Changing sound volume with the keyboard?

["W. Martin Borgert" <debacle debian org>]

Hi,

I'm using GNOME shell 3.2.1. How can I change the sound volume
using the keyboard?

Firstly, I don't know how to select the panel (the black bar on
the top of the screen) using the keyboard. I could not find a
hint in the cheat sheet[1].

Secondly, I can change the sound volume using the left and right
cursor keys, but only in huge steps, while I can change it
"fine-grained" using the mouse. Combining the cursor keys with
shift, alt, control did not change the behaviour. Any ideas?

TIA!

[1] http://live.gnome.org/GnomeShell/CheatSheet