Dick Hyman's Century of Jazz Piano is an extensive, in-depth overview of the piano as one of the leading instruments in jazz during the twentieth century. This two-disc CD-rom for Windows and MacIntosh, is essentially computer software that you install on to your hard drive. The software highlights the history, development, and prominent figures in jazz who helped shape the course, and direction that the piano would take from ragtime to bebop, from free jazz to fusion. Included is an instructional workshop conducted by Dick Hyman, in which he gets to the heart of the actual jazz vocabulary as it relates to the piano. In this segment he shows us how left-hand chordal playing evolved, and how right-hand scales and patterns were used to construct melodic statements borrowed from other instruments such as the trumpet and saxophone.

Also included in this CD-rom set are 103 tunes with improvisations for the piano, over 60 individual artists styles that are represented and explored in-depth, and 30 minutes of historical videos of the piano legends of the past. In addition, this package contains a MIDI studio with a visible keyboard, and an hour of video lessons from Dick Hyman. This software is absolutely indispensable to anyone wishing to learn how to play jazz piano, and anyone who wishes to emulate the styles of the great masters of this instrument. Throughout the presentation, you will be spoon-fed lines and licks straight from the piano vernacular, as well as patented licks from all of the modern keyboard giants of jazz. It is not inconceivable that after ingesting this tutorial, one can emerge with all the technical know-how to play all kinds of tunes and solos on the piano with technical prowess. Of course, you won't have your own style; to do that, you have to throw away all your software, transcription books, and videotaped lessons, lock yourself in a room with a piano, and get it on your own- just like the masters of jazz piano did it.

For more information about Dick Hyman's Century of Jazz Piano , visit the JSS Music website .