Voyetra - Teach Me Piano - Manual
Voyetra - Teach Me Piano - Manual
Voyetra - Teach Me Piano - Manual
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Notices
Teach Me Piano - Users Guide; Version 1.1 July 2001 Software and documentation Copyright 1996 - 2001 Voyetra Turtle Beach, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means or in any form, without prior written consent from Voyetra Turtle Beach, Inc. (VTB). In no event will VTB be liable for direct, indirect, special, exemplary, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from any defect or omission in this manual, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. In the interest of continued product development, VTB reserves the right to make improvements to this manual and the products it describes at any time, without notices or obligation. Teach Me Piano is a trademark of VTB. Voyetra is a registered trademark of VTB. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective companies and are hereby acknowledged. Use of this software is subject to the terms and conditions of the Voyetra End-User Software License Agreement. Teach Me Piano is a product of: Voyetra Turtle Beach, Inc. 5 Odell Plaza, Yonkers, NY 10701 USA Main: Tel: (914) 966-0600 Fax: (914) 966-1102 Web Sites: www.voyetra.com To register your software on-line: [email protected] Technical support If you cant solve the problem by visiting our web support site, please contact Technical Support as follows: E-mail Tech Support: [email protected] Many issues can be resolved via email. Please allow at least 48 business hours for a response. Please include your name, product name, and product ID/serial number. Fax Tech Support: 914-966-1093 Fax a description of your problem to the above number, and please be sure to include your name, product name, and product ID/serial number. Phone Tech Support: (914) 966-0600 M-F, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST (except public holidays) Please note that all calls will be answered on a first-come, first-served basis. Because we cannot guarantee the length of time you will be on hold, we highly recommend you only use this option as a last resort. Times are subject to change without notice.
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Introduction
Welcome!
Thank you for purchasing Teach Me Piano! This program is one of Voyetras Teach Me music software series designed to bring educational and entertaining music products to multimedia computer users. Voyetra has been in the business of music hardware and software for more than 25 years. Whether you are a new acquaintance or a Voyetra veteran, you will benefit from our long-standing upgrade policy and our excellent technical support.
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Helpful Tips
Online help is always available Just click the question mark (?) on the bottom of any lesson screen, or the Help key on the Master Lesson screen.. Keyboard Lessons will keep track of many students... Your entire family can use Teach Me Piano and the software will maintain individualized records of each users progress. Just make certain that each user always signs in under his/her own name.
NOTE: If there are going to be multiple students, please follow these instructions so that each student will have their
own scoring record: 1. 2. 3. 4. Open Teach Me Piano and add your first student. Close Teach Me Piano. Open Teach Me Piano and add the second student. Repeat this process for adding additional students.
Following this procedure is important because if you add additional students without restarting Teach Me Piano, the new student will have the same scoring record as the previous student. If you have added additional students without restarting Teach Me Piano, simply delete that students name and follow the above directions. Keyboard Lessons and the Songbook have keyboard shortcut keys... A listing of these appears in the Quick Overview chapter. You can practice or perform any song at any time... When you are in the Songbook, you can switch to either the Trainer Screen, to practice the song, or the Performance Screen, to perform the song with background accompaniment. Then, when you are in the Performance Screen, you can go to either the Trainer Screen or back to the Songbook. Refer to the Songbook chapter for more information. You can adjust the volume in Keyboard Lessons If you find that the volume is too loud or too soft in Keyboard Lessons, use the Performance Options dialog box click on the Metronome at the bottom of the screen to adjust it. Refer to the Keyboard Lessons chapter for details.
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Getting Started
Please register your software with us!
As a registered user, you may be entitled to special discounts on our other products but we cant offer you these benefits if we dont know who you are! So before you install Teach Me Piano, take a minute to register your software. And welcome to the Voyetra family! Register on-line: http://www.voyetra.com Register via email: [email protected] Register by fax: 914.966.1093 Register by mail: Complete and return the enclosed registration card.
Compatible Printer to print progress reports and music scores from the lessons. A PC to MIDI adapter cable (Available from the Voyetra web site www.voyetra.com ) An external MIDI keyboard or a MIDI synthesizer with keyboard. The external MIDI keyboard should have at least four octaves of keys to play all of the songs in Keyboard Lessons. For songs at the beginning of the program, a smaller MIDI keyboard is acceptable. Headphones and/or speakers connected to the sound card output.
