Turtle Beach teach Me Piano Deluxe User Manual

0 (0)

Teach Me Piano™ Deluxe

Interactive piano-teaching system

You will need the Product ID number from the sticker on your CD sleeve when you install the software.

Please keep this number in a safe place and copy it to the line below so you will have it for future reference. Please use this number to register your program on our web site.

Product ID Number: _______________________

www.voyetra.com

Notices

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 Deluxe, Recording Station, and Jammin’ Keys are trademarks 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 Deluxe is a product of:

Voyetra Turtle Beach, Inc.

Web Sites: www.voyetra.com www.voyetra.com

To register your software on-line: www.voyetra.com click on: Register.

Technical support

If you can’t solve the problem by visiting our web support site, please contact Technical Support as follows: E-mail Tech Support: support@voyetra.com

Please allow up to 3 business days for a response and be sure to include your name, product name, and Product ID / Serial number. Please note that Email is answered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Fax Tech Support: 914-345-2266 Att: Tech Support.

Fax a description of your problem to the above number, and please be sure to include your name, product name, Product ID / Serial number and your email address or Fax number.

Teach Me Piano Deluxe

www.voyetra.com

Introduction

Welcome!

Thank you for purchasing Teach Me Piano Deluxe! This program is one of Voyetra’s “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.

Program Overview

Teach Me Piano Deluxe is an enhanced version of Voyetra’s Teach Me Piano—so it’s more than just piano lessons! In fact, Teach Me Piano Deluxe provides a complete music experience that lets you create your own songs after you’ve learned how to play.

Piano Room lets you navigate to any section…

The Piano Room is the main screen from where you access all of the programs in Teach Me Piano Deluxe. To launch a program, click on the menu item in the menu list.

Piano Lessons teach you how to play…

Divided into six sections with more than 150 lessons, the Lessons section covers a full spectrum of keyboardplaying skills, including notation, rhythm and timing, finger positions, key signatures, time signatures, scales and chords. You’ll learn how to play more than 75 songs and understand proper playing technique.

Teach Me Piano Deluxe

www.voyetra.com

Progress Report shows you how you’re doing …

Several students can maintain their own progress reports as they learn to play, so every member of your family can start at a different level and progress at their own pace.

Song Book lets you perform what you’ve learned…

Easily access the songs you’ve learned, by title, style, composer or level of difficulty. Choose a song and go either to the Trainer Screen to practice or to the Performance Screen to play with background accompaniment. You can print the music to play later on, or import your own MIDI files into the Songbook to perform them as well.

References introduce you to theory and technology…

Musician’s Reference

This section describes musical notation, definitions, and musical terms, to serve as a handy reference guide.

History of Keyboards

This section takes you on a guided tour of the origins and development of keyboard instruments from the Baroque harpsichord to the modern synthesizer. Use this to learn about the evolution of keyboards, from plucked strings to sophisticated electronics.

Understanding MIDI

This reviews the technology of digital music and MIDI—the “language” used to control synthesizer keyboards and make electronic music. You’ll learn about MIDI and WAV files, analog vs. digital synthesis, and much more!

Teach Me Piano Deluxe

www.voyetra.com

Music Games test your music skills…

Reinforce what you’ve learned by playing these fun arcade-style games:

9Music Quiz™ tests your knowledge of general music topics.

9Note Blaster™ tests your music reading skills.

9Rhythm Master™ tests your ability to recognize rhythm patterns.

Recording tools let you create your own songs…

Recording Station

This easy-to-use, MIDI and digital audio recording studio will let you create MIDI songs with your PC and MIDI keyboard. Record songs with multiple MIDI instruments and add vocals or acoustic instruments. You can even import MIDI files from your piano lessons and create your own variations!

Jammin’ Keys

This “auto-accompaniment” program lets you create background tracks for your compositions. Choose a style, then add fills, solos, drums, accompaniment, sound effects, and more. When you’re done, load the tracks into Recording Station as a foundation for your own songs.

Sound Check helps you set up your music system…

If you need help setting up your music system, Sound Check is the perfect tool. From here, you can check the operation of your MIDI keyboard, microphone, audio playback, and more. There’s even a video lesson on how to connect your MIDI keyboard to your PC!

