the chordmaster: overview
During our research into past media and searching for lost interactions we found a series of objects. Many of them were from the 1950’s but the one, which intrigued us the most, was the Chordmaster.
The Fender Chordmaster is essentially an electronic guitar tutor, which allows the user to learn the elementary chords through listening to the correct sound of them as well as viewing how the chord is played correctly on the display.
The Chordmaster came out in the early 1950’s during a time where Rock ‘N’ Roll was taking over the music industry. Rock ‘N’ Roll drew a predominantly teenage audience due to their desire to break out of the mainstream and stereotypes of the time. Popular artists at the time included Elvis Pressley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry. These music idols heavily influenced the culture of the time including the fashion and attitudes of teenagers. Therefore the Chordmaster was marketed towards the many teenagers who were trying to learn guitar and copy their idols.
The Chordmaster works by the user selecting the desired chord by turning the chord dial, and then they simply pull down the sound lever to hear the chord. On the dial displaying the chord it also shows the position the fingers should be on the guitar strings. The Chordmaster also has a volume control dial and an inbuilt metronome. To hear the metronome the user turns the dial to switch it on and then turns it further to increase the tempo. The metronome meant that the user could play a song with the correct timing.
This Chordmaster was found while searching through a relative’s attic and we found out that they had used it to learn the guitar when they were younger. They also contributed the original instruction manual, still in very good condition.
the chordmaster: in pictures
the chordmaster: in film
the chordmaster: research sites
Projection, as if by Magic (David Henderson)
Lost Media | Found Objects (Sam Tilston)
designers/restorers
David Henderson
Sam Tilston
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