Harmonica

Who invented it? An unsettled question

Many references name Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann as creator of the harmonica in 1821, with an instrument he called the aura. The attribution is debated. Historians point out that other makers in Germany and Austria were experimenting with mouth-blown free reeds at much the same time, and that later family accounts may have emphasized one name. Bellows instruments such as the early Accordion were appearing in the same years, and the two families share their free-reed principle. It is safer to say that the harmonica emerged from several parallel efforts in the 1820s and that no single inventor can be identified with confidence.

What is clear is where it became an industry. A college collection describes the instrument as developed in mid-nineteenth-century Germany, with manufacturing concentrated in Trossingen under Matthias Hohner, whose company was founded in 1857. Klingenthal in Saxony was another early center. By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the Hohner firm alone was said to be making hundreds of thousands a year, many for export to North America.

Two plates, a comb and twenty reeds

A standard harmonica is built from a few simple parts. The body, called the comb, is a block with parallel channels running through it, traditionally of wood and now often of plastic or metal. Metal plates, each carrying a row of reeds, are fixed to its top and bottom faces, and protective covers shield them. A museum’s ten-hole diatonic instrument from Klingenthal illustrates this basic layout.

A typical ten-hole diatonic holds twenty reeds, two for every hole: one that sounds on the exhaled breath and one that sounds on the inhaled. Reeds are cut from brass or similar alloys, and their pitch is set by length, thickness and a small amount of filing. Tiny harmonicas exist too: one miniature in a London collection has four pairs of brass reeds and measures only a few centimeters across.

Breath as the only engine

Each reed is a thin tongue, fixed at one end, that swings through a slot in its plate when air flows past it. On an exhaled breath the reeds on the upper plate respond, and on an inhaled breath those on the lower plate do. Since each reed sounds only for one direction of breath, the player’s choice of hole and breath direction selects the note.

Players also shape the sound with their mouths. Changing the shape of the throat and tongue can pull a reed’s pitch downward, an effect called bending, and this produces the sliding, vocal notes that define blues harmonica. The hands matter too: cupping them around the instrument shapes tone and allows a wah effect, and a microphone or amplifier can deepen and distort the sound.

The ten-hole puzzle and its three octaves

The common diatonic layout is sometimes called Richter tuning. Its attribution to a maker named Richter in the 1820s is often repeated but is hard to document. On a harmonica in C, the exhaled breath across holes one to ten sounds notes of a C major chord, from C4 up to C7, while the inhaled breath supplies the remaining scale tones, from D4 up to A6. Some notes of the scale are missing in the lowest octave.

Choosing a harmonica in the right key for the tune is therefore part of the art, and players often carry several. Sound varies with register: the low holes are dark and breathy, the middle is full and reedy, and the top is thin and piercing. The chromatic model, with about twelve or sixteen holes, widens the span, and some bass instruments reach well below the usual range.

Positions, bends and the breath pattern

The ordinary way to play a harmonica in a major key is called first position, where the home note is exhaled. Many blues players instead favor second position, or cross harp, in which a harmonica in C is used to play in G and the important notes are inhaled. The change of key shifts which bendable draw notes the player can reach, which gives blues harmonica its characteristic bent notes.

Other techniques include tongue blocking, in which the tongue covers several holes so that single notes or octaves can be played, and puckering, which isolates single notes with the lips. Rhythmic chording, trills and vibrato made with the hands or the throat round out the vocabulary. Skilled players usually spend years refining their breath control, since the harmonica has no keys or valves to do the work. Blues players often pair it with guitar, and a rack holds the instrument near the mouth so both hands stay free for strings.

Diatonic, chromatic, tremolo and beyond

Diatonic models are built around a single major scale and are the standard for blues, folk and country. The chromatic harmonica adds a button that shifts the airstream to a second set of holes tuned a semitone higher, which brings in the notes missing from a diatonic. A college collection dates the chromatic harmonica to the early 1920s, although accounts differ on details.

Tremolo harmonicas place two reeds per note, one tuned slightly sharp or flat, so the pair beats and produces a pulsing tone. They are widely used in East Asian and some European folk traditions. Octave models pair reeds an octave apart instead. Large bass and chord harmonicas serve in ensembles, where the harmonica band is a tradition in itself. Some makers now offer models designed for extreme bending or altered tunings.

Sailors, soldiers, bluesmen and concert soloists

The harmonica travelled with sailors, soldiers and settlers, and musicians reshaped it locally. A college collection notes its adoption in 1950s South Africa, and in the United States it became closely tied to the blues and to country and folk music. African American musicians made the instrument central to the blues in the first half of the twentieth century, giving it a voice closely tied to the style.

It also has a place in concert life. Larry Adler, who lived from 1914 to 2001, was a celebrated virtuoso who, according to a London museum, preferred the general name mouth organ; instruments bearing his name were sold in connection with his performances and recordings. Some composers have written formal works for harmonica and orchestra. In popular music it appears in rock, pop and jazz, where, like the Accordion, it often adds a folk-inflected color.

Cleaning a mouth-blown instrument

Moisture is the harmonica’s chief enemy. Wooden combs swell when wet, which can warp the plates and disturb the reeds, and breath condensation can encourage corrosion. Players typically tap out moisture after playing, avoid eating or drinking sugary liquids before a session, and store the instrument in a dry case or pouch away from heat.

Over-blowing can push reeds out of tune or break them, and reeds on cheaper instruments are sometimes replaced rather than repaired. Cleaning involves unscrewing the plates and wiping them carefully, since a bent reed will alter its tone. Specialist technicians retune and replace reeds, and some players learn the process themselves with care.

Short facts

• One miniature harmonica made in Trossingen around 1997 carries the name of Larry Adler on its upper plate and a Gershwin title on the lower; it is only about 42 millimeters long.
• In the lowest octave of a ten-hole diatonic in C, the notes F and A are missing.
• The word harmonica has also been used for unrelated instruments, including the glass harmonica, which is played by touching rotating glass bowls.
• Played in second position, a harmonica in C sounds in the key of G.

Terms used in this entry

bending

Shaping the mouth so a reed sounds lower than its normal pitch.

chromatic

Able to play all twelve notes of the octave.

comb

The body of the harmonica, a block with channels that separate each hole’s air path.

cross harp

Playing a harmonica in the key a fifth above its own, a favorite approach in blues.

diatonic

Built around the seven notes of a single scale, without all the sharps and flats.

free reed

A thin metal tongue that swings through a slot in a plate, sounding as air passes over it.

Richter tuning

The common ten-hole layout in which exhaled notes form a major chord and inhaled notes form a different chord.

tongue blocking

A technique using the tongue to cover holes and play single notes or octaves.

tremolo tuning

A setup with two slightly mismatched reeds per note, producing a pulsing tone.

Browse the full glossary

References

1. Grinnell College Libraries. harmonica · Grinnell College Musical Instrument Collection. omeka-s.grinnell.edu/s/MusicalInstruments/item/2385
2. Horniman Museum and Gardens. harmonica (Hohner miniature, c. 1997). horniman.ac.uk/object/2015.135.1
3. Horniman Museum and Gardens. Seydel Solist Blues Music Master harmonica. horniman.ac.uk/object/2020.25.1
4. Early Music America. According The Accordion Its Historical Due. earlymusicamerica.org/?p=76640

Sources were consulted for facts and context; the text is original. See Sources and Methodology.