Abstract: Generating a musical composition from one or more portions of one or more performances of one or more musical compositions included in a database is disclosed. The method and system include selecting a portion of a pre-recorded composition based on a degree of similarity with the component of the composition that is input; portions that are musically similar but not musically the same as the component may be selected for addition to the composition. The degree of similarity may be based on a ChordScore and/or a ScaleScore of the retrieved portion of the pre-recorded compositions. A ChordScore is generated by comparing chord tones of one or more chords in the pre-recorded portion with chord tones of the input component. A ScaleScore is generated by comparing tones of one or more notes in the pre-recorded portion with tones in a harmonic scale associated with the input component's chords.

Abstract: A method for visually expressing music includes marking a region of a stave to identify a musical note's pitch, wherein the stave includes four lines each of which is parallel or substantially parallel to the other three lines, and each of which defines at least three regional positions where a mark can be made to identify a musical note's pitch, wherein the stave includes at least twelve regional positions and each of the at least twelve regional positions corresponds to a unique pitch of a musical note within a musical octave. The method also includes marking the region of the stave to also identify the duration of the musical note. With at least twelve regional positions defined by the stave, each of the 12 pitches in an octave can have a position within the stave that uniquely identifies the pitch of the note.