US 5,355,757 AGranted

String instrument bowing practice device

OwnerKathryn C. Plummerinventor

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Abstract

A device for practice bowing a stringed musical instrument for the purpose of teaching the movement of a real bow along a path perpendicular to the strings on the string instrument while maintaining a fixed sounding point. The bowing practice device comprises an elongated shaft simulating the ribbon of horsehair on a real bow. This shaft is movably supported in a sleeve which has a groove in the outer surface thereof for receiving a string of a string instrument. The string is held in the groove by two elastic O-rings supported on the sleeve. The movement of the shaft along a path essentially coaxial with the passageway through the string-positioned sleeve provides for movement of the practice device along a path essentially perpendicular to the strings on the string instrument. However, when the shaft is moved along a path departing the aforementioned path a discernable resistance to this movement occurs due to the shaft contacting the walls of the passageway so as to signal the student to reposition the shaft for movement thereof along the proper path.

Claims10

Dependent claims

A device for practicing bowing of a stringed musical instrument, comprising a first elongated shaft means of a substantially uniform cross-sectional dimension over essentially the full length thereof and having first and second end regions, rectangular block means having substantially parallel first and second longitudinally extending edge regions and attached at the first edge region thereof to the first shaft means at the first end region thereof, a second elongated shaft means of a length substantially less than that of said first shaft means attached to the rectangular block means at the second edge region thereof and disposed in a longitudinal plane substantially parallel to and spaced from said first shaft means, elongated sleeve means having a elongated passageway therethrough of a substantially uniform cross sectional dimension slightly larger than the cross sectional dimension of said first shaft means for receiving therein said first shaft means in a relatively movable manner with respect to said sleeve means over substantially the full length of said first shaft means, and engagable means supported by said sleeve means and adapted to be engaged for maintaining the sleeve means n a fixed position with respect to the relatively movable first shaft means.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.