Banjo For Dummies
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You will need to learn some spreadsheet basics in order to work in Excel 2013. When it’s time to actually do something, try entering some text and numbers into cells.

To type in a cell, simply select the cell and begin typing. When you finish typing, you can leave the cell in any of these ways:

  • Press Enter: Moves you to the next cell down.

  • Press Tab: Moves you to the next cell to the right.

  • Press Shift+Tab: Moves you to the next cell to the left.

  • Press an arrow key: Moves you in the direction of the arrow.

  • Click in another cell: Moves you to that cell.

If you make a mistake when editing, you can press the Esc key to cancel the edit before you leave the cell. If you need to undo an edit after you leave the cell, press Ctrl+Z or click the Undo button on the Quick Access toolbar.

Here an exercise that will show you how to enter information into the spreadsheet.

  1. On any blank worksheet, such as the one from the preceding exercise, click cell A1.

  2. Type Mortgage Calculator and press Enter.

  3. Click cell A1 again to reselect it and notice that the cell’s content appears in the Formula bar, as shown in this figure.

    Notice that the text hangs off into column B; that's okay for now.

    The Formula bar is the text area immediately above the worksheet grid, to the right of the Name box. This bar shows the active cell’s contents.

    When the content is text or a number, what appears in the cell and what appears in the Formula bar are identical. When the content is a formula or function, the Formula bar shows the actual formula/function, and the cell itself shows the result of it.

    image0.jpg
  4. Click cell A3, type Loan Amount, and press Tab so the cell cursor moves to cell B3.

  5. Type 250000 and press Enter so the cell cursor moves to cell A4.

  6. In cell A4, type Interest, and press Tab so the cell cursor moves to cell B4.

  7. Type .05 and press Enter so the cell cursor moves to cell A5.

  8. Type Periods and press Tab so the cell cursor moves to cell B5.

  9. Type 360 and press Enter so the cell cursor moves to cell A6.

  10. Type Payment and press Enter so the cell cursor moves to cell A7.

    The worksheet looks like this figure at this point.

    image1.jpg
  11. Save the file.

About This Article

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About the book author:

Bill Evans has helped thousands of people to play the five-string banjo through his instructional workshops, music camps, DVDs, books, and recordings. He has performed on stages all over the world, his recordings have topped folk and bluegrass charts, and he has mentored many of today's top young professional players. Bill shares the shortcuts and secrets he has developed in more than 35 years of teaching to help all banjo players sound their best.

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