When speaking about the history of jazz piano, we should remember that the piano is a unique instrument. It can play melody, harmony and bass, making it capable of functioning as both an accompanying, as well as a lead instrument. Apart from that, it is a magnificent solo instrument. If that's not enough we can also see that as jazz piano music developed, the rhythm possibilities improved enormously, making this instrument sound like a full orchestra.
If it took a hundred years or more for big change to occur in classical music, here in the history of jazz piano music we will notice that change happened rapidly, with new styles of jazz developing in less than 10 years.
Where is the turning point from which we can clearly define the divide between classical piano music and jazz piano music? Well, the major elements in jazz music are the swinging rhythm, improvisation and the blues notes that were introduced to the traditional harmony. These elements began to come together with ragtime.