Recording Software Instruments & Musical Typing

You don't need a MIDI keyboard to write music in GarageBand. This lesson covers both the keyboard workflow and the no-extra-gear alternative built right into the app.

Add a Software Instrument track

Add a new track and choose Software Instrument. GarageBand will load a default instrument (usually a piano) and open its Smart Controls, showing knobs and switches specific to that sound.

Picking a sound from the Library

Open the Library panel and you'll see categories like Keyboard, Bass, Strings, and Synthesizer, each with dozens of presets. Click through a few — GarageBand lets you preview most instruments by playing notes while browsing, so you can audition sounds before committing.

Playing with a MIDI keyboard

If you have a MIDI keyboard or controller, plug it in via USB (or connect it according to its instructions) and GarageBand should recognize it automatically. Play a few notes — you should hear the selected instrument respond immediately, even before you record anything. If you hear nothing, double check the track is selected and record-armed.

Playing without a keyboard: Musical Typing

No MIDI keyboard? Open Window > Musical Typing (or the equivalent in your version's Window menu). This turns a row of your computer keyboard into a piano — the home row (A, S, D, F...) plays white keys, and the row above plays black keys. It's not going to replace a real keyboard for fast playing, but it's completely usable for entering simple parts, bass lines, or chords one note at a time.

Recording a take

Just like an Audio track: make sure the Software Instrument track is selected and armed, position the playhead, hit Record, and play your part. When you stop, GarageBand draws the performance as a MIDI region — you'll notice it looks different from an audio waveform, usually shown as small note blocks.

Why this is worth learning even if you're not a "keyboard player"

Because a Software Instrument recording is just data, not sound, mistakes are much cheaper to fix than in an audio recording. Played a wrong note? You can select and correct just that note afterward instead of re-recording the whole take — which is exactly what the Piano Roll editor (covered in the Intermediate track) is built for.

What's next

With both recording methods under your belt, the next lesson covers the editing basics that apply to almost everything you record: trimming, splitting, and moving regions around on the timeline.