Keyboards

Goals

• Reinforce the information you learned last week by reviewing the material and seeking out enrichment material.
  
  
• Be familiar with the brands keyboards, synthesizers, and MIDI and other controllers in this week's section of the ProGear guide.

Study

• Start with the theory lesson for this week.
  
  
• Read the pages in the Sweetwater ProGear guide on keyboards & synths, pianos & organs, keyboard arrangers, MIDI controllers, groove production, keyboard amps. Look up any terminology you don't understand in the Sweetwater Glossary. Grow your collection of flash cards.
  
  
• Seek out magazine reviews, YouTube videos, forums, and other websites with information about the material in this section of the ProGear guide. Since this is a short section, take the time to review the guitar material from last week. Guitars are a big part of the Sweetwater exam. Do the same thing of seeking out enrichment material relating to last week's products.
  
  
• Read the section in the Sweetwater ProGear guide on keyboards and related gear. Look up any terminology you don't understand in the Sweetwater Glossary.
  
  
• Pick from one of the assigned companies to write case studies about. If you're in the class, register your choice on the web page we started the first week so that someone else doesn't pick the same one.
  
  
• Look up the company that you chose to write case studies about in the index and check out all their products in the ProGear guide.
  
  
• Explore the videos about products from the companies that you're going to write case studies about
  • Keyboards - http://www.sweetwater.com/insync/category/video/keyboard/
  • Sweetwater Minutes - http://www.sweetwater.com/insync/category/reviews/keyboard/

• Explore the reviews about products from the companies that you're going to write case studies about
  • Keyboards - http://www.sweetwater.com/insync/category/reviews/keyboard/
    

• Read the keyboard instruments and related equipment section in the guide a second time while making some 3X5" flash cards about their products and terminology that you think are the most important.
  
  
• Look again at the preliminary schedule of Gear Fest workshops and exhibitors and continue to plan your visit. Indicate which of the presentations you are most interested in. Which companies do the presenters work for, and what are their positions?

Assignment

• Turn in a list of the flash cards you've made so far in the first two weeks of the class.
  
  
• Write up two case studies, one on a company that makes keyboards, another that makes controllers.

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