A small free-reed instrument, the harmonica, or mouth organ, is placed between the lips and moved to and fro to reach the rows of channels which house vibrating reeds, played by blowing into it. The arrival of the Chinese sheng in Europe in the eighteenth century encouraged a great deal of experimentation with free-reed instruments. In 1821 ...
as a result. A smaller alternative to the organ, the harmonium, was developed in the early-nineteenth century, being used in small churches and for domestic music-making. The harmonica, or mouth organ, and the accordion also date from this time, and were initially popular in folk music and among amateurs. 1850–1900 The Romantic period continued, ...
The affectionately nicknamed ‘squeeze box’ is the smallest of all conventional keyboard instuments, and the lowliest cousin of the organ (except the shirt-pocket harmonica). Strictly speaking, however, it has neither keys nor a keyboard. Nor has it a uniform shape. Playing Technique Whereas the standard English concertina is hexagonal, German and American models are square. The basic ...
or the toe-tapping lilt of western swing. Alongside these staples stands a host of other instruments – from the piano, drums and mandolin to the dulcimer, washboard and harmonica – that have seen periods of popularity and decline during the ebb and flow of changing country styles. Banjo The banjo is a refinement of an instrument brought to the ...
was a simple set of free reeds mounted side by side. Like most western reeds, their vibrating tongues were bolted on to a plate rather than cut from it. Harmonica Soon the modern harmonica or mouth organ began to appear – essentially a row of reeds mounted side by side on a reed plate to make a diatonic or chromatic ...
Boulez wrote for vibraphone and the the xylorimba, a composite of the xylophone and marimba, with an extended range. Styles & Forms | Contemporary | Classical Instruments | Harmonica | Contemporary | Classical ...
Bagpipe Somewhere, perhaps in Mesopotamia, about 7,000 years ago, a shepherd may well have looked at a goat skin and some hollow bones and had an idea for a new musical instrument: the bagpipe. In the early Christian era, the instrument spread from the Middle East eastward into India and westward to Europe. By the seventeenth ...
than the instrumentalists. In Chicago, electric blues began to develop, as local bluesmen took Mississippi Delta ideas, amplified them and put them into a small-band context. The harmonica also became a more prominent instrument, thanks to players such as Little Walter and Otis Rush. By the 1950s, electric blues was in full swing, with B. ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1962–67) Alexis Korner (guitar, piano, vocals), born in Paris, France in 1928, was considered to be the father of electric British blues. When he and Cyril Davies (harmonica, vocals) formed Blues Incorporated in 1962 with Dick Heckstall-Smith (saxophone), Andy Hoogenboom (bass), Ken Scott (piano) and Charlie Watts (drums), their amplified line-up met with ...
(Harmonica, vocals, 1926–84) Willie Mae Thornton was born in Montgomery, Alabama. She settled in Houston, Texas in 1948 and began recording for the Peacock label in 1951. She toured with Johnny Otis in 1952–53 and recorded her number-one R&B hit, ‘Hound Dog’, with his band. The record, famously covered by Elvis Presley, enabled her ...
(Harmonica, vocals, 1918–61) Walter Horton was born in Horn Lake, Mississippi. He taught himself harmonica at the age of five and was working the streets shortly thereafter. He moved to Chicago in 1940 but it wasn’t until later in the decade that he began to be more active professionally. Horton replaced Junior Wells in the Muddy Waters Band ...
(Harmonica, vocals, b. 1951) Branch began playing harmonica at the age of 10, before polishing his onstage technique in Chicago with Big Walter, James Cotton, Junior Wells and Carey Bell. In 1975 he became a sideman for Willie Dixon and then formed Sons of Blues with Lurrie Bell (guitar). Branch continues to front the band and ...
(Vocals, guitar, harmonica, b. 1933) Riley was born in Pocahontas, Arkansas, and enjoyed seven releases on Sun without ever securing the hit that his finest work undoubtedly deserved. He and his band were often utilized as session musicians and worked with many other Sun artists. A highly versatile artist, he eventually recorded rockabilly, blues ...
, intimate vocals rather than flamboyant shouting – as well as his vivid lyric imagery and piano-like, contrapuntal picking artistry on both six- and 12-string guitars (he also played harmonica, accordion and fiddle) – have made him one of the most revered of the south-eastern acoustic blues artists. Styles & Forms | Twenties | Jazz & Blues Personalities | ...
Robert Allen Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota, on 24 May 1941, and raised from age seven in nearby Hibbing, the future icon learned to play guitar and harmonica as a child while influenced by radio broadcasts of country, blues and, during his mid-teens, rock’n’roll. This, in turn, led to his participation in several ...
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