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Once your keyboard is properly set up, your PC will be able to record the notes played on the MIDI keyboard, and if your keyboard has a synthesizer, Teach Me Piano will be able to play music on that synthesizer. The SoundCheck program includes a video tutorial, which explains how to set up your MIDI keyboard. To watch the SoundCheck video tutorial 1. 2. 3. Launch SoundCheck from the Piano Room menu. From the SoundCheck menu, select the last entry called Connecting A MIDI Keyboard. When the video screen appears, click on the Play button on the bottom left.
NOTE: Some pro keyboards offer an option to disable the Send MIDI notes command. Please make sure your MIDI Send option is enabled, or your keyboard will not be able to communicate with your PC. For more information, please consult your keyboard manufacturers manual.
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The Piano Room is the opening screen where you can access each section of the program. Simply click on the menu item on the right that is associated with the program you want to use.
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Keyboard Lessons
To load Keyboard Lessons, click the Piano Lessons menu item on the Piano Room main menu screen, then Lessons on the following screen. In Keyboard Lessons, a professional music teacher introduces you to basic music notation, theory and playing technique through a series of video clips, exercises and songs. With more than 150 lessons and over 100 exercises, there is a full course of study. Beginners can learn basic techniques while intermediate players can reinforce their musical skills. When you complete the entire program, you will have learned to play more than 75 well-known songs! The interactive computer training system provides analysis and feedback in each lesson and tracks your progress. This helps you focus on the areas in which you need more practice. After you have learned a song, click on Performance to play it with background accompaniment. At the end of the performance, youll be rewarded with a favorable round of applause from the virtual audience!
The Lessons
Keyboard Lessons is designed so that you can study at your own pace as quickly or slowly as you would like. All of the Lessons are designed to build on each other, so it is important that you fully understand the concepts and techniques in one Lesson before you move on to the next.
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Preparing to Play
One of the most important factors in playing piano is how you sit at the keyboard. You should not have to strain to read the music. Sit on a comfortable chair and place your hands on the piano keyboard. Keep both feet on the floor no dangling feet. For younger students, place a stool or a stack of phone books under their feet so they, too, can sit properly. When you place your hands down, the keyboard should be slightly lower than your elbows. This gives you a natural position. Close your hands into fists (not too tightly) and place them on the keyboard. Make sure your wrists are comfortable and not hanging too low. Slowly open your hands until they have a natural shape. Watch that your thumbs do not fall off the keyboard. This is good hand positioning at the piano keyboard. Its important to have the computer keyboard, mouse, monitor and musical keyboard arranged comfortably. Place yourself in the center of the piano keyboard by locating Middle C. Remember that you are going to need the mouse and computer keyboard alongside the piano keyboard, so place them in a location thats comfortable to reach.
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As a New User
As a new student in Keyboard Lessons, you will want to begin at the beginning Section 1, Chapter 1, Lesson 1. Click the magnifying glass to display the Table of Contents screen which lists the lessons. You can jump to any Lesson at any time by clicking on the name. Although the beginning lessons may seem easy at first especially if youve had some prior musical training it is important to go through the lessons in order, since new skills are built from lesson to lesson.
Click Go, or double click the lessons name to begin the selected lesson
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Evaluation Screen
Information Screen
The Information Screen displays the Lessons content and includes text, graphics, animations, videos and examples.
The Section, Chapter and Lesson numbers appear on the bottom of the screen
Click the Clapboard to view the lesson again. The Clapboard opens when you begin a new lesson. The Clapboard closes when the lesson ends.
Click the ? to display online help Click the book to return to the main screen Click the forward and back arrows to move to the next/previous screen
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Video Screen
The Video Screen contains video examples and tutorials to help guide you through the lessons. So that youll have time to digest what you have learned, the Lessons do not advance automatically. After a presentation ends when you are ready to continue on click the Forward arrow to advance to the next Lesson.
Trainer Screen
From the Trainer screen, you can practice rhythm, pitch or rhythm and pitch together, with just the left or right hand or with both hands. Click the icons on the Enhanced Toolbar to make your choices. To hear the rhythm or pitch performed for you, click See It or press CTRL + Enter. Not all pieces in Lessons contain both the left and right hands. In such cases, sections of the Toolbar are not available.