Teach Me Piano Deluxe

www.voyetra.com

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 Deluxe and the software will maintain individualized records of each user’s progress. Just make certain that each user always signs in under his/her own name. (NOTE: To add a new student, you must close the program and re-open it.)

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.

Teach Me Piano Deluxe

www.voyetra.com

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 can’t offer you these benefits if we don’t know who you are! So please take a minute to register your

software. And welcome to the Voyetra family!

What you’ll need to run the programs

Here’s what you’ll need in order to use Teach Me Piano Deluxe:

•A PC running Windows 98, ME, or 2000 and equipped with the following hardware:

-Intel Pentium class 200MHz processor, or better.

-Minimum of 32MB RAM (64 MB RAM for Windows 2000)

-6MB free Hard Drive space.

-800 x 600, 16-bit color display.

-4X or faster CD ROM drive.

-16 bit sound card with a MIDI port (we recommend the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, available at www.tbeach.com.)

•Compatible Printer to print progress reports 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.

To install the software:

1.Make certain you have the Product ID number. (This can be found on the software CD sleeve.)

2.Place the CD in your computer’s CD-ROM drive.

3.In Windows 98/ME/2000 insert the Teach Me Piano Deluxe disc in your CD-ROM drive and the Teach Me Piano Deluxe splash screen will appear. Click on "Install Teach Me Piano Deluxe" to begin the installation of Teach Me Piano Deluxe and follow the on screen instructions.

4.If your CD-ROM drive is not set for auto-run, then you can manually start the installation screen. Go to Start Æ Run and in the Run dialog box type the letter name of the drive followed by \setup. If your CD-ROM drive is d: type d:\setup, and then choose "Install Teach Me Piano Deluxe" from the splash screen.

5.Press Enter.

6.Follow the on-screen instructions.

Running Teach Me Piano Deluxe

Teach Me Piano Deluxe works with Windows 98, Millenium (ME) and Windows 2000 Professional. You must have the disc in the CD-ROM drive to run the program.

1.With the CD in the CD-ROM drive, click Start. Point to Programs. Point to Teach Me Piano Deluxe. Click on the Teach Me Piano Deluxe icon.

Teach Me Piano Deluxe

www.voyetra.com

2.When the Piano Room screen appears, choose “Piano Lessons”, then “Lessons”.

Setting-Up Your MIDI Keyboard

A MIDI synthesizer or MIDI keyboard is required to fully-utilize the Keyboard Lessons, Songbook and Recording Station. This keyboard must be at least four-octaves long in order to play all of the exercises and songs. A musical keyboard is not required for the Reference sections.

To connect a MIDI keyboard, you will need a MIDI adapter cable, which can be purchased from our web site www.voyetra.com, or at many computer stores.

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 Deluxe will be able to play music on that synthesizer.

The Sound Check program includes a video tutorial, which explains how to set up your MIDI keyboard.

To watch the SoundCheck video tutorial

1.Launch Sound Check from the Piano Room menu.

2.From the Sound Check menu, select the last entry called “Connecting A MIDI Keyboard”.

3.When the video screen appears, click on the Play button on the bottom left.

Checking your MIDI keyboard connection

After you’ve connected your MIDI keyboard with the MIDI adapter cable, you can use Sound Check to make sure the MIDI keyboard and PC are communicating, as follows:

1.On the SoundCheck menu, click on “MIDI Synth Test” and follow the instructions on the screen. If you have problems, click on the Troubleshooting button.

2.Once you’ve completed this test successfully, go to the “MIDI Input Test”

3.If your soundcard is functioning properly, and your connections are attached as they should be, you should hear sound and see a green light illuminate on the SoundCheck display when you play your MIDI keyboard. If you have problems, click on the Troubleshooting button and follow the instructions.

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 manufacturer’s manual.

Teach Me Piano Deluxe

www.voyetra.com

Piano Room Screen

The Piano Room is the opening screen where you can access each section of the program.

Click on the menu item associated with the program you want to use

Keyboard Shortcut Keys

The following keyboard shortcut keys can be used in the lessons:

Spacebar Stops/Plays media elements as an alternative to clicking on the Clapboard (slate).

Home Returns to Keyboard Lessons’ Contents screen.

Right arrow Pages forward within the lesson.

Left arrow Pages backward within the lesson.

Ctl - P Prints the Progress screens.

Enter Use instead of clicking on “Do It.”

Ctl + Enter Use instead of clicking on “See It.”

