IMPROVEMENTS IN HAND RESTS FOR PIANO- FORTES
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Sutton, in the County of
Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HAND RESTS FOR PIANO-
FORTES." A communication from abroad by William Bohrer, of the City of
Montreal Canada.
led the 1st August 1876, and dated the 17th March 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield
"6
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 17th March 1876.
GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Sutton, in the County of Surrey.
MENTS IN HAND RESTS FOR PIANOFORTES.
IMPROVE
This Invention is for the purpose of enabling a student of the pianoforte to
acquire in much less time than can be done at present the power of holding his
hands in the proper position while playing, especially when executing "legato"
passages; it being well known to all professors of music that the principal
difficulty to be overcome by any pianoforte student is that of sustaining the wrist
at the proper level (i.c., slightly above that of the keyboard) and only moving the
hands horizontally while playing.
I propose to arrange
under each wrist of the student a rest which shall sustain
it at the proper level, allowing him at the same time the most perfect liberty in
moving his hands horizontally in any direction, forward, backward, along the
keyboard, and diagonally, this being performed without friction on the wrist.
Should the student at any time either depress his wrists, so as to lean heavily on
the rests, or raise them above their proper level, my Invention affords means of
automatically warning him of the fault he is committing, as in one case the
progress of his hands along the keyboard is completely arrested, and in the other
the support of the rest is lost. It must be observed that in all this I do not in
any way control, guide, or interfere with the muscular action of the student's
fingers, or impede his view of the keyboard.
The construction of my Invention may be thus briefly described:-Supported
on brackets sliding on guides attached to the under side of the piano, or otherwise,
is arranged parallel to the keyboard a bar, notched or serrated on its upper surface,
and so carried as to have its level adjustable at pleasure. Immediately above this,
and supported so as to give a yielding resistance to downward pressure, is a round
bar, upon which are placed two light stands carrying rests, upon which the pupil

page_text: lays his wrists. These stands (which when in use are above the level of the bar,
and when not required can be dropped down) slide freely along the upper bar, and
by their movement, in combination with that of the rests which they carry, allow
the student to move his hands in any direction, and afford him the degree of
support required to sustain his wrists at the proper level.
Should the student while playing press too heavily upon the rests the bar upon
which the stands are mounted will yield to the pressure and the rings upon which
they run be brought in contact with the serrated upper surface of the lower bar,
thus completely stopping any movement along the keyboard. Again, should the
student raise his hands above the proper level the stands, not being kept up by the
slight pressure on the wrists, will drop from under his wrists, thus, as in the
former case, giving him warning of tho wrong position of his hands.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
Edwin Chabot, Executor of the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, deceased, in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th September 1876.
EDWIN CHABOT, of South Norwood, in the County of Surrey, Executor of
George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Sutton, in the County of Surrey, who departed this
life on the Thirtieth day of July One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN HAND RESTS FOR PIANOFORTES." A communication from abroad
by William Bohrer, of the City of Montreal, Canada.
It is well known to all teachers of music that the greatest obstacles which
beginners have to overcome in learning the pianoforte is the extreme difficulty
which they experience in keeping their hands on the proper level with the key-
board, as in practising the fingers and arms become fatigued from the position in
which they must be held; and unless very strictly watched the learner is
extremely apt to relieve himself by dropping his wrists below the level of the
keyboard and pressing heavily upon the keys with his fingers, and with the hands
held in this position it is impossible that the fingering should be properly
performed. To cure this habit (which as a rule cannot be eradicated in less than
two years study) a hand rest, consisting of a horizontal round bar, placed at the
level of the keyboard of the piano has been long in use, and for simpler exercises,
where the hands are not required to be moved, has been found to answer its
purpose, but in "scaling," &c., the friction of the wrist on the bar is both very
inconvenient and even painful to the player, and materially impedes the move-
ment of the hands. Besides this the old fashioned hand rest does not in any way
prevent the learner from falling into the opposite extreme of raising the wrists too
high, an error that many pupils are prone to, especially those who have weak
fingers, and think that by so doing they will help them to perforin their work.
Since the original hand rests many modifications have been devised to improve
upon it, but all these have had some defect, which has prevented their ever
coming into practical use. I claim however that my Invention offers a hand rest
which shall give the necessary slight support to the wrists, be adjustable to suit
the requirements and knowledge of the pupil, allow scaling, broken chords,
chromatic scales, and in fact any studies with parallel and counter motion which
advance the scholar in "legato" playing, and do not require the sudden trans-
position of the hands from one part of the keyboard to the other. My hand rest
may also be adjusted to give a perfectly firm support in "staccato" studies
performed with the wrist; and all these are performed easily and without incon-
venience to the player, there being absolutely no friction on the wrists in whatever
direction the hand may be moved, either forward or backward, to the right or
left, and lastly (which I claim as one of the most important points in my
Invention), it will automatically warn the scholar if at any time his wrists are

