Systems and methods for performing simple and quick real time single music note recognition algorithm based on fuzzy pattern matching are disclosed. In one aspect, the systems and methods use a 256-point FFT and fuzzy pattern identification and recognition method. The systems and methods can recognize a note as short as 0.125 seconds in a frequency range from 16 Hz to 4000 Hz, with 11.025 KHz sampling rate and 8-bit per sampling signal. The systems and methods may be used as part of a music tutor system that receives a played note, identifies the played note, and compares the played note with a reference note. An indication may be given as to whether the played note matched the reference note.