Getting all of my iTunes library onto my external hard-drive

Hey,
I've recently noticed that my MacBook (now called a McBook pro?) is running slightly slower than usual. I have the majority of my music stored on an external hard-drive, but anything that I've downloaded looks to be stored on my MacBook's internal hard-drive. Is there anyway I can move that excess music from my MB hard-drive to my external hard-drive, without iTunes telling me that the file cannot be found next time I go to play them? I hope this might speed things up a bit.
Also, is there a way of setting my iTunes to move the music from my internal HD to the external one once it is plugged in, which would then allow me to delete the music from my internal HD and free up some space?
I'm sorry if that's all a bit confusing, but I'm quite confused myself.
Thanks!

Hi,
This might do it:
[Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751]
Once you've consolidated your library and moved it to your external drive you can launch iTunes with the Option key held down to get this message where you choose your new external library:
!http://idisk.me.com/colinrobinson-Public/iTunes screen shots/Alt iTunes.png"!
You do need to make sure that the external is connected and mounted before doing this.
Regards,
Colin R.
PS If you're moving everything off to the external to free up room you also need to think about having another external HD to backup what you've just moved. External drives can fail

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