There are three ways to launch GarageBand: double-clicking the application icon in the Finder; clicking once on the GarageBand icon in the Dock; and double-clicking any GarageBand song file.
You can use the green Zoom button (+) in the upper-left corner of the GarageBand window to fit the window to your entire screen. You can click and drag the lower-right corner to resize the window.
To move the GarageBand window, click and drag on the top, right, or left edges of the window.
Musical time is in measures and beats and is marked in the Timeline by the Beat Ruler.
You can move the playhead by clicking in the Beat Ruler, click-dragging the top of the playhead, or pressing the right or left arrow keys to move a measure at a time right or left.
You use the transport control buttons to play, fast forward, rewind, move to the beginning of the Timeline, and turn on the cycle region.
There are three different types of musical regions used in GarageBand: Software Instruments, Real Instruments, and prerecorded Apple Loops.
Software Instruments record editable note events. Real Instrument recordings make digital recordings of audio waveforms.
You can find loops in the Loop Browser using either the Button view or the Column view.
You can use the Track Editor to edit pitch, velocity, and the type of note for Software Instruments.
Velocity refers to the hardness or softness with which a note was played, and the volume of that note as a result. Velocity is measured on a scale from 0 to 127, with 0 being the softest and 127 the hardest.
To listen to only part of the Timeline over and over, you can create a cycle region.
Auditioning loops means you listen to a loop in the Loop Browser while playing a song in the Timeline.
