M-Audio eKeys [6/8] Music teacher

Music Teacher

Welcome to Music Teacher 3, your private instructor to playing the keyboard. Music

Teacher 3 is a program designed to improve your musical skills and keyboard technique

through simple tests and games.

To get started, connect your new eKeys 37 keyboard to your computer’s USB port. Now

connect your speakers or headphones to your computer’s soundcard output. In the Music

Teacher software, click on the Options menu and select “Devices.” The left side of this

window will show you all devices that can send MIDI notes to your computer. Here you

will find your new eKeys 37 keyboard; it will show as “USB Audio Device.” Make sure that

on the left side of the window, this entry is the only one highlighted in blue.

The right side of this window will show you a list of devices that can generate sound

when you hit a key on they eKeys 37 keyboard. What you will see here will depend on

the soundcard that you have installed on your computer and whether it has an onboard

synthesizer chip (that’s the “Sound Generator”) or not. Avoid entries that have “Out” in

their name, as this would send the notes back to the outside of your computer without

giving you a chance to hear them. Anything that has “Synth,” “FM” or “Wavetable” in its

name is probably a good choice. You might have one or more such entries; only

highlight one of them. Click OK to apply the changes and close the window.

Feel free to start experimenting with the program. When you first run the program, a

file called “INITIAL.MID” will be loaded automatically. This is the song we will use to get

to know all the main teaching tools of Music Teacher 3. You should see 4 bars of music

on the screen with the play position (the vertical line) at the beginning of the first bar.

You should be in “Listen” mode (as indicated by the button on the right hand side of

the main screen.)

Now press the “Play” button. This will start the playback of the song. You will hear the

music as displayed on the screen. As the song is plays, each note will turn red in the

score display. This is designed to help you get the feel of the rhythm of the song.