GB2244587A

GB2244587A - Jaw rest

Info

Publication number: GB2244587A
Application number: GB9106827A
Authority: GB
Inventors: William Benham
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1990-04-07
Filing date: 1991-04-02
Publication date: 1991-12-04
Anticipated expiration: 2011-04-02
Also published as: GB9007954D0; GB9106827D0; GB2244587B

Abstract

The invention concerns a jaw rest for a stringed instrument of the violin/viola type which is particularly suited to players of an ectomorphic physique. The jaw rest has a portion 11 for cooperation in use with the jaw of the player, the portion 11 when mounted on the instrument extending at least two inches above the table 3 of the instrument and when viewed from above the instrument extending over a greater area outside the plane of the instrument than it does within the plane of the instrument. <IMAGE>

Description

JAW REST.

The present invention concerns accessories for stringed instruments of the violin and viola type. Such instruments comprise a sound box attached to a neck and in use instruments of this family are held aproximately horizontally by the player's left hand with the tail piece of the sound box resting on the player's collar bone. Advanced instrumental techniques mean that any professional player has to have maximum freedom to move his or her hand up and down the neck of the instrument with great rapidity and accuracy whilst bowing with the right hand and simultaneously maintaining secure control of the instrument as a whole. Thus in many playing situations the instrument is held in position by being gripped between the player's chir and collar bone.

In the following discussion the term violin will be used for the sake of simplicity but it will be appreciated that the invention is not restricted to use in conjunction with violins alone.

It is well known that the physical requirements involved in playing the violin are fraught with potential danger with regard to the setting up of unwanted stresses and strains and it is believed that many of these stresses are set up by the neccessity to hold the instrument when playing with very little participation from the player's left hand.

Two accessories have been devised to meet this problem. Firstly the violin can be fitted with a shoulder-rest which raises the instrument with respect to the player's shoulder and secondly the violin can be fitted with what is known as a chin-rest. However existing chin-rests do not exceed 1" in height above the table of the violin and thus even in conjunction with a shoulder-rest are inadequate for ectomorphic individuals with very long necks who wish to rest their violins on their collar bones.

Thus the present invention has for an object to provide a chin-rest which is better suited to long- necked players than those which have hitherto been available.

Accordingly the present invention provides a jaw rest for a stringed instrument of the violin/viola type, the jaw rest having a portion for cooperation in use with the jaw of the player of the instrument, the portion when mounted on the instrument extending at least one and a half inches above the table of the instrument and when viewed from above the instrument, extending more than 15% outside the plane of the instrument than it does within the plane of the instrument.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, an embodiment thereof will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a conventional chin-rest mounted on a violin.

Figure 2 is a similar view of the jaw rest according to the present invention, and Figure 3 is a plan view of the table of a violin with the jaw rest of Figure 2 mounted on it.

Referring now to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings this shows a violin tailpiece at 1 and a conventional chin-rest 2 mounted on the table of a violin 3. The chin-rest 2 is held on the violin by a screw threaded clamping arrangement indicated at 4. The chin-rest shown would in real life extend about " above the table of the viblin.

Referring now to Figure 2 of the drawings this shows a jaw-rest 10 constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention. It can be seen that in this embodiment the jaw-rest extends for a height of 2" above the table of the violin. It comprises a traverse portion 11 which cooperates with a player's jaw when the violin is being played and a pair of legs 12 each having a screw-threaded clamping arrangement 14. Figure 3 of the drawings shows another important difference between the jaw-rest 10 and the conventional chin-rest 1 shown in Figure 1. As can be seen from this figure the bulk of portion 11 extends outside the outline or plane of the table of the violin. Furthermore the portion 11 is formed with a ridge indicated at 15 which is aproximately 3/4" high.

In use this ridge "hooks" behind the mandible of the player so that the mandible contacts the ridge at a distance of aproximately 6" from the centre line 1 of the violin. This greatly facilitates downward shifts when the instrument is being played.

It might have been thought that ectomorphic playrs with long necks could compensate for their length of neck by using higher than usual shoulder rests. However the use of very high shoulder rests introduces a posture problem for the player in that the hands and arms have to operate at a higher level in order to cope with the raised violin. One result of this is that the player attempts to compensate by raising at least the left shoulder.

The above description and dimensions have been based on a full sized violin for an adult player. However it will be appreciated that the dimensions will vary in accordance with the requirements of individual physiques. The basic concept behind the jaw-rest is to enable ectomorphic players of stringed instruments, and in particular violin and viola players, to hold the instrument in a manner which does not set up the physical strains and stresses which occur when players of this physical type are liable to when trying to accommodate their physique to the instrument.

The jaw-rests according to the present invention may be manufuctured in a number of different ways but a particularly suitable method of manufacture is to mould them from thermoplastic resins.

It will be appreciated that the jaw rest described with reference to Figures 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings is of such a size that difficulty will be found in storing the violin in an average violin case. In order to meet this difficulty part of the jaw rest can be detachable from the remainder. thus the jaw rest can be made to divide along the line shown at 16 in Figures 2 and 3. To hold the two parts together they can be provided with respective male and female joint members which are a press fit together.

Claims

What I claim is:

1) A jaw rest for a stringed instrument of the violin/viola type, the jaw rest having a portion for cooperation in use with the jaw of the player, the portion when mounted on the instrument extending at least one and a half inches above the table of the instrument. At least 15% of the jaw rest, when viewed from above, extending outside the plane of the instrument.

2) A jaw rest as claimed in claim 1, and having a ridge extending when mounted on the instrument substantially at right angles to the strings of the instrument, this ridge, when the instrument is being played, hooking behind the mandible of the player.

3) A jaw rest as claimed in either of the preceding claims wherein for storage purposes the jaw rest can be separated into at least two portions.

4) A jaw rest substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In Figure 3, more than 50% of the jaw rest extends beyond the outline shape of the instrument, but to accommodate different players this figure can be reduced to approx. 15%.