review
Planet Waves Chordmaster
Most guitar players own or have seen a printed “chord encyclopedia.” Mel Bay has probably sold millions of them. They are a valuable tool for looking up chords you don’t have memorized or quickly finding new fingerings (voicings) for familiar chords. Hand-held electronic versions were introduced decades ago, but they were often cumbersome to use. Computer application versions have been around for a while also, but most guitar players don’t carry laptops with them to gigs (yet.)With the enormous success of the iPhone and iPod Touch, it was only a matter of time before chord encyclopedias moved to these devices. Since you usually have your phone or iPod with you, having a chord encyclopedia on it makes perfect sense. There are several chord encyclopedia apps to choose from, but the Chordmaster is the first from a guitar hardware manufacturer.
Overview
Chordmaster is a chord library app with an attractive, easy-to-use interface. It allows you to easily scroll up the fretboard to see the same chord at several locations on the fretboard. In addition it allows you to “strum” the chords and hear how they sound. You look up chords by root, type, and variant by swiping wheels and pushing buttons. There are both right and left hand modes, a feature printed versions don’t provide.
Bragging Rights
Most chord encyclopedias brag that they show thousands of chords, but experienced players know that they are mainly different voicings (fingerings) of the same chords. For example, you may have several voicings of a D Major chord, but they are all still D Major chords. Also, many chord shapes are moveable. For example, a simple F Major barre chord shape can be moved up the fretboard to create F#/Gb, G, G#/Ab, A, A#/Bb, B, C, C#/Db, D, D#/Eb, and E chords. One chord shape, twelve chords. So with that in mind, Chordmaster has over 7800 chord voicings.
Voicings (Fingerings)
Another thing many chord encyclopedias don’t mention is that they often include extremely-difficult-to play chords. Some fingerings span five fret ranges with muted strings. These are basically useless for all but the most determined players. How does Chordmaster compare? It has its share of difficult to nearly impossible fingerings (including some that use the thumb), but these are mixed in with the more common, easier to play chords. It seems these harder chords were added mainly so you would have options all the way up the fretboard. Still, I would like to see an option for limiting chords to four or even three fret ranges.
Also, Chordmaster enforces a “root note on the lowest string” rule that removes many common and perfectly acceptable voicings. For example, in Chordmaster, the common A Major open chord has the 6th string muted, although the 6th string is an E note, which is in the A Major chord (the 5th.) There is really no practical reason to mute the 6th string. You will see the same thing on barre chords. A C Major barre chord at the 3rd fret has the 6th string muted, although the G note is in the C Major chord. You typically get six voicings for each chord. Which is good. And the voicing choices are good ones (in my opinion) for the most part, but it is by no means comprehensive. For example, you get the common “folk” G open chord fingering, but not the equally popular “Beatles” G open chord fingering where you play a D note on the 2nd string instead of the open B note.
Chord Types
Chord types are divided into four families: Major, Minor, Dominant, and Diminished. These families are then divided into variations such as 9 or sus4. For the Major chord there are 16 variations. Some of the variations are quite unusual such as 6#11, but they are there if you need them. All the most common types and variations are there with two exceptions. First is the sus2 (sometimes written as a 2 chord. Not to be confused with the add9 chord.) While the sus2 is not as common as the sus4, it is certainly more common for guitarists (Dsus2) than some of the other variations included. Another huge omission is the "Power" chord (or 5 chord.) Technically, a power chord is not really a chord as it only include the root and 5th, but it is so commonly called and considered a chord that it should be included.
In Use
Using Chordmaster is easy. You simply select a root note (C for example), choose Major, Minor, Dominant, or Diminished, and then choose a variation such as triad or 7. Chordmaster then shows you the chord voicing closest to the nut on a virtual fretboard. Finger numbers are included — a nice touch — but I found some fingerings debate-able, such as the open G (I prefer to use fingers 3, 2, and 4 to make the transition to a C chord easier.)
By clicking arrows you can move up and down the fretboard to see more voicings of the chosen chord type. The root note is shown in black, great for fingerstyle or jazz players looking for the root. At the bottom of the fretboard you have you choice of showing the note name or the interval (R, 3, 5, etc.) for each string. This is a nice learning feature.
Swiping a finger across the virtual fretboard “plays” the chord using real guitar samples. If you swipe slow enough you can even play arpeggios. This is a great way audition voicings.
Wish List
Aside from limiting the fret range of chords to four frets, the addition of the sus2 chord variation and power chords, or perhaps more voicings of open chords, there is little lacking in Chordmaster. However, the one thing I have never found in any chord application which I think would be killer, is the ability to enter a chord on the fretboard and then have Chordmaster look it up and tell what chord it is. This would be great for those who stumble upon a cool voicing and want to quickly know what chord it is, or for those don’t have the fretboard and chord theory knowledge to figure it out.
Final Thoughts
Chordmaster is a great chord library for iPhone and iPod Touch. Its interface is attractive, informative, and easy to use. The ability to hear a chord played is great. It offers several voicings up the neck for each chord type and variation, most of which are good, playable fingerings, although there are a fair number of difficult ones also. A huge number of chord type variations are included, although I found the lack of sus2 and Power chords odd. If you own an iPhone or iPod Touch, Chordmaster is a bargain and I see is no reason not to get it today.
Reader Comments
Better Guitar encourages your input. Agree with this review? Think I’m crazy? If you have used Chordmaster, email me your comments and I’ll post them below. The more opinions we have available, the better our buying decisions will be.
stats
- • Over 7800 Chord Voicings
- • Audio Chord Playback
- • Note Name or Interval Display
- • Finger Numbers
- • Left Hand Mode
Positives
- Attractive, informative, easy-to-use interface; Inexpensive; Audio playback of chords; ultra-portable.
Negatives
- No Power chords; no sus2 variant; Root note on the lowest string rule makes for unnecessary muted strings.
Rating
- Performance: 10
- Sound Quality: 9
- Features: 9
- Value: 10
- Overall: 9
Ratings Key
- 0 = Worthless
- 10 = Excellent
Approximate Street Price
- $1.99 direct from iTunes Store
Company
- Planet Waves