Chord Master (also rendered Visual Chord Master, chordmaster) is the brand-name for a type of automated chording device produced for the

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

. Competing products were sold under labels such as Noteless Player by Ferry & Co. These devices allowed a ukulele player to easily play chords simply by choosing the mechanical button on the device labeled for the desired chord, and depressing it, causing mechanical levers to fret each string at the proper place to compose a chord. The popular Chordmaster was produced by

luthier A luthier ( ; AmE also ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers o ...

Mario Maccaferri Mario Maccaferri (1900–1993) was an Italian luthier, classical guitarist, businessman, and inventor. He is noted for designing the guitar favored by jazz musician Django Reinhardt, and for designing plastic clothespins, plastic bath and kitche ...

(known for designing plastic ukuleles) and his affiliated

French American Reeds Manufacturing French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

company; both his instruments and chord device are desired collectors' items. The term Chordmaster was also used for a guitar chord reference application for the

iPhone OS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

in 2009. The application ranked #1 on the Apple iTunes music application store.

References

{{reflist

External links

Chordmaster.com
a site devoted to the history of automated chording devices Musical instruments Ukulele performance techniques IOS software