Patent ID: 7956274

Claim:
A performance apparatus comprising: a storage unit adapted to store a plurality of performance data and a plurality of beat position data, each of the beat position data indicating a beat position in a corresponding one of the performance data in terms of time; a selection unit adapted to select any of the plurality of performance data stored in said storage unit; a reproduction unit adapted to reproduce performance data selected by said selection unit; a control unit adapted to control said reproduction unit such that preceding performance data being reproduced by said reproduction unit is changed over to subsequent performance data selected by said selection unit and performance data reproduction is continuously carried out without changing a tempo of the preceding performance data and a tempo of the subsequent performance data; and a beat position acquisition unit adapted to acquire, from the plurality of beat position data stored in the storage unit, a beat position in the preceding performance data used for performance data reproduction before changeover controlled by said control unit, and a beat position in the subsequent performance data used for performance data reproduction after the changeover, wherein said control unit is adapted to control the changeover such that the beat position in the preceding performance data matches the beat position in the subsequent performance data without changing the tempo of the preceding performance data and the tempo of the subsequent performance data, and without inserting a stopgap phrase between the preceding performance data and the subsequent performance data, and wherein the preceding performance data and the subsequent performance data have different tempos.