Autoharp patent

8/8/2019 Autoharp patent

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UK ^

TheWinterthurLibrary


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THEAUTOHARPn>

ANDHOW ITCAPTUREDTHE FAMILY

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IT ALL CAME from his visit to the musicstore. He was a musician and thefather of an interesting family of

children all of whom were musically inclined.On the day in question, he was selecting some

music, when his attention wascalled to a queer looking sheetthat was lying on the counter, allwritten out in numbers.''What is this you have here ?he inquired of his friend, the musicdealer.

*'Why," said the dealer, ''thatis a collection of some of the latestpopular songs set in figure music forthe Zimmermann Autoharp. I pre-

sume you know this instrument ? "''Oh, yes, I have seen it, but then it is nothing but a

mere toy."*' Excuse me, my friend, but some day you will

change your mind about that. I claim that it is a mostthorough musical instrument. Why, just look here


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" This is one of theNo. I Autoharps, having

2 1 strings and 3 bars orpadded mutes over the strings.

The following three chords areproduced, C Major, G Seventh,F Major."

The fatherremem

bered

Autoharp No. i.that it was his youngest daughter's birthday, and

the price being only ^4.00, he finally bought theinstrument.

After tea, calling his daughter to him, he said, '* Seehere, daughter, put your finger on this bar; press itfirmly now; that's it! Now put this pick on and sweep

your little thumb over these strings,quickly, lightly."

'' Why, ivhat beautiful music,papa ! " The mental comment hemade was, " Here's a full chordstretched and sounded by a babyhand with perfect sweetness ! "


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'* Now, once moredaughter," he said, ''veryslowly this time, let thesound of every string bedistinct."" I declare it is marvellous,a child playing arpeggios, and shedoesn't know one note from another.A few evenings later, the father

was surprised to have his little petcome to him with her harp, and tri-umphantly play the first three pieces inthe instruction book,

" Nearer My God to Thee."" Sweet By and By."" Auld Lang Syne."

And play them, too, in a way to bring out allthe charming effects, far beyond his expectation.No wonder then, that in the course of the evening

the elder sister, who was just at theage when she was passing throughthe drudgery of piano practice, cameand requested that she too mighthave an Autoharp.

Said she, " I have noticed thatmy little sister can read the notesprepared for the Autoharp much morequickly that I can learn the notes for

the piano, and I believe that if I could use the same kindof number notes (I do n't know what else to call them), Iwould get along faster. At any rate, I want an Autoharp.

'*


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It was with somethingof a smile, his friend, the

music dealer, greeted himwhen the father came a few

days afterwards to select a some-what more pretentious instrumentfor his second daughter. The dealer

showedhim

Autoharp No. 2.Autoharp No. 2 which has 23 strings and 4 bars, and pro-duces the following 4 chords: C Major, F Major, GSeventh, C Seventh. The price of this instrument is $4. 50.He also showed him No. 2^, which has the samenumber of strings (23) 5 bars, and produces the following

Major,.Bl? Major,Seventh,

CSeventh.The priceof this in-strumentis ^5.00.

5 chordsF Major,G

Autoharp No. 2|^.


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While the father wasmaking a selection, thedealer looked at him archlyover the counter, and said,

T. ''Wasn'tit Tom, yourboy, who camein here yesterdayand wanted me toshow him Autoharps ?He said he had playedthe banjo, somewhat,but had found it neededa great deal of study andconstant practice : however,

he hadn't been fingering his little sister's Autoharpten minutes, before he found it was the easiest thingin the world to knock a tune out of.""What," said the father, "Tom been in here?"

"Yes, and he said he wanted a better instrument thanthe one you brought home ; he wanted to be able to playthe popular airs, and needed greater variety of chords, Ishowed him Autoharp No. 3, which, as you see, has 28strings and 4 bars, producing the following 9 chords : GMajor, C Major,Major,

F Major, BbC Seventh,G Seventh,D Seventh,G Minor,A Minor.This instru-ment costs^10.00.

Autoharp No. 3.


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" He was a goodwhile determining be-

tween this and Autoharp No.4, which has sides and bottom

of imitation rosewood, edgesinlaid, and is very highly polished.

This instrument has 28 strings and5 bars, producing the following 11

chords: Bb Major, F Major, C Major, GMajor, D Major, C Seventh, G Seventh,D Seventh, A Minor, G Minor, D Minor.

The price of this instrument is ^15.00.'' He finally chose

No. 4 because,he thought,would

Autoharp No. 4.the best results in the long run."

''Well, we 're running wild in the direction of Auto-harps, it seems to me, at our house.""Oh no, you will find it has a refining influence onthe boy ; better encourage Tom in his musical whims ; itwill do him no harm."

