Product Review: Suzuki QChord

The Suzuki QChord is a great instrument for kids, adults, amateurs, and pros alike. Also known as the digital songcard guitar, it has many user-friendly and fun features. Some of these are described below.

EZ Play. The QChord resets itself every time you turn it off. So all you need to do when you take it out of the box is turn it on, press the EZ Play button, and go! It provides a rhythm, accompanying chords, and an instrument sound for either playing melody or strumming along. You can play in seconds!

QCards--song cartridges. There are many different song cartridges available for the QChord. These contain fully orchestrated songs, including pop hits, country classics, religious favorites, Christmas songs, kids' songs, and more. Just insert the QCard into the QCard slot on the left end of the QChord, pick a song, and strum along! You can't make a mistake, because the QChord plays the chords and accompaniment by itself. You can either let it play, or add your own strumming. Kids especially love this feature, because it shows them how easy and fun the QChord is.

Strum Plate. This is where you strum chords. It's a set of grooves that looks like a speaker on the middle right side of the QChord. Press a chord button, and strum. You can choose the instrument sound that plays the chord, and you can't make a mistake. The strum plate plays perfect chords every time, without strings that can bend, break, or get out of tune.

Melody Keyboard. Some of the chord buttons turn into keyboard notes when you press the Melody button. It provides sharp, flat, and natural notes for almost two octaves. This allows you to actually play melodies on the QChord. Of course, more experienced players can also play them on the strum plate! But using the melody keyboard is the easiest way.

Rhythms. There are ten rhythms built into the QChord, including country, waltz, rock, swing, gospel, and more. But 64 additional rhythms are also available. These come on two QCards--one has 30 rhythms and the other has 34, and choosing them is as easy as selecting a song.

MIDI capabilities. You can control other MIDI instruments with the QChord, expanding its sound capabilities. You can also connect it to a PC and record the QChord's accompaniments. In this way, any musician can compose and record his or her own songs.

The Suzuki QChord sells for $209 as of this writing. It's a family-friendly instrument that's well worth the price.