Seeing Through the iTunes Window

The iTunes window, like the windows on your house, consists of a number of panes (see Figure A). Let’s take a quick look at each of these. On the far left of the iTunes window is the Source List. On this list, as you might suspect from its name, are the sources of music with which you can work. To work with a source, such as a CD or the iTunes Music Store, you select it by clicking it. When you select a source, its contents will appear in the Content pane and Browser (if you have the Browser open for a selected source). In Figure A, I have selected the Library as the source; its contents are shown in the Browser at the top of the window while the list of individual songs that make up the Library is at the bottom of the window.
You will use many types of sources, including the Library, the Radio, the iTunes Music Store, audio CDs, playlists, and more. As we work though the rest of this part of the blog, you will get experience with all these kinds of sources.

The Browser presents the contents of the selected source at a summary level, by genre, artist, and album. You can view the contents of the selected source by clicking it in the appropriate column. For example, in Figure A, I have selected the Blues/R&B genre. The Artist column then shows all the artists whose music I have in the selected genre. The Album column shows all the albums for the selected artists. The Browser can be shown or hidden. For example, take a look at Figure B, which shows the iTunes window with the Browser hidden. At the bottom of the iTunes window (or filling it if the Browser is hidden) is the Content pane.
This area lists each song in the selected source. For each song, you will see a variety of information, such as Song Name, Track #, Time, Artist, and so on. You can even choose the information you see on this list. The order in which songs are listed in the Content pane is the order in which they will play when you play the selected source. Going back to Figure A, you can see that several songs by B.B. King and Dave McKenna are listed in the Content pane.