Step-by-Step Instructions to Help you Get Started Playing Your Keyboard

Yamaha PSR-2100	Yamaha PSR-2000
Congratulations on your purchase of a Yamaha Arranger Keyboard. Whether your keyboard is one of the newer PSR-2100/1100 models or the previous PSR-2000/1000 models, you are in for many, many hours of pure fun. We will help you understand your new keyboard so that you can take advantage of the many features available. It doesn't matter which of these models you have. You will see that they all operate similarly. In fact, if you own a Tyros or one of the CVP models, most of the lessons at the psrtutorial will apply equally well to your keyboard, too.
Yamaha PSR-1100	Yamaha PSR-1000

Whatever keyboard you may have, I'm sure you are anxious to sit right down and see what this baby can do.  There's an enormous amount of information provided throughout the hundreds of pages in this web site that will help you really understand the many functions of your new keyboard.  But you don't have to know everything right away. You have many months, even years, to explore and learn about what you can do. Right now, however, let's just get you up and running as quickly as possible.

I assume, you can read some music and perhaps know something about chords -- or maybe you just play by ear.  I would guess that about half of the folks who have these keyboards play by ear rather than reading sheet music. In either case, I assume you are familiar with the "keys" on the keyboard but not necessarily all those buttons and knobs you see before you. Let's help you get started.

Step 0 - Determine Where to Put Your Keyboard

You need a place to put your keyboard.  You can buy a keyboard stand, which can be taken down and transported, or you can find a more stable table or desk to put your keyboard on.  You will also need a seat or bench.  A standard chair may be too low.  If you have a piano bench, that would be excellent.  You could purchase a "portable" piano bench with an adjustable height so you can set the position where you feel most comfortable.  Check out QuikLoc for a wide variety of possible stands and benches.  You might look for a "computer" desk that could hold your keyboard and, perhaps, also hold some of your music.  The portable stands will work, but you may find that, if you tend to "pound" those keys, your keyboard will bounce around a bit. The stronger stands are more expensive than simple X-stands, but they may be a good investment.

Step 1 - Turn the Keyboard On

I'll use some pictures from the PSR-1000.  The buttons are the same on the PSR-2000 although the color is different.  The on/off button is located on the left side of the keyboard right above those two scrolling wheels.  Push the button in to turn on the keyboard.  The first time you turn on the keyboard, it will start will all the original factory settings. Some of the features of this keyboard are internal "presets" that are always there. You can not delete them or alter them in any way. However, the keyboard also includes some internal memory, where some of the settings you make are stored and the keyboard "remembers" those settings from session to session. When you turn the keyboard on again, these settings will be just the way you had them when last you turned the keyboard off. You don't have to worry about any of these right now, but you should be aware, that no matter what you do, there is a "system reset" option available that will allow you to reset everything so that keyboard is, once again, all set up just as it came from the factory.

Step 2 - Turn the Master Volume Up

The Master Volume knob is on the left side just to the right of the left side built-in speaker.  If this knob is turned all the way to MIN, you will not hear anything no matter what you do.  You may be alarmed that nothing is working! However, just make sure to turn the volume knob up (clockwise) anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 of the way to MAX.  This "Master Volume" knob controls the overall volume of the keyboard. As you turn it clockwise, every sound coming out of your keyboard will be louder. Similarly, turning it to the left will diminish the overall volume. You'll learn later that other controls will actually let you control individual sounds (think of voices or instruments) relative to other sounds coming from the keyboard.

When you start playing, adjust the overall volume of the instrument by turning this knob.  Normally, you will set this at some position you are comfortable with and leave it there. The PSR includes a "TOUCH" option that you can use to vary the sound as you touch the keys. Pressing the key harder makes the sound louder; pressing the key softly makes the sound softer. If the TOUCH option is not on, all the notes will have the same volume level no matter how hard or soft you press the keys. If you are new to keyboard playing, you may want to turn TOUCH off and then adjust the overall sound. However, as you gain experience, and better control of your fingers, you will find that you really can control a lot of the dynamics of a song by the pressure of your fingers and you may prefer to play all the time with TOUCH turned on.

 

A Note on Navigation If you are new to the keyboard, you may also be new to this website. There are six major areas in this website in addition to the inital home page. You see these at the top of each page. You are now in the "Lessons" section. You can tell that because that link will be highlighted. At any time, you can click on any of the links at the top of the page to go directly to that section of the site. Within Lessons, there are seven subsections shown on the 2nd line at the top of the page. You are now in the "Start Here" subsection. If you scroll to the top of this page, you will see that "Start Here" is highlighted. There are a number of "pages" that are included in these starting lessons. A summary of each page topic is shown in the "navigator" in the column on the left side of the page. For example, there are six subsections in "Start Here." You are currently in the "Let's Start" subsection, which is highlighted in the left navigator box. You can click on any of the links there to go directly to a particular lesson. Lessons are, by and large, laid out in a sequential pattern. So, youcan also advance to the "next" part of the lesson by pressing the "NEXT" buttons at the top and bottom of each page. There is also a "BACK" button at the top and bottom of each page that takes you back to the previous lesson. These buttons look just like the [BACK] and [NEXT] button you see on your keyboard and serve a similar function. Note that at the bottom of each "Lesson" page, you will also see links that can take you to any of the other major sections within Lessons. For now, to advance to the next "Start" lesson, just click the "next" button at the top or bottom of this page.