Editing Harmonica (section)

{{short description|Free reed wind musical instrument}}
{{for multi|the glass organ of the same name|Glass harmonica|other uses|Harmonica (disambiguation)}}{{Distinguish|Melodica}}{{Multiple issues|
{{More citations needed|date=February 2017}}
{{Original research|date=February 2017}}
}}
{{Infobox Instrument
| name = Harmonica
| names = {{Flatlist|
*French harp
*mouth organ
*[[blues harp]]}}
| image = 16-hole chrom 10-hole diatonic.jpg
| image_capt = A 16-hole chromatic (top) and 10-hole diatonic harmonica
| background = woodwind
| classification = {{Flatlist|
*[[Wind instrument|Wind]]
*[[aerophone]]}}
| hornbostel_sachs = 412.132
| hornbostel_sachs_desc = [[Free reed aerophone]]
| developed = {{circa}} [[1820s]]
| range = *Slightly over 4 octaves (16-hole chromatic model)
*3 octaves (10-hole diatonic model)
| related = {{Flatlist|
*[[Melodeon (accordion)|Melodeon]]
*[[melodica]]
*[[Yu (wind instrument)|yu]]
*[[harmonetta]]}}
| musicians = *[[List of harmonicists]]
| articles = *[[Chromatic harmonica]]
*[[Richter-tuned harmonica]]
*[[tremolo harmonica]]
}}

The '''harmonica''', also known as a '''French harp''' or '''[[mouth organ]]''', is a [[free reed aerophone|free reed]] [[wind instrument]] used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in [[blues]], [[American folk music revival|American folk music]], [[classical music]], [[jazz]], [[country music|country]], and [[Rock music|rock]]. The many types of harmonica include diatonic, chromatic, tremolo, octave, orchestral, and bass versions. A harmonica is played by using the lips and tongue to direct air into or out of one (or more) holes along a mouthpiece (which covers one edge of the harmonica for most of its length). Behind each hole is a chamber containing at least one [[Reed (music)|reed]]. The most common type of harmonica is a [[Diatonic_and_chromatic|
diatonic]] [[Richter-tuned harmonica|Richter-tuned]] instrument with ten air passages and twenty reeds, often called a '''blues harp'''. A harmonica reed is a flat, elongated spring typically made of brass, stainless steel, or bronze, which is secured at one end over a slot that serves as an airway. When the free end is made to vibrate by the player's air, the reed alternately blocks and unblocks the airway to produce sound.

Reeds are tuned to individual pitches. Tuning may involve changing a reed's length, how heavy it is near its free end, or how stiff it is near its fixed end. Reeds that are longer, heavier, or more flexible produce lower pitches; shorter, lighter, or stiffer reeds produce higher pitches. If, as on most modern harmonicas, a reed is affixed above or below its slot rather than in the plane of the slot, it responds more easily to air flowing in the direction that initially would push it into the slot, i.e., as a closing reed. This difference in response to air direction makes it possible to include both a blow reed and a draw reed in the same air chamber, and to play them separately without relying on flaps of plastic or leather (valves, wind-savers) to block the nonplaying reed.

An important technique in performance is [[bending notes|bending]], causing a drop in pitch by making [[embouchure]] adjustments. Bending the pitch of an isolated reed is possible on chromatic models (or any others that have wind-savers), but it is also possible to lower or raise (overbend, overblow, overdraw) the pitch produced by pairs of reeds in the same chamber, as on a diatonic or other unvalved harmonica. Such two-reed pitch changes actually involve sound production by the normally silent reed, the opening reed (for instance, the blow reed while the player is drawing).