Harmonicas

About

When it comes to easy playability, affordability and portability, it’s hard to beat a harmonica. Despite their modest size and cost, harmonicas are capable of producing an amazing array of tones, and this versatility is reflected in the music genres in which the mighty little mouth harp plays a part. From the more obvious categories such as blues, country, and rock to more surprising musical territory such as jazz and classical music, the harmonica with its often human-like voice easily fits in. The three most common varieties fall into one of three categories based on how they are tuned: diatonic, chromatic, and tremolo. The most common type of harmonica you’ll encounter in pop, blues and folk music—diatonic harmonicas are designed to play in a specific key. Most chromatic harmonicas have a button-activated lever that directs air to two separate reed plates that include all the notes in the 12-tone western scale. Tremolo harmonicas, also sometimes referred to as “echo” harmonicas, produce their distinctive warbling sound through the use of two reeds per note, one tuned slightly sharp, the other slightly flat.