One of the best ways to improve your playing, learn new music and musical styles is to jam. Whenever I do I have found that I am so busy having fun that I don't even realize I'm learning. But, doesn't it always seem that when you get the urge to jam your drummer has to mow the lawn or the bass player is driving the kids to soccer practice? No problem with Band-in-a-Box, there's a great band just a mouse click away, ready to jam your tunes, in your favorite key at the tempo you like.
Band-in-a-Box can not only keep you company on your practice time, but can enhance your learning in many ways! And would you believe it? All while having TONS of fun! - Learn different harmonic structures - Learn different styles - Enhance your soloing technique - Exchange ideas with your friends by sharing your Band-in-a-Box files. Study all the parts piano, bass, guitar, even strings. Learn the melody with and without harmonies, then have Band-in-a-Box generate a solo in the style of your favorite pianist and have fun while you practice.
You can learn harmonic structures with the more than 100 harmonies built into Band-in-a-Box. Take a single note melody line and turn it into elegant block chords with the 'Shearing Piano' harmony, or a fat brass section with 'Super Brass', or smooth jazz guitar chords with 'Joe Pass', or a simple 2-part vocal harmony. You can change the harmony, or revert to 'No Harmony', at any point in a chorus.
By using the 'Unfold' feature, you can apply your choice of harmonies anywhere in the song for even more sophisticated arrangements. Try different kind of harmonies on the melody. Hear how E.Garner harmony sounds. Call up the Leadsheet display and follow the melody. Once you've got it, then choose another harmony or instantly transpose the song into another key for further study. Once you've got the hang of it see how different harmonies effect the melody. Apply harmonies wherever you like and transform it in the way you want.
If you want to use those parts in a live performance, you want charts. Not to worry, Band-in-a-Box will print out the charts for each part and can include the harmonies to a MIDI file giving you more choices for printing.
Learn to play in different styles! Once you typed in the chords to your favorite song or had Band-in-a-Box make some up for you try changing the style of the song for even more practice. Ever wonder how Beethoven's 5th symphony would be played if it were a bluegrass or samba song. Now it's easy to see, hear and learn. Band-in-a-Box comes with variety of styles (over 500 currently available), and new styles disks are regularly added. If the styles you want are not yet available, there's still a solution. You can make your own custom styles or visit the Styles Wishlist and request the new styles you would like. Our developers are continually combing the wishlist for great customer suggestions.
Enhance your soloing technique with Band-in-a-Box. Learn the tricks that will free you to do exactly what you want to do in your solos. There's an easy way - learn from the masters. Band-in-a-Box has learned and can show them to you. Choose your favorite soloist from the automatic solo generator, and watch closely to what the soloist does. Adjust the tempo to the speed you can follow, and imitate what the soloist is doing. With the many display options you can follow along in the Notation, Leadsheet, or Piano windows.
Exchange ideas with your friends by exporting your songs in .mid or .mp3 or Band-in-a-Box format. Choose File|Save the song as... and choose the format. Save them in the medium of your choice and there you've got it!
Why not download the Band-in-a-Box demo now and see how much fun learning the keyboard can be.
Beginning to advance Jazz and Pop Piano Lessons
Once again I have to state that nothing can replace practice, but when you're learning you need direction and motivation. If you're a beginner, you probably don't know where to start. We've got the software for you. You may say, "But I want a teacher right by me." Hey, we've got the right guy for you! Why not have a professional pianist teach you every step of the way? The Jazz Piano Master Class with Miles Black does just that.
We've digitally recorded over 5 hours of verbal instruction, nearly 100 exercises, backing tracks, 11 study tunes, plus a practice tip for each exercise, all linked to powerful multimedia features, allowing you to see and hear note-for-note exactly what Miles Black is teaching. With the Jazz Piano MasterClass, you can study the lessons, hear the music, practice and play along with a top musician.
We've even put the audio portions to these lessons on our web site so you can experience what is like on the web right here and now.
Step past the basics with the Pianist/Performance Series
The Pianist/Performance series is a group of MIDI software programs containing a vast library of MIDI files in several styles and genres of music. A great place to start is to choose the genre of music you'd like to learn. Here is a list of our current products to learn more about each click on the link.
The Blues Pianist - 2 volumes of Blues in both older and newer styles.
These programs feature MIDI that was recorded in real-time by top class professional musicians. Once you've made your pick, you can listen, watch the on-screen piano display or notation and slow the music down to the pace you'd like.
The on screen piano display can display right or left hands differently, so even if you cannot read music, you can follow the display! The programs are filled with educational and entertaining value besides the music.
Superchops from The Master
Accomplished keyboard players can challenge their abilities with the Oscar Peterson Multimedia CD-ROM. Jazz Piano legend Oscar Peterson brings an exciting new level of artistry to the Multimedia experience in this signature CD-ROM. This rich treasury integrates interactive audio/visual performances with on-screen piano display and notation. You can see and study exactly what the master is playing! Slow it down (trust me you'll have to) and watch the master ply Note For Note. Print out the transcriptions for further study.
For more information visit the Oscar Peterson page where you can download a video demo.