So the indulgent father left the store well pleased withhis purchase, and not altogether dissatisfied with the actionof his boy, Tom, either.

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Not a great whileafter this, my lady, Tom'selder sister, a graduate ofthe conservatory, and hence afinished musician, made up hermind that the delicate harmoniesevoked from Tom's Autoharp werejust the thing as an accompaniment forher songs, so she made a journey to thestore of the music dealer.

It was difficult for thatgentleman to restrain thesmile which crept round thecorners of his mouth as shedisclosed her mission. Butshe wanted a better instru-ment still.

So with all the gravityof the obliging salesman, heshowed her Autoharps No.5 and No. 6, explaining thepoints of difference, sayingthat No. 5 had edges inlaid,and was highly polished,and had 28 strings and 5bars, producing the follow-ing 13 chords; D Major,G Major, C Major, FMajor, Bb Major, D Minor,E Minor, G Minor, A Minor, B Minor, C Seventh, GSeventh, D Seventh. Price ^20.00.

Autoharp No, 5.


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But he could speciallyrecommend No. 6, which

in appearance and finish islike No. 5, save that it has 32

strings

G

and 6bars, and

produces 16cho r d s, A

Major, G Major,C Major, F

Major, Bb Major,A Seventh, D Seventh,Seventh, C Seventh,D Minor, E Minor, GMinor, A

Minor, BMinor, CDiminishedSeventh.Price

^25.00.He told herthat thiswas the

Autoharp No. 6.

most complete instrument of its kindmade, and it is needless to say, that

^ she purchased it without much hesita-A-^ tion."J,^


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It was a few weekslater when the two friendsmet again, and the fathersaid: ''Your Autoharp hascertainly captured our familyand no mistake. We have it now

in four degrees,andif the childrendo not all play atonce, when one is notpractising, the other is.First, it is the youngsterwith her " Home, SweetHome " on No. i. Thencomes my second little girlaccompanying herself to someSunday-school hymn. Then there

is Tom, making life miserable for the rest with ''Tara-ra-boom-de-ay," and finally my lady, either playing alonesome operatic air or in duet with Tom (surprisinglywell too, by the way), so that we have Autoharpmusic from sunrise to sunset. Still, I do not complain,for I have made up my mind that the Autoharp is amusical instrument and no mistake.

By the way, I^'-'V'-^ ^ have looked into thissystem of figure nota- V|/^ c^'- tion, and it seems tome that it is bound Q^ j^*^ ^^ revolutionize themusical world. This /\(^^v "^^thod of representingcomplex chords by a L lllr^ single figure is certainlymost ingenious, and I am going to look into the matterstill further, for I can see no reason why it should not be


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applied successfully tothe piano and all other

instruments equally as well.It is at once so simple and

universally applicable, that onelearns far more than he thinkshe does, while becoming proficient

on the Autoharp.*' Well, I told you so," said his friend,

the dealer, ''your experience is not newto me. I have heard it before from several

people to whom I have recommended theAutoharp. It is indeed an auto-harp. It almost

plays itself. Press whatsoever bar you please onany one of these instruments, and then pass your

hand over the strings, and a complete chord is theresult, soft and sweet, or strong and loud, as you may

desire. It is simplicity itself. It almost seems tocontradict the statement that " there is no royal road tolearning", for even the most dull discover soon that itfar more quickly yields satisfactory results than can beaccomplished by the difficult way of piano practice.

Then too, the workmanship of the instrument is asnear perfection as modern skill and machinery can attain.The scale of the instrument is perfect. It is well tuned,and, by the way, it is tuned to the ''International Pitch of435 A," which was recently adopted by the Piano Manu-facturers' Association of the United States. The finish isexcellent and in every way worthy of the high reputationwhich the instrument has acquired for itself in so shorta time.

lo


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It is no wonder,therefore, that we dealershave recently been impor-tuned to handle no end ofimitations of the genuine Zim-mermann Autoharp. It has beenbunglingly imitated and some of theimitations are put on the market asbeing fully equal to the genuine, and insome cases they are even being palmed offas the Zimmermann harp, but the public,fortunately, will have no difficulty in findingout whether it be as represented, if they justremember this Trade-Mark,

PA-TENTCD.MAV 8"ia88.T9~MANurAGTURED-BY-~QT'gj|im^|m^Pip,^g^

OOLGEVILLE.N.Y.U.Sy^TBAOE MARK.

found on every genuine Zimmermann Autoharp.Dealers are growing less and less eager to attempt to

push instruments which are flagrant imitations of originalgoods when the original can be obtained at a fair price.

'' Well," said the father, '' as I said before, the Auto-harp has certainly captured our family, and I heartilyadmit that my first impressions in reference to the instru-ment were wrong, and I am glad to welcome it as anadditional source of harmony at home."

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Autoharp patent

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