Patent ID: 7164075

Claim:
A music session support method executed by a music session system comprising a plurality of session terminals, each having a detecting device that detects a performance preparatory operation by a player, and a session support apparatus which is connected to the plurality of session terminals, for acting as a go-between for transmission and reception of music data between the plurality of session terminals, comprising: a status information transmitting step in which the session support apparatus transmits sets of status information indicative of whether or not each of players is in a state of being able to participate in a session, and player identification information which identifies the players, to the session terminals; a status information display step in which each of the session terminals which have received the sets of status information and player identification information causes the display device thereof to display the status information for each of the players; a status transition information acquiring step in which the session support apparatus acquires a set of status transition information indicating that a player of at least one of the session terminals in which the detecting device has detected the performance preparatory operation has gone into the state of being able to participate in a session, and player identification information for the session terminal, from the session terminal; a status transition information transmitting step in which the session support apparatus transmits the acquired set of status transition information and player identification information to the session terminals; and a status information updating step in which each of the session terminals updates contents displayed on the display device thereof, based upon the status transition information and player identification information transmitted from the session support apparatus.