the.com/harmonica
the only instrument you play by both blowing and sucking, and somehow it sounds soulful.
means A small rectangular wind instrument played by exhaling and inhaling across a row of metal reeds, each opening producing a different note.
from From the Greek 'harmonikos,' meaning 'musical' or 'in harmony,' itself from 'harmonia,' a fitting-together. The name was first applied to a glass instrument Benjamin Franklin devised in the 1760s, which he called the 'glass armonica.' Later, the free-reed mouth organ developed in early-19th-century Europe borrowed the same musical-sounding label, and the name stuck to the pocket-sized reed instrument we know today.
- space debut
- First instrument played in space, aboard Gemini 6 in 1965
- reed math
- Free reeds vibrate to make each note, no strings attached
- pocket size
- Fits in a fist, fills a stadium with blues
- invented young
- Christian Buschmann built one around 1821, age sixteen
- breath powered
- The only orchestra instrument needing zero hands to sound
bob dylan's electric harmonica — played at newport folk festival 1965, revolutionary moment in folk-rock history
sonny boy williamson ii — blues harmonica master, recorded 'help me' and 'checkin up on you' in 1960s chicago
larry adler — classical harmonica virtuoso who performed with orchestras and film scores from 1920s-2000s