50 Fun Facts About The Harmonica

By what other name is the harmonica commonly known?

It is also called a French harp, and in blues circles a 'harp' or 'Mississippi saxophone'.

How is the harmonica classified?

Its relatives include the accordion, the melodica and the ancient Chinese sheng.

How many holes does the standard blues harp have?

The diatonic Richter-tuned instrument has ten air passages and twenty reeds, one blow and one draw per hole.

How many reeds does a standard ten-hole diatonic harmonica contain?

Each chamber holds a blow reed and a draw reed, playable separately without needing valves.

What is a harmonica reed typically made of?

Stainless steel and bronze are also used; the flat spring is fixed at one end over a slot and vibrates to block and unblock the airway.

Which kind of reed produces the lower pitch?

Tuning is done by changing a reed's length, adding weight near its free end, or altering stiffness near the fixed end.

What is the technique of lowering a note's pitch by adjusting the embouchure called?

The term may be borrowed from guitarists, and it creates the wailing glissandos of blues harp.

What is the main body of a harmonica called?

The name may come from its resemblance to a hair comb; wood was traditional but plastic and even titanium are now used.

What are the one-way valves found in chromatic harmonicas called?

Thin strips of plastic, leather or Teflon stop air leaking through the reed that is not being played.

How does a chromatic harmonica access the sharps and flats?

The slide redirects air to a second reed plate, letting one 12-, 14- or 16-hole instrument play in any key.

What gives the wavering type of harmonica its warbling sound?

The beat between the two out-of-tune reeds creates the warble; the East Asian version can play all 12 semitones.

How many chords can a full chord harmonica play?

Major, seventh, minor, augmented and diminished chords are laid out in four-note clusters for ensemble playing.

What is the simple specialty harmonica that gives singers a reference note called?

Some early ones differed from harmonicas only in name; versions for guitarists sound the open strings.

Who developed the overblow and overdraw technique in the 1970s?

Combined with ordinary bending, it lets a diatonic harmonica play the full chromatic scale.

What is the blues players' slang for second position?

First position is 'straight' and third is 'slant'; cross harp puts the root on the second draw for a bluesy dominant-seventh sound.

Which ancient Chinese free-reed instrument was a forerunner of the harmonica?

The French Jesuit Jean Joseph Marie Amiot, who lived in Qing China, helped make free reeds known in Europe.

Who is often cited as the inventor of the harmonica, in 1821?

Others were building similar instruments at the same time; Wheatstone's 1829 'Aeolina' was one.

In which city did the harmonica first appear, with chambered models sold before 1824?

A German violin maker bought one at an exhibition in 1824 and was turning out hundreds of copies by 1827.

Which 1826 note layout became almost universal on diatonic harmonicas?

Its inventor is also credited with the blow-and-draw mechanism.

What was Matthias Hohner's trade before he started making harmonicas in 1857?

He and his wife and one employee made 650 in the first year; he became the first to mass-produce them.

In which German town did the world's biggest harmonica maker begin?

Rival factories in Trossingen and Klingenthal drove the invention of machines to punch reed covers.

When was the first chromatic harmonica made?

The bass and chord harmonicas followed; the diatonic had largely reached its modern form by the 1920s.

What is the model name of the classic German-made 20-reed harmonica introduced in 1896?

Its official designation is the 1896/20; Dylan, Lennon, Springsteen and Little Walter all played one.

Which US president carried a harmonica in his pocket?

The instrument comforted soldiers on both sides of the Civil War, and Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid played it too.

How many harmonicas decorated the 1925 White House Christmas tree?

The publicity helped the Hohner Harmony Hour radio programme, which taught listeners to play along.

Which Danish-American perfected the moulded plastic harmonica during World War II?

His reeds and reed plates were moulded from a single piece of plastic; the plastic-comb patent went to William Kratt in 1952.

Which Japanese firm manufactures the popular Lee Oskar harmonicas?

Yamaha also made harmonicas until the 1970s; Seydel is the only survivor of the three firms operating in Trossingen by 1855.