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When Keyboard Lessons is running, you can play your MIDI keyboard at any time. If you want to practice a piece without an evaluation, just start playing. If the piece is more than one page, click the Page Forward or Page Back arrows at the top of the screen to turn the pages.
Performance Screen
When you feel confident with a piece you have been working on, its time to perform it. On the Performance screen, sheet music is displayed on screen as you play along with a background ensemble.
To perform a piece:
1. 2. 3. 4. Click Perform to display the Performance screen. When you are ready to begin, click Do It. Click again to stop. If you want to hear the piece performed for you, click See It. Click again to stop. When you are finished, click Trainer to return to the Practice Screen.
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Click Do It when you are ready to perform the song Click See It to hear the piece peformed for you
Click the Metronome icon to display the Performance Options dialog box
Performance Options
Clicking on the metronome displays the Performance Options dialog box. Performance Options can be changed at any time in Keyboard Lessons.
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Evaluation Screen
The Evaluation screen is only displayed after training with Rhythm & Pitch. This screen shows how well you did when practicing. It breaks down the evaluation into specific areas to help you improve your playing. The Trouble Areas which you need to practice are listed from the most mistakes to the least mistakes. If you played the piece well, the Trouble Areas section will not display. Click Practice to practice the area the evaluation suggests you to work on Your evaluation score is displayed as a graph. Each line on the graph represents 20% Click Replay My Version to play back your practice for Rhythm & Pitch Click Leave Evaluation to return to the Practice Screen
When you click a Practice button from the Evaluation Screen, you are returned to the Trainer Screen with the Range pedal selected Dotted lines surround the practice area If a Range has been selected (See Range Selection) dotted lines surround the range
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Selecting a Range
Sometimes, a section of a piece may be difficult to master. The Range button lets you practice that section as many times as youd like. When you are practicing a section from the Evaluation Screen, you cannot change the Range. If you wish to practice only one measure, enter the measure number in both the From and Thru boxes. To set the range for the entire piece, click Entire Piece. The From and Thru boxes will no longer be available.
Click Entire Piece to practice the entire song Click Practice Range to set a range of measures to practice From sets the first measure in the range Thru sets the last measure in the range Click OK to return to the trainer screen where the measure in the range will be selected
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Click the book to return to the lessons Contents Menu To Continue to the next lesson, click the forward button
Self-Paced Learning
As you study the lessons, remember that they are self-paced you can move along as quickly or slowly as youd like. Take your time and dont rush. Remember, practice makes perfect!
Progress Screen
The Progress screen can be accessed from any Chapter Review screen or from the Contents screen. This screen shows how well you did in each Chapter of that particular Section. If you go to the Progress Screen from Keyboard Lessons, the icon reads Return to Review. If you go from the Contents Screen, the icon reads Menu. Click either one to return the appropriate screen.
The selected section appears in white type This key is the legend for the Progress Screen To return to the Contents Screen, click here
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Songbook
To load the Songbook, click the Songbook menu item on the Piano Room main screen music, or from the Keyboard Lessons Contents Screen. The Songbook includes more than 75 songs classics, folk tunes, holiday and patriotic songs, and more. You also can import your own MIDI song files and print them to your computers printer. The four Tabs along the right edge of the Songbook help locate the songs by Title, Style, Composer and Level of Difficulty. From the Songbook, you can access either the Trainer screen Click the Metronome to change the Performance options where you can practice the selected song, or the Performance screen where you can play the songs with background accompaniment. If you choose the Performance Screen, when you finish playing, the audience will reward you with a warm round of applause!
Click Delete from List to remove songs you have added to the Songbook. You cannot delete the songs which came with Teach Me Piano Click Import MIDI to import your own songs into the Songbook
Double-Click to select a song. When songs are listed by Category, double-click the Category name to open or close the list of songs Click the ? For Help on using the Songbook Click here to return to the Piano Room
Difficulty
In the Songbook, the Title and Difficulty sections list each song individually. The Style and Composer sections have categories where groups of individual songs are located. In the Composer section, if the composer is anonymous, the song will be listed under the geographical area from which it originated.
