Melody Button
This control has 3 positions. When the QChord is first turned on, the full accompaniment plays. When the melody button is pressed once, the bass part plays, and when it is pressed twice, the accompaniment turns off entirely, and the lower two rows of buttons function like a keyboard. This second setting is also used to select some advanced QChord functions.
To demonstrate this feature, reset the instrument to its power-on defaults, and press the rhythm select down button 4 times to select the new age rhythm. Press a chord to see what the accompaniment sounds like. You may need to listen for awhile in order to observe that at the end of every other cycle, there is a low, rapidly descending note. Now press the melody (bass) button once and press a chord. Listen carefully. Notice that the rapidly falling note mentioned above is no longer present.
Press the melody button again. This time, the chord accompaniment stops playing. Now press the leftmost chord button on the bottom row. Notice that only one note plays. You've just pressed a c note on the melody keyboard. Push the second button from the left in the middle row. This is a c-sharp. Pressing the second button from the left in the bottom row plays a d. Pushing the third button from the left in the middle row plays a d-sharp. Depressing the third button from the left on the bottom sounds an e. Now push the fourth button from the left in the middle row. No sound plays. This is because there is no e-sharp in the chromatic scale. When you play two consecutive notes on the bottom row, you are progressing by steps. When you play a note on the bottom row and then play its corresponding sharp note in the middle row, you are moving by half steps. Thus, from c to c-sharp is a half step, while from c to d is a whole step. The notes on the bottom row are called "natural" notes, while those in the middle row are "sharp" notes. An octave is eight notes on the bottom row. Therefore, from c to c is one octave (c, d, e, f, g, a, b, c). You can play more than one note. If you push the buttons corresponding to c, e, and g, for example, you have just played a c-major chord. The notes on the melody keyboard go from a c in one octave to a g in the next. The notes on the bottom row are:
C, d, e, f, g, a, b, c, d, e, f, and g. The notes in the middle row are sharp notes and are always above and to the right of their corresponding natural notes. They are: c-sharp, d-sharp, f-sharp, g-sharp, a-sharp, c-sharp, d-sharp, and f-sharp. Note that e-sharp and b-sharp do not exist. Therefore, the first, fourth, eighth, and eleventh buttons in the middle row do not play. Consult a music theory text if you are interested in more details than I have provided, or if you desire further help with these concepts.
While the melody keyboard is active, all of the buttons on the bottom row play notes, whereas only some in the middle and none on the top do so. You will also remember that I mentioned very early that some of the buttons on the top row had raised symbols on them. These buttons, with the melody keyboard active, control advanced functions of the QChord. Some of these advanced functions will be covered shortly in greater depth.
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This control has 3 positions. When the QChord is first turned on, the full accompaniment plays. When the melody button is pressed once, the bass part plays, and when it is pressed twice, the accompaniment turns off entirely, and the lower two rows of buttons function like a keyboard. This second setting is also used to select some advanced QChord functions.
To demonstrate this feature, reset the instrument to its power-on defaults, and press the rhythm select down button 4 times to select the new age rhythm. Press a chord to see what the accompaniment sounds like. You may need to listen for awhile in order to observe that at the end of every other cycle, there is a low, rapidly descending note. Now press the melody (bass) button once and press a chord. Listen carefully. Notice that the rapidly falling note mentioned above is no longer present.
Press the melody button again. This time, the chord accompaniment stops playing. Now press the leftmost chord button on the bottom row. Notice that only one note plays. You've just pressed a c note on the melody keyboard. Push the second button from the left in the middle row. This is a c-sharp. Pressing the second button from the left in the bottom row plays a d. Pushing the third button from the left in the middle row plays a d-sharp. Depressing the third button from the left on the bottom sounds an e. Now push the fourth button from the left in the middle row. No sound plays. This is because there is no e-sharp in the chromatic scale. When you play two consecutive notes on the bottom row, you are progressing by steps. When you play a note on the bottom row and then play its corresponding sharp note in the middle row, you are moving by half steps. Thus, from c to c-sharp is a half step, while from c to d is a whole step. The notes on the bottom row are called "natural" notes, while those in the middle row are "sharp" notes. An octave is eight notes on the bottom row. Therefore, from c to c is one octave (c, d, e, f, g, a, b, c). You can play more than one note. If you push the buttons corresponding to c, e, and g, for example, you have just played a c-major chord. The notes on the melody keyboard go from a c in one octave to a g in the next. The notes on the bottom row are:
C, d, e, f, g, a, b, c, d, e, f, and g. The notes in the middle row are sharp notes and are always above and to the right of their corresponding natural notes. They are: c-sharp, d-sharp, f-sharp, g-sharp, a-sharp, c-sharp, d-sharp, and f-sharp. Note that e-sharp and b-sharp do not exist. Therefore, the first, fourth, eighth, and eleventh buttons in the middle row do not play. Consult a music theory text if you are interested in more details than I have provided, or if you desire further help with these concepts.
While the melody keyboard is active, all of the buttons on the bottom row play notes, whereas only some in the middle and none on the top do so. You will also remember that I mentioned very early that some of the buttons on the top row had raised symbols on them. These buttons, with the melody keyboard active, control advanced functions of the QChord. Some of these advanced functions will be covered shortly in greater depth.
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