American History of the Harmonica
Flying through the Earth’s atmosphere into outer space, astronaut Wally Schirra, played jingle bells on his smuggled harmonica while in orbit. Even outer space is not safe from this pocket sized instrument. The harmonica has spread to almost every corner on Earth, and sold more units than any other instrument. The harmonica is considered an American icon, but the origins of the harmonica is rooted in another country, Germany. Although the actual creator of the harmonica is still unclear, a young man named Mattias Hohner put the instrument on the map. This determined man mass produced these nifty instruments, and sold them to many countries including the United States.
The harmonica arrived in the United States …show more content…
Sonny Boy is the father of blues harmonica. Sonny Boy introduced to the world the style of cross-harp. Cross-harp is playing the harmonica five notes higher than the key that the harmonica is tuned to, sometimes called second position. While straight-harp focuses on blowing into the harmonica, cross-harp emphasizes breathing in the harmonica. Breathing in the harmonica allows for a player to flatten the keys with mouth and tongue shape, which is called bending. This creates that well known blues sound from the harmonica. Michael Licht explains in his article, “Harmonica Magic: Virtuoso Display in American Folk Music” that, “In cross harp position, the tonic chord and the most important pitches are produced by inhaling” (Licht 217). Licht is basically stating that cross-harp has a more important and diverse range of notes and chords then straight-harp position. Today, most harmonica playing is in cross-harp, because the player has more control and range in this style. This golden age for the harmonica faded when the United States entered into World War II, Kim Fields states in her book, Harmonicas, Harps, and Heavy Breathers, that, “The onset of World War II in Europe put the brakes on the American harmonica craze…youth groups disbanded and school programs stopped using the harmonica” (Field 39). Basically Field explains that World War II had a detrimental effect on the harmonica, that it took several years to
Flying through the Earth’s atmosphere into outer space, astronaut Wally Schirra, played jingle bells on his smuggled harmonica while in orbit. Even outer space is not safe from this pocket sized instrument. The harmonica has spread to almost every corner on Earth, and sold more units than any other instrument. The harmonica is considered an American icon, but the origins of the harmonica is rooted in another country, Germany. Although the actual creator of the harmonica is still unclear, a young man named Mattias Hohner put the instrument on the map. This determined man mass produced these nifty instruments, and sold them to many countries including the United States.
The harmonica arrived in the United States …show more content…
Sonny Boy is the father of blues harmonica. Sonny Boy introduced to the world the style of cross-harp. Cross-harp is playing the harmonica five notes higher than the key that the harmonica is tuned to, sometimes called second position. While straight-harp focuses on blowing into the harmonica, cross-harp emphasizes breathing in the harmonica. Breathing in the harmonica allows for a player to flatten the keys with mouth and tongue shape, which is called bending. This creates that well known blues sound from the harmonica. Michael Licht explains in his article, “Harmonica Magic: Virtuoso Display in American Folk Music” that, “In cross harp position, the tonic chord and the most important pitches are produced by inhaling” (Licht 217). Licht is basically stating that cross-harp has a more important and diverse range of notes and chords then straight-harp position. Today, most harmonica playing is in cross-harp, because the player has more control and range in this style. This golden age for the harmonica faded when the United States entered into World War II, Kim Fields states in her book, Harmonicas, Harps, and Heavy Breathers, that, “The onset of World War II in Europe put the brakes on the American harmonica craze…youth groups disbanded and school programs stopped using the harmonica” (Field 39). Basically Field explains that World War II had a detrimental effect on the harmonica, that it took several years to