It's somehow comforting for a program to remain largely unchanged for hundreds of years. Band-In-A-Box (BIAB) has been doing its thing since 1988 and I don't think there's ever been anything else to match it. In a nutshell it's an automatic accompaniment generator - it's a bit like a software version of a home keyboard such as a Technics or Yamaha. In what it does it's extremely powerful and now includes audio tracks and samples to compliment the MIDI arrangements. You can pick a style, a tempo, a key and off it goes - enter in a few chords and you have a whole band, ready to go. So, finally, after all this time, the poor old Mac user who's frustrated with the shallowness of Garage Band can delve into the wonders of BIAB and get some real automatically generated satisfaction.

People have been talking about Microsoft's "Songsmith" software but actually BIAB has been doing that for years. I can't help laughing to myself that the box and interface is indentical to what i was selling over 10 years ago but i guess the old addage "if it ain't broke don't fix it" would apply here. Despite its age and 90's interface it does what it says on the tin and nothing can touch it. If you want something to play along with, something that'll teach you to play, something that will generate ideas around what you play then check it out. - http://www.pgmusic.com