A harmonica is a free reed wind instrument that is played by blowing air in or drawing air out by placing the lips over the individual holes or reed chambers, or multiple holes or reed chambers at once. The pressure that is caused by blowing into the harmonica or drawing air out of the harmonica causes a reed or multiple reeds to vibrate up and down, which creates sound. Each individual chamber has multiple brass or bronze reeds which are variable tuned and secured at one end but loose on the other end. The loose end vibrates, which is what is responsible for creating the sound.

Reeds are pre tuned for individual tones, and each of these tones is determined according to the reed's individual size. Longer reeds are capable of making deeper, lower sounds, while shorter reeds make higher pitched sounds instead. On certain different types of harmonica instruments, the pre tuned reeds can be changed to another note, bending a note by redirecting air flow into the chamber. There are a number of different types of harmonicas that can be played, including diatonic harmonicas, tremolo harmonicas, chromatic harmonicas, orchestral harmonicas and bass versions as well. The harmonica has seen use in blues music and American folk music, as well as classical music, jazz, country music, pop music and rock and roll. The harmonica has numerous other nick names as well, including the harp, the blues harp and the mouth organ, especially in blues music.

There are numerous different harmonica techniques that can be utilized. Vibrato, for example, is a technique that is used to give the note a shaking sound. In the harmonica, Vibrato is used by opening and closing your hands very rapidly around the harmonica. Another method is to use a head shaking technique, which is especially common in blues harmonica, where you move your lips back and forth between two different holes very quickly, which gives a quick shaking technique that is more shaking than standard vibrato, and achieves a similar aural effect on notes that are meant to be sustained.

In addition to the readily available nineteen notes on the diatonic harmonica, players can also play other notes just by adjusting their embouchure, forcing the reed to resonate using a different pitch all together. This technique is referred to as bending, which is a term that is borrowed from guitar playing. Another technique is over bending, which is characterized by over blowing or over drawing, allowing players to play along the entire chromatic scale. This over bending technique was developed by Howard Levy in the 1970s. It is also possible to play harmonicas like the diatonic harmonica in other positions besides its original key. Harmonica players, especially those who play blues harmonica, have developed a set of terminology around the different types of positions, and many of these terms can be confusing to other musicians since the jargon and lingo is specific to harmonica rather than the music as a whole.

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Originally posted 2008-12-05 05:17:06. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Acoustic Musical Instruments, harmonica, Instrument History

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air flow, american folk music, blues harp, blues music, country music, free reed, harmonica, holes, jazz country, lips, loose end, mouth organ, music jazz, music pop, nick names, orchestral harmonicas, pop music, reeds, vibrato, wind instrument