Teach Me Piano Deluxe

www.voyetra.com

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, you’ll 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.

Section 1: Getting Started, The Right Hand

Section 1 guides you through some of the basic elements of piano performance. To make things easier, you’ll begin with playing by ear. Just watch and listen closely and you’ll be amazed at how quickly you start playing the piano keyboard. The staff and the names of the notes—both on the piano keyboard and the grand staff—are introduced. Counting basic rhythms as well as the half notes and quarter notes are also introduced here. By the end of the chapter, you’ll begin playing Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. As the section continues, there are exercises and new songs to reinforce the basic structure of music. You’ll learn the C scale in Chapter 3 and intervals in Chapter 4. You’ll be impressed with all of the new songs you soon will be playing.

Section 2: Rhythm Training, New Notes

Section 2 starts off with rhythm, then explores grouping beats and eighth notes, as well as the different time signatures and rests. Chapter 3 introduces sharps and flats; Chapter 4 moves along to octaves with exercises to reinforce them and upbeats and downbeats. By Chapter 5 dotted-half and dotted-quarter notes are introduced.

Section 3: The Left Hand, Two Hands Together

In Section 3, you’ll learn about the bass clef and the left-hand and play a few more exercises. You’ll explore the grand staff and more of the C scale — including contrary and parallel motion. Throughout the rest of this section there are finger workouts, Ode to Joy using both hands, and many new songs to learn.

Section 4: Sharp Keys

Key signatures are introduced in Section 4, beginning with the sharp keys of G Major, D Major and A Major. There are exercises to help get you quickly adjusted to each key, as well as songs to help reinforce your playing in these new keys. There are songs with tied notes and you’ll begin playing with both hands together.

Section 5: Flat Keys, Sixteen Notes

After learning about sharp keys in Section 4, you’ll move on to flat keys in Section 5. These include the keys of F Major and B-flat Major. More focus is brought to rhythm, with the attention on sixteenth notes in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 expands on this with exercises, and Chapter 5 introduces new pieces including Danse Macabre.

Section 6: Chords, 6/8 Time

In Section 6, you begin playing block chords in both the left and right hands and then move on to incorporating the chords into songs. The next step is arpeggios, where you open the chords by playing the individual notes within them. Green Sleeves, a fun song to learn, is included in this section, and the newly-learned techniques make it even easier to play. In Chapter 3, 6/8 time is introduced and more songs are learned, including the Marionette March, Waltz in C, the Can-Can and many others.

Teach Me Piano Deluxe

www.voyetra.com

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.

It’s 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 that’s comfortable to reach.

Enter and Sign In, Please

Keyboard Lessons can keep track of many users’ progress. This means that all of the members of your family can learn to play — at their own pace — and Teach Me Piano Deluxe will keep track of them individually.

When you open Keyboard Lessons, you are presented with the Student Registration screen. If you are a new student, you need to enter your name and let Teach Me Piano Deluxe know what level student you are.

The three levels — Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced — all contain the same songs. The difference between the levels is how you are scored during the evaluations. If you select a higher level, the program will be more exacting when evaluating your playing.

To sign in as a new user:

1.Click New on the Student Registration screen to display the “Enter new user name” dialog box.

2.Type in your name and click the appropriate skill level — Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced.

3.Click OK to return to the Student Registration screen.

To run Keyboard Lessons after you’ve signed in:

Once you have entered your name as a new user, your name will appear in the Student

Registration dialog box.

1.Click your name to select it.

2.Click OK. Your name will appear as “Current Student” on the front of the piano.

Teach Me Piano Deluxe

Keyboard Lessons’

Contents Screen

The contents of the Keyboard Lessons are displayed in the full view of the Keyboard Lessons Training Handbook, as shown below. The lessons are divided into six main sections, each divided into chapters with individual lessons. Although you can open any of the Lessons at any time, we suggest that you move sequentially through the Lessons, since the content was specifically designed to build from one lesson to the next.

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 you’ve had some prior musical training — it is important to go through the lessons in order, since new skills are built from lesson to lesson.

www.voyetra.com

Click Go, or double click	Click a lesson
the lesson’s name to begin	to select it.
the selected lesson

Teach Me Piano Deluxe

www.voyetra.com

Keyboard Lessons Screens

The screens in Keyboard Lessons are summarized in the table below. Pictures of the screens and a detailed explanation of each one is presented in the following sections.

