While seasoned musicians will take to GarageBand like the proverbial duck to water, what about the rest of us? People who can’t play an instrument might be left thinking the app isn’t for them, but they couldn’t be more wrong. Apple has created something called Smart Instruments that allow anybody to play like a pro, even if they have no musical knowledge whatsoever. GarageBand for iPad ($4.99) includes Smart Instruments for guitars, strings, keyboards, bass, and drum--everything you need to make beautiful music.
GarageBand opens in Instruments view; swipe left or right to select the instrument you want to try first. Choose Smart Guitar and you’ll be given an acoustic guitar with some strings to strum. Tap the chord name (such as C or Em) to hear the whole chord strummed on a guitar. You can also strum your finger up and down the individual strings to create a finger-picking effect. There you go--you’re playing guitar!
When you’re strumming the Smart Guitar with your fingers, timing can be an issue. Luckily, GarageBand has an Autoplay option. Flick the Autoplay dial anywhere between 1 and 4, then tap a chord name to start playing.
If your playing sounds a bit too Simon and Garfunkel, tap the Acoustic guitar and change it into a Hard Rock guitar. The Autoplay riffs are particularly good for this guitar, and there are a couple of effects pedals you can play with too. Every Smart Instrument comes with its own varying iterations.
The other Smart Instruments work mostly the same as Smart Guitar, with some subtle differences. Using Autoplay, you can get interesting effects with Smart Keyboards by playing one chord with your left hand and a different one with your right hand. With Smart Drums you choose a drum kit from the six types available, then drag icons representing drums and other percussion into a square grid, which lets you set levels of complexity and volume. You can even tap the dice button to randomize the entire process again and again until you hear a loop you like.
