More Introductory Information

Although it may at first seem boring, a little time spent familiarizing yourself with the location of the QChord's controls will make learning to play the instrument more enjoyable. Because of the QChord's design, the visually impaired user will need a thorough mastery of the instrument's controls in order to use it successfully.

Perhaps the best way to remember the location of the QChord's controls is to separate them into groups. The master controls are located on the extreme left and extreme right of the QChord. They include the master volume control, power button, and demo button on the left, and the start/stop button on the right.

The rhythm controls are clustered around the rhythm readout window and include the intro begin/end button, fill button, rhythm volume controls, rhythm select controls, and tempo controls. The voice controls surround the strumplate readout window and consist of the voice volume controls, voice select controls, and sustain controls. The chord mode section is on the lower part of the QChord at the level of the chord buttons and contains the ez-play button, vibrato, reverb, chord volume, autochord, manual, and melody controls. The Q card group is on the lowermost part of the instrument and is comprised of the stop, play/pause, search backward, and search forward buttons.

The following sections will explain the features of the QChord and suggest some playing techniques. First, though, some additional introductory material, as well as the names of the chord buttons, rhythms, and preset voices will be covered. I will explain the various features of the QChord, but you are urged to experiment with them to see which combinations sound best with the songs you play.

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