iTunes Library Menus, Toolbars and Buttons

You will learn to "drive" your digital music library by utilizing the different buttons in the iTunes software interface.  Click on the picture below to observe the important parts of the puzzle.  

Menus & play controls	View the options under each Menu as these allow you to change personal settings for your computer.  Use the Play, REW, FWD, and Volume buttons to manipulate how a playlist is heard over your computer.
Source list	View the different sources of music files from your computer's Library, personal playlists, CDs, iPods, or Music Store.  Click on a Source and view the contents on the right hand side active Content panel.
Content panel	View the contents of your entire computer's Library or organize/edit a personal playlist.  Click on a column header to sort music by Name, Artist, Album, etc.
Playlist shortcuts	Use these buttons to create New Playlists or to play in shuffle or repeat modes.  All of these options are also found in the Menus.

 CDs & the iTunes Library

You may download music from a CD into a Library or playlist by the "drag and drop" of music files from the CD Content panel to the Library/plalist.  Here's a quick step-by-step to download a CD into iTunes:

1.  Open iTunes and put a CD into the computer.  Wait for the CD to show up in the Source list.  If you want the song/artist titles then make sure you are connected to the internet.  Click on the CD source to verify or edit the songs in the Content panel.

2.  Click on the "+" Playlist shortcut button to create a new playlist.  Type in a name for that Playlist.

3.  Click on the CD source and click on Edit > Select All (or Ctrl+a).  Drag the music files from Content panel to the desired Playlist on the left hand Source list.

4.  After the CD is finished transferring the files then observe how the songs are in the desired Playlist and in the Library.  You may change the order of the songs in the Playlist or use the shuffle mode to listen to a random order.

5.  Eject the CD and repeat for other albums.

Use the drag & drop methods to create playlists for artists, albums, or special functions for your computer or iPod.  A song may be in multiple playlists.  If you delete a playlist then the songs will still appear in the Library.

iPoding

Fill your iPod from a specific playlist and edit its play features.  An iPod will show up in the Source lists once it is inserted into the computer.  Look for the Setting tab.  Check out Small Dog Electronics site for an excellent selection of new and refurbished iPods:

http://www.smalldog.com/