the.com/mouth organ
the only instrument you play by breathing, the only one that fits in your pocket.
means A small rectangular wind instrument played by blowing and drawing breath across a row of metal reeds — better known today as the harmonica.
from A plain English compound, mouth + organ, naming the thing by how you use it: an 'organ' (in the old, broad sense of a reed-and-pipe wind instrument) worked by the mouth. 'Organ' traces back through Latin organum to Greek organon, simply 'an instrument or tool.' The fancier name 'harmonica' arrived in the 19th century alongside the German free-reed instruments that made the form famous, but 'mouth organ' kept its honest, descriptive footing in everyday speech.
- space history
- First instrument played in space, aboard Gemini 6
- two-way
- Sounds different whether you inhale or exhale
- invention
- Born in Germany around 1820 from a free reed
- harmonica family
- Same reed principle as the accordion
- blues fuel
- Cheap, portable, and built American blues
hohner harmonica — german harmonica maker founded 1857, still world's largest producer
blues harmonica — 10-hole diatonic harmonica popularized in american blues, chicago 1920s onwards
chromatic harmonica — 16+ hole instrument used in jazz and classical, developed early 1900s