Harmonica, << hahr MON uh kuh, >> is the name given to two simple musical instruments. The best known of these is the mouth organ. In this small, hand-held instrument, metal reeds are inside a case. The edge of the case has separate blowholes for each reed. The instrument is played by blowing and sucking the air through these holes. The mouth organ is easy to play and is popular in the home. Such experts as Larry Adler have played the mouth organ in concerts and with orchestras.
The mouth organ dates back to two instruments developed in the 1820’s. The first was the aura, which was patented by Friedrich Buschmann of Germany in 1821. The other, called the symphonium, was patented by Charles Wheatstone of England in 1829.
A rarer type of harmonica is the musical glasses, or glass harmonica, invented in 1763 by Benjamin Franklin. He is said to have used the idea of Richard Pockrich, an Irishman. Franklin’s instrument was a series of bowl-shaped glasses arranged by size on a spindle. The spindle was turned, and the rims of the glasses were moistened in a water-filled trough below. Music was made by holding the finger against the wet rim as the rim rotated. This instrument was fashionable in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s but is almost never heard today. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed a quintet that includes a glass harmonica.
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