Light
Beginner
Professional
Notation
Composition Light
Composition Pro
Drums and Percussion
Guitar
Choir
Keyboard
Soloist
| Instruction manual - Pizzicato 3.6.2 | EN090 - Revision of 2013/05/29 |
Light |
Beginner |
Professional |
Notation |
Composition Light |
Composition Pro |
Drums and Percussion |
Guitar |
Choir |
Keyboard |
Soloist |
Introduction to the music course
Subjects covered:
Watch also the following video:
The purpose of this course [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist]
Our music course is oriented around three specific objectives:
- To give you a good understanding of the basics of music and the way it is written and communicated.
- To teach you to read simple musical scores and to play them on a keyboard.
- To teach you how to compose your first pieces of music.
The prime objective is to understand what music is and how it can be communicated through a score. The majority of signs, symbols and conventions of musical notation will be explained. Pizzicato comprises tools to write a musical score. In correspondence with the description of each tool, you will find in this course the explanations of the musical concepts concerned with this tool.
Once you will have learned the first basics of music, the second part of the course will let you apply them to the reading of simple scores. You will learn how to locate the notes on a musical keyboard. A series of progressive exercises will enable you to improve your rhythmic ability. Finally, by combining these two aspects, you will learn how to play scores.
The third part of the course relates to the musical composition. Pizzicato professional has a unique system making it possible to learn how to compose by practice. It is about a musical building set. You have musical blocks of various forms and colors. By combining these blocks by a series of progressive exercises, you will learn how to guide yourself by your musical preferences. By going through the exercises, you will be able to create your own musical blocks and you will learn how to structure small musical sequences. This aspect of the course is also addressed to the professional musician. He will find a new approach of composition which he will be able to exploit thanks to the musical library system. If you did not buy the professional version, you will nevertheless be able to find some interesting elements of this part of the course. You will be able to execute some of the exercises by using the evaluation version of the professional version. This mode is accessible by the Program version/updates... item in the Pizzicato Options menu. By clicking Pizzicato Professional (evaluation version), you have access to most of the functions of the professional version, except that you can neither save nor print your work.
Material needed [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist]
On the level of the necessary material, the minimum is of course a Macintosh (system X) or IBM compatible PC (with Windows 2000, XP, Vista or Windows 7) computer. If you want to print your scores, a printer adapted to the computer will be necessary. If you want to connect a musical keyboard, you will need a MIDI interface or a sound card with the adequate cable. With a good quality sound card or an external synthesizer (Roland, Yamaha…), the sound result will reach a good quality level. Here are some examples of configurations with their advantages and disadvantages in the various parts of the music course.
Computer (Mac or PC with sound card ) or external sound module with MIDI interface.
According to the type and quality of the card or module, the universe of sounds opens up to you. The majority of cards and modules available are compatible with the General Midi format .This standard guarantees that you will be able to listen to each example and exercise of this course. You will be able to execute without problem the composition exercises. Without musical keyboard, you will be able to play simple scores on the computer keyboard, with the accompaniment generated by the sound card. The precision of the play on the computer keyboard will be a function of the speed of your computer.
Same + musical keyboard and MIDI interface
In this case, there is no restriction anymore. You will be able to work all the training exercises and to execute everything in this course.
PC without sound card
The music course will be reduced to the theoretical aspect, because you will not hear any sound example. We advise you to acquire a sound card to be able to benefit from all the music course aspects.
Macintosh alone
It contains a synthesizer which makes it possible to listen to a score very correctly. You can also use its keyboard to play directly with this synthesizer. You will then be able to follow the full music course.
How to use this course? [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist]
No musical or software knowledge is necessary to start this course. You only need to be motivated by learning music. Study this course and make the practical exercises in the expected sequence. With perseverance, you will end up controlling the contents of this course.
The covered subjects are the basics of music and musical software. It is taught in a progressive way in order to make training easier for you. This does not mean that you will never encounter difficulties. Throughout the reading of this course, take care to respect the following points particularly:
1. Be sure to understand all the words you read in this course
If you hesitate over the meaning of a word, consult the glossary included in the documentation. The majority of words related to music, software or Pizzicato are there. In the screen documentation, new introduced words are frequently coloured and underlined. By clicking on these words, you directly reach the correct reference in the glossary. The words have sometimes several different meanings, be sure to take the definition which applies. We also advise you to sometimes read extracts of the glossary to test your good understanding of the main words.
2. Execute the exercises and the examples of each lesson
These exercises are there to balance theory and practice. They are designed so that you can apply the theory and in this way increase your understanding of the subject. Indeed, it is by applying that you can test and reinforce your understanding.
3. If you have difficulties, come back to previous lessons
Perhaps you did neglect words which you did not understand? Perhaps you were too fast? Perhaps you missed some steps? Go back to one or more lessons before, until you are certain to understand it well. Then continue. Some lessons are more difficult than others. When you find a lesson that seems more difficult to you, do not hesitate to read it several times to increase your understanding.
4. If despite all this you feel completely lost…
Your case is not desperate! It is not always easy to locate difficulties in which you are. Contact us. We will help you to find a solution to your difficulties. Perhaps we will be able to help you by phone. Do not hesitate to contact us, our purpose is that all Pizzicato customers must be satisfied!
Light |
Beginner |
Professional |
Notation |
Composition Light |
Composition Pro |
Drums and Percussion |
Guitar |
Choir |
Keyboard |
Soloist |