Which microphone, sold for taxi dispatchers, gave Little Walter his punchy amplified tone?

Cupping his hands around it created a distorted, sax-like sound, hence the nickname 'Mississippi saxophone'.

What unique distinction does Little Walter's 1952 hit 'Juke' hold?

It spent eight weeks at number one in 1952; the working title had been 'Your Cat Will Play'.

Little Walter is the only artist inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame specifically as what?

He was inducted in 2008, four decades after his death; his playing drew comparisons to Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix.

Whose band did Little Walter join in 1948?

His amplified harmonica first appeared on record on Waters' 'Country Boy' in 1952 and features on most of Waters' 1950s classics.

Which Belgian jazz musician turned the chromatic harmonica into a legitimate jazz voice?

Also a guitarist and whistler, he composed 'Bluesette' and was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2009.

Which children's TV show had a Belgian-played harmonica theme for 40 years?

He also played on the Midnight Cowboy soundtrack and recorded often with Quincy Jones.

Which composer told Larry Adler that Rhapsody in Blue sounded as if it had been written for him?

Adler became a star in Britain, where harmonica sales reportedly rose 20-fold and 300,000 people joined fan clubs.

Why did Larry Adler move to Britain in the early 1950s?

He had refused to cooperate with HUAC; Vaughan Williams and Malcolm Arnold went on to write works for him.

On which spaceflight was a harmonica the first musical instrument played in space?

Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford played 'Jingle Bells' on an eight-note Hohner Little Lady with a handful of small bells.

How many notes did the 'Little Lady' harmonica played in space have?

The Smithsonian keeps the tiny instrument and bells on display.

What did Stevie Wonder title his 1968 album of mostly harmonica instrumentals?

It is his name spelled backwards; its only single, a cover of 'Alfie', reached number 66 on the Hot 100.

On whose album did Bob Dylan's harmonica playing catch the ear of producer John Hammond in 1961?

Hammond signed him to Columbia; his debut album sold just 5,000 copies in its first year.

What accessory lets a guitarist play harmonica at the same time?

The first ones were bent from wire or coat hangers; Dylan, Neil Young and Springsteen all use one.

Which type of harmonica became most popular after the instrument reached Japan in 1898?

Within about 30 years the Japanese developed scale tunings that could play their folk songs.

How many notes are readily available on a standard diatonic harmonica, before any pitch tricks?

Twenty reeds yield nineteen distinct notes because one pitch is duplicated; bending and overblowing add the rest.

In 1829, Charles Wheatstone developed a mouth-organ under what name, inspired by the Aeolian harp?

Several inventors were working on similar free-reed instruments at the same time as Buschmann in the 1820s.

Which founding father invented the unrelated glass harmonica in 1761?

It is a set of nested graduated glass cups spinning on an axle, and despite the name it is not a free-reed instrument at all.

How much did Hohner's 1964 'Beatles Harmonica Kit' retail for?

It was sold in a blister package, the format most Hohner harmonicas still come in today.

Which noted harmonicist living in Germany helped develop Hohner's Marine Band 365 'Special' and Crossover models?

The 365/28 SBS is tuned lower than a standard Marine Band and comes in C, D, G, A and F.

Rice Miller was billed as Sonny Boy Williamson from 1941 while playing which radio show on KFFA in Helena, Arkansas?

Sponsor Max Moore reportedly borrowed the name of a better-known Chicago harmonica player, hence the 'II' now attached to Miller.

Toots Thielemans' first professional performances were with which bandleader's touring group in 1949 and 1950?

He emigrated to the US in 1951 and played with George Shearing from 1953 to 1959 before leading his own groups.

Toots Thielemans' 1961 composition 'Bluesette' famously features him doing what alongside his guitar?

He also recorded film soundtracks including Midnight Cowboy and The Sugarland Express.

In which US city was harmonica virtuoso Larry Adler born?

He played works by Vaughan Williams, Milhaud and Malcolm Arnold and later collaborated with Sting, Elton John and Kate Bush.