A harmonica is a very common free reed musical wind instrument (also known, among other things, as a mouth organ, French harp, blues harp, simply harp, or "Mississippi saxophone"), having multiple, variably-tuned brass or bronze reeds, each secured at one end over an airway slot of like dimension into which it can freely vibrate, thus repeatedly interrupting an airstream to produce sound.

Unlike most free-reed instruments (such as reed organs, accordions and melodicas), the mouth harmonica lacks a keyboard. Instead, lips and tongue are used to select one or a few of the several holes arranged usually linearly on a mouthpiece. Each hole communicates with one, two or a few reeds. Because a reed mounted above a slot is made to vibrate more easily by air from above, reeds accessed by a mouthpiece hole often may be selected further by choice of breath direction (blowing, drawing). Some harmonicas (known as chromatic harmonicas) also include a spring-loaded button-actuated slide that, when depressed, further redirects air blown or drawn through a single hole, from one reed to an adjacent reed, usually a semi-tone sharper.

The harmonica is commonly used in blues and folk music, but also in jazz, classical music, country music, rock and roll and pop music.
 

HISTORY

The harmonica developed from the intense interests in free-reeds which arose in Europe in the early 19th century. While free-reeds had been fairly common throughout East Asia for centuries and known in Europe for some time before this period, around 1820 there was a virtual eruption of new free-reed designs in Europe and North America. While a young Friederich Ludwig Buschmann is often cited as the inventor of the harmonica in 1821, it was almost certainly a case of simultaneous development amongst several inventors working independently with mouth-blown free-reed instruments appearing in the US, Britain and on the continent at roughly the same time. Sometime by the 1850s, the diatonic harmonica had more or less found its modern form and the other diatonic types followed soon thereafter (the various tremolo and octave harmonicas). By the late 19th century, harmonica production was big business and had evolved from a handcraft into mass-production with figures well into the millions, a status which continues to this day. New designs continued to be developed in the 20th century including the chromatic harmonica, the bass harmonica, the chord harmonica and others. Even in the 21st century radical new designs such as the Suzuki Overdrive and Hohner XB-40 continue to be brought to market.

The harmonicas massive success is attributable to many factors. First, it is a fairly easy instrument to play. The diatonic harmonicas were designed primarily for the playing of German and other European folk musics and are extremely successful for that. However, probably unintentionally the basic design and tuning was extremely adaptable to other types of music such as the blues, country, old-time and similar. Second, the majority of harmonicas are quite small--often small enough to unobtrusively fit in a pocket. Third, harmonicas are cheap - amongst the most inexpensive of musical instruments available while not being intended as a toy. Fourth, harmonicas are fairly easy to manufacture and their simple construction allowed for industrial level production without sacrificing the quality of a hand-crafted instrument, unlike most string instruments or other wind instruments. For these reasons the harmonica was a success almost from the very start of production, and while the center of the harmonica business has shifted from Germany the output of the various harmonica manufacturers is still very high indeed. Major companies are now found in Germany (Seydel, Hohner - once the dominant manufacturer in the world, producing some 20 million harmonicas alone in 1920 when German manufacturing totaled over 50 million harmonicas), Japan (Suzuki, Tombo, Yamaha), China (Huang, Leo Shi, Suzuki, Hohner) and Brasil (Hering). Ironically, as the demand for higher quality instruments which respond to more demanding performance techniques has increased there has been a resurgence in the world of hand-crafted harmonicas which cater to those wanting the absolute best without the compromises inherent in mass manufacturing.

The first recordings of harmonica were made in the US in the 1920s. These recordings are mainly 'race-records', intended for the black market of the southern states. They consist mainly of solo recordings (DeFord Bailey), duo recordings with a guitarist (Hammie Nixon, Walter Horton, Sonny Terry) or recordings featuring the harmonica in some kind of novelty act called the 'Jug Band', of which the Memphis Jug Band is the most famous. But the harmonica still represented a toy instrument in those years and was associated to the poor. It is also during those years that musicians started experimenting with new techniques such as tongue-blocking, hand effects and the most important innovation of all, the 2nd position, or cross-harp.

The harmonica then made its way with the blues and the black migrants to the north, mainly to Chicago but also to Detroit, St. Louis and New York. The music played by the Afro-Americans started to become increasingly different there. The main difference is the electric amplification of the instrument: first the guitar and then the harp, double bass, vocals, etc. The original Sonny Boy Williamson is the most important harmonicist of this era. Using a full blues band, he became one of the most popular acts of Chicago. He also installed for good the cross-harp technique, opening the possibilities of harp playing to new sky. It is hard to imagine how much influence he would have had on the blues, if he had lived longer. Unfortunately, Sonny Boy liked to bring women from the audience on stage and dance with them as he played, but he eventually was stabbed by a jealous husband.

But the harmonica didn't die with him. A young harmonicist by the name of Marion "Little Walter" Jacobs would completely revolutionize the instrument. He had the idea to play the harmonica near a microphone (typically a "Brown Bullet" microphone marketed for use by radio taxi dispatchers, giving it a "punchy" midrange sound that can be heard above radio static, or an electric guitar) and cup his hands around it, thus tightening the air around the harp, giving it a powerful, distorted sound, sometimes reminiscent of a saxophone. This technique, combined with a great virtuosity on the instrument made him arguably the most influential harmonicist in history. It is almost impossible nowadays to find a harp player who wasn't influenced by Walter. Unfortunately, Little Walter also died young, from injuries suffered in a fight.

Little Walter's only contender was perhaps Big Walter Horton. Relying less on the possibilities of amplification (although he made great use of it) than on sheer skill, Big Walter was the favored harmonicist of many Chicago leaders, including Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon. He graced many sides of Waters in the mid-fifties with extremely colorful solos, using the full register of his instrument as well as some chromatic harmonica. The only reason he is less known than Little Walter is because of his taciturn personality and his inconsistency, and his incapacity of holding a band as a leader.

Other great harmonicists have graced the Chicago blues records of the 1950s. Howling Wolf is often overlooked as a harp player, but his early recordings demonstrate great skill, particularly at blowing powerful riffs with the instrument. James Cotton is also a household name of the Chicago Blues scene. He used a less amplified tone, relying on hand effects, giving his playing a country blues feeling to it. Sonny Boy Williamson II also used the possibilities of hand effects to give a very talkative feel to his harp playing. A number of his compositions have also become standards in the blues world.

The 1960s and 1970s saw the harmonica become less prominent as the electric guitar became the favorite instrument for solos. Paul Butterfield is perhaps the most well known harp player of the era in the blues arena. Heavily influenced by Little Walter, he pushed further the virtuosity on the harp. Sadly he rapidly fell into drugs and alcohol, and after his first two albums, his career became stagnant. Bob Dylan also famously played his harmonica to add a touch of blues to his folk and rock sound during this era.

Recently, two harp players have had major influence on the sound of the harmonica. Heavily influenced by the electric guitar sound, John Popper of Blues Traveler has developed an incredible virtuosity on the instrument. His electric and highly distorted solos are played at a breakneck speed. His influence is heavy on modern rock and blues harp players trying to reach new heights with the instrument.

Jazz harmonicist Howard Levy (who has often recorded with Bela Fleck and Rabih Abou-Khalil) is perhaps the most innovative player since Little Walter. He has perfected the bending technique, using the notes it produces with more precision. He has also further advanced the technique called overblowing, which enables the diatonic harmonica to play fully chromatic scales, while retaining the particular sound of the harp. Although he has been performing this technique for quite a while, it has been displayed more and more in the 1990s, and players are starting to integrate it in a more blues or rock oriented music.