Patent Application
20150339945
Having a proper bow hold on the bow of a stringed instrument is essential to properly playing such an instrument. This is true for all stringed instruments be they small enough to be fully supported in one hand or so large as to be held upright while supported by the floor—such as a cello or double bass. Each style of stringed instrument requires a particular means of holding a bow. This is so because the musician generally wants a bow hold which allows for fluid movement of the bow while maintaining control of both the bow and the instrument. In the context of a cello or a double bass, this grip involves the placement of the index finger and thumb to contact the bow on opposite sides while the remaining three fingers rest alongside, but separated from, the index finger to provide proper support and power in bow movements.
Instruction in bow-handling has traditionally involved a student's visual observation of an instructor's hands on a bow. The student would then try to mimic the instructor's grip—including the bend of the fingers, their position, and the appropriate spacing. This has proved to be one of the most challenging early hurdles in the mastery of large stringed instruments which use bows. Learning and maintaining proper bow hold technique is a difficult task made more difficult in settings where instructors are responsible for the training of a large number of students. The nuances of finger placement and how it affects performance and sound can be hard to teach in such a context as it requires a great deal of consistent monitoring of each student.
These aspects of learning to play large stringed instruments can be more problematic than learning to play smaller stringed instruments in part (at least) because the students, players, users, etc. cannot easily see where their fingers are positioned on the bow of the larger stringed instruments when they are playing it. In contrast, while playing smaller stringed instruments, users can see their fingers/hands at least at some times and/or in some portions of the “strokes” involved in their play. Note that the position of the musician's arm in relation to the instrument plays a role in determining the proper bow hold technique. For a cello or double bass, the arm is generally held outward and down in front of the body usually near the waist which contrasts sharply with proper technique in holding the bow of a violin or viola where the arm is held upward nearer to the face. Yet, gaining the proper bow hold on the bow of such large instruments correctly, presents a challenge to many users. Thus, the increased tactile feedback provided by the walls disclosed herein has been found to provide unexpectedly improved learning times for students of large stringed instruments. A student can easily place this device on the bow, at the frog of the bow, and place their fingers in the assigned spaces, which allows for easy instruction and maintenance of a proper bow hold or correction to a proper bow hold. Note also that in the realm of stringed instruments, many Instructors teach either the violin and viola (small stringed instruments) or the cell and bass (large stringed instruments): but not both. Teaching aids of embodiments allow violin/viola Instructors, Band Leaders, Orchestra Conductors, and/or others unskilled with regard to playing large stringed instruments to teach cello and bass because they need not concern themselves so much with proper bow holding technique and can instead focus on the music, stroke, etc.
Within the realm of cello and double bass instruction, a device which assists students in developing and maintaining a proper bow hold and handling of a bow is desired. Such a device could provide more meaningful feedback perhaps without the need for careful visual observation by the instructor. Such a device would provide tactile feedback to students, building muscle memory of the feel of the grip, and, if desired, minimally affecting the weight and feel of the bow itself. Furthermore, such a device could accommodate a range of hand sizes, cello or double bass bow sizes, and could be easy to install or remove.
Various embodiments herein provide teaching aids for use with large stringed instruments and their associated bows which define bow frogs. The teaching aids of the current embodiment comprise support structures adapted to be releasably attached in proximity to the bow frogs. Furthermore, the support structures define first pairs of walls between which a combination of the middle, ring, and pinky fingers of the users are to be placed in pre-determined locations relative to the bows. The teaching aids of the current embodiment are adapted to guide the hand and the combination of the middle, ring, and pinky fingers of the users into desired gripping positions relative to the bows as indicated through tactile feedback from the support structures.
In some embodiments, the large stringed instruments are cellos and/or double bass instruments. Furthermore, the support structures can define second pairs of walls between which the index fingers of the users are to be placed. Further still, the support structures can define third pairs of walls between which the thumbs of the users are to be placed. In addition, or in the alternative, the support structures can define longitudinal axes and wherein the first pairs of walls define angles relative thereto suitable to guide the hands and combinations of the middle, ring, and pinky fingers of the users into the desired gripping positions relative to the bows when the users assume seated postures holding the large stringed instruments.
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects are described herein in connection with the annexed figures. These aspects are indicative of various non-limiting ways in which the disclosed subject matter may be practiced, all of which are intended to be within the scope of the disclosed subject matter. Other novel and nonobvious features will become apparent from the following detailed disclosure when considered in conjunction with the figures and are also within the scope of the disclosure.
The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number usually corresponds to the figure in which the reference number first appears. The use of the same reference numbers in different figures usually indicates similar or identical items.
This document discloses systems, apparatus, methods, etc. associated with large stringed instrument teaching aids. The current disclosure provides teaching aids for use with large stringed instruments and more particularly flexible teaching aids which guide the users' hands into proper bow-gripping positions and which provide tactile feedback thereof.
The teaching aids (504) of the current embodiment are designed to be releasably secured to a cello/bass bow as depicted in
A plurality of apertures (301, 302, 403, 701, and 802, see
In the disclosed embodiment, apertures (301 and 701, see
The apertures (301, 302, 403, 701, and 801, see
The lateral contour of the sets of walls (303, 304, 404, 702, 802, and 901, see
Some embodiments provide teaching aids which can vary in material, size, and weight. A lighter weight teaching aid can minimize the difference between playing a cello aided by the teaching aid and playing a cello without a teaching aid. Additionally, a teaching aid comprised predominantly of sponge rubber and sufficiently flexible to be deformed during installation of the bow is provided by embodiments. Teaching aids of embodiments can vary in size depending on instrument and user-hand sizes.
Embodiments disclosed herein provide teaching aids for the bows of large stringed instruments. Some teaching aids comprising a generally cylindrical outer surface, a generally cylindrical inner surface, apertures in the outer surface which intersect the inner surface, and resulting walls from these apertures, provide tactile indication of pre-determined locations where a user's fingers are intended to make contact with a bow for a large stringed instrument.
Although the subject matter has been disclosed in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts disclosed above. Rather, the specific features and acts described herein are disclosed as illustrative implementations of the claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62002715 | May 2014 | US |