Contents Screen The main screen in the lessons section of Teach Me Piano Deluxe. This screen displays the Keyboard Lessons Training Handbook with Section Contents for the lessons.

Information Screen Displays the Lesson’s content, including text, graphics, videos and animations.

Video Screen Located within the Information screen. It displays video examples and tutorials to help guide you through the lessons.

Trainer Screen Contains the Rhythm, Pitch, Rhythm & Pitch Trainers as well as the Perform, Do It, Range and See It icons in the toolbar at the top of the screen.

Evaluation Screen This is only displayed after training with Rhythm & Pitch. This screen shows how well you did when practicing and breaks down the evaluation into specific areas to help you improve your playing.

Performance Screen Displays "sheet music" so you can play along with a back-up band.

Chapter Review Screen Displays at the end of each chapter. From this screen you can view a progress report or continue on to the next chapter.

Progress Screen This screen shows how well you did in the chapters of that particular section. It is accessed either from the Contents screen or a Chapter Review screen.

Information Screen

The Information Screen displays the Lesson’s content and includes text, graphics, animations, videos and examples.

The Section, C and Lesson nu appear on the of the screen

Click the Metronome	Click the Clapboard to view	Click the ? to display online help
to customize	the lesson again.	Click the book to return to the main scree
Performance Options	The Clapboard opens when	Click the forward and back arrows to
	you begin a new lesson.	move to the next/previous screen
	The Clapboard closes when
	the lesson ends.

Adjusting the Volume in Keyboard Lessons

If you find the volume too loud or too soft in Keyboard Lessons, use the Performance Options dialog box — click on the Metronome — to adjust it.

Teach Me Piano Deluxe

www.voyetra.com

Video Screen

The Video Screen contains video examples and tutorials to help guide you through the lessons. So that you’ll 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.

Practicing Rhythm — Getting the Beats Right

Practicing rhythm helps you gain a better understanding of meter and improves your counting. It is one of the most difficult components of music to play correctly. You may find that rhythm does not come easily — but don’t get

Teach Me Piano Deluxe

www.voyetra.com

discouraged. If you find you are having a problem, try slowing down the tempo. As you improve, increase the tempo (see Lesson Tempo in the Performance Options dialog box).

Practicing Pitch — Getting the Notes Right

The more you practice playing pitches, the better your note-reading skills will become. The Enhanced Toolbar makes it easy to practice pitch.

Fingering is very important when practicing pitches. Be sure to play each note using the finger numbers indicated on the musical score. Go slowly, there is no time limit. Remember to keep your wrists parallel with your keyboard; do not let your wrists fall below the keyboard you are playing.

If you are unsure about hand position, place a quarter on the back of each hand. As you play, don’t let the quarter fall off. Keep your wrists straight and your hands parallel with the keyboard. Once you can play without the quarters falling off your hands, take them off and remember how your arms, wrists and hands felt in the proper position

Practicing Rhythm & Pitch — Getting Beats and Notes Right

Rhythm and pitch together make the personality of a tune — you can’t have one without the other! Use the Enhanced Toolbar to practice rhythm and pitch together.

To practice rhythm, pitch, or rhythm & pitch:

1.On the Enhanced Toolbar under Rhythm Trainer , Pitch Trainer or Rhythm & Pitch, click the icon for the hand(s) you would like to practice. Click Do It or press Enter.

2.FOR RHYTHM: After the metronome gives a count-in measure (the number of count-in measures can be adjusted in the Performance Options dialog box ), begin playing the correct rhythm on your MIDI keyboard as the pointer moves over each note. You can use any key on the MIDI keyboard to play the rhythm.

3.FOR PITCH: Play the key on your MIDI keyboard which corresponds with the note the pointer is positioned over. When you press the correct key, the pointer advances to the next note. If you press a wrong key, a “honk” sounds and the pointer does not advance until you play the note correctly.

4.When you have finished practicing, an evaluation of your performance displays at the bottom of the screen.

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, it’s 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.Click Perform to display the Performance screen.

2.When you are ready to begin, click Do It. Click again to stop.

3.If you want to hear the piece performed for you, click See It. Click again to stop.

4.When you are finished, click Trainer to return to the Practice Screen.

Teach Me Piano Deluxe

+ 35 hidden pages