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To import a song:
1. 2. 3. 4. Click the Import MIDI button at the top of the screen. Using the Open dialog box, locate the file you want to import. Double-click the desired file name to display the Import MIDI File dialog box. After entering the appropriate information, click OK to add your song to the Songbook.
Select which track in the song will be displayed in the Treble Clef Select which track will be displayed in the Bass Clef Click here to select the Split Track option Select the amount of Track Quantization If Split Track is selected you can select the Split Pitch that divides the Treble and Bass Clefs (C5 is middle C)
Enter the Song Name and Composer The name of the song file you have chosen appears here Click here to pull down a list of song styles to chose from
The Import dialog box allows you to import both .MID and .ORC files. .ORC files are Voyetras proprietary sequencer files which can be produced by and imported into Voyetras Recording Station program, as well as Voyetras MIDI Orchestrator Plus , the entire Digital Orchestrator family of products, and the Starter Kit series. All of these fine products can be found on our full-service website, www.voyetra.com . Some .ORC files may contain digital audio. If you import a file with digital audio, the digital audio tracks will be ignored when importing, and these tracks will be deleted when the file is saved in Teach Me Piano. Imported files are saved on your hard drive in the \voyetra\teach me piano directory. These files are saved with the .ORC extension. The Songbook only displays notation in the Grand Staff. You can import a song with more than two tracks, but only two tracks will be displayed. However, you will hear the other tracks playing. This can be useful when you want to learn a part in a song youve imported. Then, when you feel confident with it, click Do It in the Performance Screen and you can perform the song with the other tracks in the MIDI file. If you import a file that contains only one track, it defaults to the treble clef and only the treble clef displays. If you change the track to display in the bass clef, the entire grand staff displays.
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Track-split Option
Many times, a MIDI file is recorded onto a single track. This makes it difficult to display as piano notation. If you wish to see a single track notated in the grand staff, use the Split a Track option.
The Quantize feature breaks the notes into the smallest division selected. You can choose a quantization range from whole notes to sixty-fourth notes. If you choose quarter notes, you will only see whole notes, half notes, and quarter notes. The most common choice is sixteenth notes. Quantize only affects the notation and how it displays, it will not alter the MIDI file itself.
Performance Screen
You can access the Performance screen both from Keyboard Lessons and from the Songbook. On this screen, sheet music is displayed as you play along with a background ensemble. When you are finished playing, you are rewarded with a warm round of applause from the audience.
Click See It to hear the song perfomed Click Do It when you are ready to play the song with accompaniment Click the Metronome to display Performance Options Click here to print the score Click here to go to the Trainer Screen
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Printing a Song
Any song in the Songbook can be printedeven MIDI files you have imported into the Songbook.
To print a song:
1. 2. Double-click on the songs name to display the Performance Screen. Click the printer icon at the bottom of the screen to display a standard Windows Print dialog box.
If you would like to see note names and finger numbers on the print out, click the Performance Options icon and select Finger Numbers and/or Note Names. However, finger numbers cannot be printed for songs that have been imported. For imported songs, Teach Me Piano can only print note names.
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Musicians Reference
To load the Musicians Reference, click the menu item in the Piano Room screen.
The main sections are: The Staff Pitches and Clefs Rhythms Barlines, Measures and Time Signatures Key Signatures Dynamics Tempo Lyrics
When you wish to learn more about a particular topic, just click the green, underlined words. This links to other topics help tie-in related concepts and make it easy to navigate through the screens.
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SoundCheck
To run SoundCheck, click on the SoundCheck menu item in the Piano Room main screen.
SoundCheck provides an easy way to test and troubleshoot the digital audio and MIDI features of your computer. A series of displays takes you through the testing process step-by-step. If, for some reason, one of the multimedia devices on your computer is not working properly, SoundCheck provides troubleshooting tips to help you get your system upand-running again. SoundCheck also provides setup tips for attaching an external MIDI keyboard to your computer and a video to show you how to make these connections. Once the MIDI cable is installed, you can use SoundChecks MIDI Input and MIDI Output tests to confirm that your system is operating properly.
Troubleshooting Tips
Fortunately, the situations that cause most multimedia problems are among the easiest to fix. Start your troubleshooting journey with the general suggestions below. If you still have problems, look up the specific symptoms youre experiencing. Throughout the troubleshooting process, dont forget another valuable resource the hardware manuals that came with your sound card or other peripherals.
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