mac as part of the iLife suite (iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, and GarageBand) it has gained a foothold with professional musicians looking for an easy way to record to basement musician wannabes who enjoy being mad scientists and creating everything from jingles and podcasts to rough garage band demos to ringtones.
Apple’s latest version of GarageBand in iLife ’09 has a very interesting addition allowing you to learn to play a real instrument like a guitar or piano.
Both my kids, my wife and I have all taken music lessons over the last few years and I have found that while some teachers are outstanding there are others who give you the distinct impression that they are only looking to make a little extra spending money. There seems to be no standards and what programs there are date back to the 1970’s at least (Alfred’s Guitar Method, Mel Bay, Royal Conservatory of Music or Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer).
Apple recognizes that learning is clear instruction, repetition, and interesting application of the techniques you’ve learned. No kid wants to play “On Top of Old Smokey” when they could rock out to a Guns n’ Roses track and frankly neither do I.
The first time you open GarageBand and pick lessons from the menu for guitar or keyboards your screen is taken over by a guitar neck (or piano keyboard) along the bottom of the screen, a video box with a young man holding an acoustic Gibson guitar, a scrolling lesson bar timeline, play/record/cycle buttons, a volume & speed fader and a metronome. In the upper right is the tuner/set-up/mixer buttons. Click the play button and the video comes to life and the young man named Tim with the beautiful guitar walks you through the parts of your acoustic or electric guitar, how to hold it, tuning, picking, strumming and teaches you your first chord an E.
You can repeat each section as many times as you want using the cycle button and a quick tap of the space bar turns on and off the video as you will your fingers into the desired positions.
What I really appreciated was the clarity of each lesson. Tim guides you through each step of the process gradually increasing your skill level. You can slow the lessons down to half speed through difficult passages and use that cycling button to go over it until you have it down.
At the end of each lesson is a full band waiting to play with you as you exercise your new skills. That is a reward for sure.
In addition to Tim and his lessons, you can download specific lessons from musical super stars like Sting, Sarah McLaughlin, Norah Jones, Fall Out Boy, or John Fogarty. Who, for a few bucks, will teach you to play a simplified version of one of their biggest hits.
GarageBand is the perfect companion to all those weekend warriors for whom music, recording and playing is a life long passion.
Now show me that crazy “F” chord again?
Apple’s latest version of GarageBand in iLife ’09 has a very interesting addition allowing you to learn to play a real instrument like a guitar or piano.
Both my kids, my wife and I have all taken music lessons over the last few years and I have found that while some teachers are outstanding there are others who give you the distinct impression that they are only looking to make a little extra spending money. There seems to be no standards and what programs there are date back to the 1970’s at least (Alfred’s Guitar Method, Mel Bay, Royal Conservatory of Music or Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer).
Apple recognizes that learning is clear instruction, repetition, and interesting application of the techniques you’ve learned. No kid wants to play “On Top of Old Smokey” when they could rock out to a Guns n’ Roses track and frankly neither do I.
The first time you open GarageBand and pick lessons from the menu for guitar or keyboards your screen is taken over by a guitar neck (or piano keyboard) along the bottom of the screen, a video box with a young man holding an acoustic Gibson guitar, a scrolling lesson bar timeline, play/record/cycle buttons, a volume & speed fader and a metronome. In the upper right is the tuner/set-up/mixer buttons. Click the play button and the video comes to life and the young man named Tim with the beautiful guitar walks you through the parts of your acoustic or electric guitar, how to hold it, tuning, picking, strumming and teaches you your first chord an E.
You can repeat each section as many times as you want using the cycle button and a quick tap of the space bar turns on and off the video as you will your fingers into the desired positions.
What I really appreciated was the clarity of each lesson. Tim guides you through each step of the process gradually increasing your skill level. You can slow the lessons down to half speed through difficult passages and use that cycling button to go over it until you have it down.
At the end of each lesson is a full band waiting to play with you as you exercise your new skills. That is a reward for sure.
In addition to Tim and his lessons, you can download specific lessons from musical super stars like Sting, Sarah McLaughlin, Norah Jones, Fall Out Boy, or John Fogarty. Who, for a few bucks, will teach you to play a simplified version of one of their biggest hits.
GarageBand is the perfect companion to all those weekend warriors for whom music, recording and playing is a life long passion.
Now show me that crazy “F” chord again?
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