page_text: raised or depressed beyond the proper level, thus ensuring that during practising
hours, in which generally the pupil is left to himself, his hands will be kept in the
proper position.
may add that by the use of my Invention a pupil will acquire with facility
the power of holding his hands in the proper position, and thus the proper
developement of the fingers to make a good pianoforte player is attained in less
than one-fourth the time usually taken to master this important point.
For fuller comprehension however of my Invention reference must be had to the
annexed Drawings, where,
Figure 1 is a perspective view of my Invention; Figure 2 is a transverse
sectional elevation; Figure 3 is a view of stand; Figure 4 is a detail of bars, &c.
A is a bar of some such section as that shown at Figures 1 and 2, and notched
on its upper surface, as at A¹, made of metal or wood, as found most suitable, and
supported in a horizontal position in front of the piano by standards a passing
down through the ends of brackets B, and held at any height desired by set
screws a¹, or in any usual and well known way.
These brackets B are, as
shown in Figure 2, secured to the under side of the piano by a pin b projecting
downwardly and entering into a groove in the bracket B, which is held in place
by the clip b; or these brackets may be fastened in any suitable way, so as to
admit of their removal when desired.
C is a round bar of wood or metal, arranged so as to be immediately above the
bar A and resting on two or more spiral springs D secured thereto, and which are
preferably arranged in some such manner as shown in Figure 4, so as to increase
or diminish at pleasure their resistance; E, E, are screwed pins tapped through the
bar C and working in threaded holes formed in the bar A. Upon this bar Care
arranged, so as to run freely from right to left, and vice versa, on rings F, two
stands or pedestals G, preferably of some such shape as that shown in Figures
and 2, having formed in each of them bearings g for an upright spindle H, on the
upper end of which is mounted a rest I, made either of steel covered with any
suitable substance, vulcanite, or any other material, these rests receiving the wrists
of the player and turning freely in any direction horizontally.
The rings F, which may be of smooth material, may have if desired, as shown
on the Drawings, small saddles f formed on their upper sides where the pressure
comes, so as to facilitate their running and ensure its being noiseless.
The two rings to each stand may also for the same purpose be connected by a
bar, but these features are not by any means essential, and may be omitted
without in any way interfering with the Invention.
Although these stands are, as shown, constructed plainly of wire they may be
formed of carved wood, and made highly ornamental in any way desired, the only
necessity being that proper bearings g must be provided for the spindles H.
I will now proceed to describe the manner in which my Invention may be put
into operation.
The brackets B having been securely fixed to the under side of the piano the
bar A and bar C, with the stands G loose upon it, are arranged upon them, their
distance from the front of the piano being according to the size of the hands of the
pupil and their height with relation to the keyboard (which should be such that
the rests I will be at the level of or very slightly above the keys) fixed by means
of the standards a of the bar A and the screwed pins E, which attach the round
bar C to the bar A. When the parts are in this position the wrists of the player
are supported to the necessary extent in the rest I, and the hands may be pushed
forward, drawn back, or turned in any direction with the greatest ease and without
any friction on the wrist; but it is more especially for the exercises, in which the
hands must be moved to right and left, that the value of my Invention is most
apparent.
The construction of the stands G running freely by the rings F on the bar C
allows free movement to the hands up and down the board, and should the scholar
while so doing depress his wrists he will lower the bar C (which only gives a

page_text: yielding resistance), and brings the rings F into the notched surface A¹ of the
bar A, thus completely arresting his progress and warning him of the fault he is
cominitting. Again, should the pupil fall into the other extreme and elevate his
wrist too much the rest will fall from under it, so that it will be seen that the
pupil to play at all must keep his hands at the proper level.
It will of course be understood that I propose to adjust the distance between the
two bars so as to suit the degree of knowledge attained by the learner, allowing
the beginner more of play and arranging it so for one who is more proficient that
the slightest depression of the wrist will bring the rings F in contact with the
notched surface; and the springs may, as before mentioned, be made to give
greater or less resistance, according to the age, &c., of the pupil.
The principal point of difference between my Invention and the hand rests made
up to this time is that mine opposes a yielding instead of a firm resistance to the
downward pressure of the wrist, and this may be carried out somewhat differently
to the way that I have already described. The bar C may be a flexible wooden
rod, the springs D being omitted, and its elasticity giving the yielding resistance,
but I do not consider this so good as the construction I have already described, as
the resistance in such an arrangement would be of unequal strength.
For "staccato' or wrist playing the stands can be turned down, the bar C
brought down firmly upon A, and both raised until C is at the level of the
keyboard.
If desired my apparatus may be made a permanent portion of a piano, all that
is needed when it is not used being to drop the stands and push them right and
left, as the player is not in any way impeded and no part of the keyboard is shut
out from view.
Having thus described my Invention what I claim is as follows:-
First. In any hand rest the combination of a bar arranged parallel to the front
of a piano and supported therefrom and a round bar arranged above it and offering a
yielding resistance to downward pressure, as herein set forth.
Second. A hand rest arranged to afford the necessary support to the wrist of the
player, and at the same time allowing lateral, forward or backward, and diagonal
motion to be made simultaneously, ns herein set forth.
Third. In combination with the bar C the stands G arranged so as to be move-
able forward or backward, or to the right or left, as and for the purposes herein set
forth.
Fourth. The combination with the stand G of the rests I mounted upon
spindles H, so as to be capable of horizontal rotary motion, substantially as herein
set forth.
Fifth. In combination with the bar A having notched upper surface A¹ the
stands G carrying rests I and having rings F running upon the bar C, substantially
as and for the purposes herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edwin Chabot, as such Executor as aforesaid,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.