ChordScanner: Browsing Chord Progressions based on Musical Typicality and Intra-Composer Consistency

We propose ChordScanner, a visual interface enabling users to find chord progressions that they typically use and that many composers also typically use. Chord-Scanner provides a time-oriented view of chord progres-sions and highlights two kinds of chord progressions: chord progression the user frequently used and chord progression typical of many composers. To develop this system, we proposed a method for calculating intra-composer consistency based on the user’s pieces and musical typicality based on many composer’s past pieces by using a probabilistic model. The system helps users notice their repeatedly used chords. It also presents chord progression rankings based on the consistency and typicality. We investigated the overlap between rankings obtained with both consistency and typically, by calculating Japanese consumer generated songs, and also interviewed a professional composer.