Our 2nd Graders Music Stand Invention

By Whitney
Introducing:
The Music Stand Practice Bar!
October
2009 – Sarah Whitney: Young Inventor / Entrepreneur
Taking the first step: Patent Pending
Filed
with the United States Patent and Trademark Office: October 7, 2009


Sarah
is a second grader at Eastover Elementary School in Charlotte, NC and
is in her second year, playing violin through the Community School of
the Arts.
For
additional information,
please contact:
Peter
Whitney
tel:
(704) 970-9613
email:
[email protected]
The Music Stand Practice
Bar
has evolved over the past year. 
After
being instructed to play a piece of music seven times (to match her
age) Sarah Whitney began asking her Dad to keep track of the number of
times she played the assigned piece.
With
other distractions, her Dad began numbering post-it notes so that Sarah
could flip them over and thus, keep track herself.
This
was a less than eloquent solution, as post-it’s found their way under
the sofa.  So, the number of notes needed to be checked and
added to, daily.
Like
most people we first turned to Google to search for a better solution
to our practice problem.  While we discovered many accessories
for music stands, there was nothing that would help us keep track or
count the number of times we were instructed to play a piece of
music.  Even after a field trip to a local music store, we returned empty-handed.
Sarah’s
Dad finally asked her about placing a bar across her music stand with
beads that she could slide across to keep track of playing. 
Sarah loved it and pushed to get something made to fix her problem.
After
a garage development process that included parts from a home
improvement store, office supply store, and a local toy store, we had
something that snapped onto Sarah’s music stand.  And, it was
an instant success.  This simple solution was intuitive and
much easier to use.
With
our excitement in creating something new and useful, we proceeded with
a more in-depth product search that has now led to our filing of a U.S. patent.
The
next Step:
After
showing our prototypes to Sarah’s friends and music teachers, they
re-enforced our determination to continue.  Everyone,
immediately saw the benefits and teachers also saw the Practice Bar as
a teaching aid for when students practice independently.
Now,
Sarah’s Dad explained, we can’t continue making these in the
garage.  And, the design and parts need to be refined for mass
production.  So, we must look for a manufacturer, preferably
aligned
to distribute this type of product.
Our next step,
will be to find a partner for manufacturing sales and distribution or
we will explore partnering directly with a manufacturer and offer the
Practice Bar through the internet.  Either way, Sarah is excited
to see her product become available to other students and to see them
use it for their practicing.
For
additional information, please contact:
Peter
Whitney
tel:
(704) 970-9613
email:
[email protected]
Google is a
registered trademark of Google, Inc..  Post-it is a registered
trademark of 3M Corporation.  Eastover Elementary and Community
School of the Arts are the names of their respective schools.
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