eMedia Music has announced a plug and play version of its Learn to Play Keyboard Pack (Mac/Win XP and Vista; $149.95). This version requires no drivers, keyboard setup, or installation; just connect the keyboard to your computer via USB to start playing. The package comes with a 49-key MIDI keyboard, a USB cable, and eMedia's Piano & Keyboard Method software.

The keyboard is touch-sensitive and has a pitch wheel, modulation wheel, and two buttons for transposing up and down octaves. The software features over 300 lessons that start with basic piano instruction (hand position, rhythm, playing on black keys, and so forth), and progress to instruction on music notation, sight reading, scales, and more. In addition, it has more than 100 songs to practice on, with multitrack audio and MIDI accompaniments.

Detailed information about the Learn to Play Keyboard Pack is available at www.emediamusic.com.