Patent ID: 8669458

Claim:
A musical instrument comprising: a) a body, the body comprising an extension, b) a neck attached to the body, the neck defining an axis, the neck and body defining a first plane, wherein a second plane is defined that is substantially perpendicular to the first plane, passes through the first plane and contains the axis, and wherein the extension comprises at least a portion that is non-coplanar with the first plane and has a cross-section that is at least partially contained in the second plane, c) a plurality of strings having first ends secured to the body and second ends secured to the neck, d) a plurality of pluckers, each string being associated with at least one plucker, e) a processor in communication with the plurality of pluckers, f) a control device in communication with the processor, the control device providing a signal to the processor whereby at least one of the plurality of pluckers is activated, thereby plucking the string associated with the at least one plucker to produce a musical note, and g) a keyboard secured to the body such that at least a portion of the keyboard is secured to the non-coplanar portion of the extension, the keyboard comprising a plurality of keys for producing sounds, the musical notes produced by the pluckers activated by control device f) and the sounds produced by the keys of keyboard g) being produceable substantially simultaneously.