The History Of Harmonica

The harmonica was developed in Europe in the early part of the 19th century, during a period of intense interest in free reed instruments. Free reed instruments like the sheng were fairly common throughout East Asia for centuries and were relatively well-known in Europe for some time. Around 1820, there was an explosion of new free reed designs in Europe and North America. While Christian Friederich Ludwig Buschmann is often cited as the inventor of the harmonica in 1821, it is almost certain that the instrument was simultaneously developed by several inventors working independently. Mouth-blown free reed instruments appeared in the United States, the United Kingdom and in Europe at roughly the same time.

Development of Harmonica in Europe

The harmonica first appeared in Vienna, where harmonicas with chambers were sold before 1824 (see also Anton Reinlein and Anton Haeckl). Richter tuning was in use nearly from the beginning. In Germany, Mr. Meisel of Geschichte des Akkordeonbaus in Klingenthal, Schwarzmeisel and Langhammer, bought a harmonica with chambers (Kanzellen) at the Exhibition in Braunschweig in 1824. He and Langhammer in Graslitz copied the instruments; by 1827 they had produced hundreds of harmonicas. Many others followed in Germany and also nearby in what would later become Czechoslovakia. In 1829, Johann Wilhelm Rudolph Glier, also began making harmonicas. In 1830, Christan Messner, a cloth maker and weaver from Trossingen, copied a harmonica his neighbour had brought from Vienna. He had such success that eventually his brother and some relatives also started to make harmonicas. From 1840 onwards, his nephew Christian Weiss was also involved in the business.

By 1855, there were at least three registered harmonica-making businesses in existence: C. A. Seydel Söhne, Christian Messner & Co., and Württ. Harmonikafabrik Ch. WEISS. Currently, only C.A. Seydel is still in business.

Owing to competition between the harmonica factories in Trossingen and Klingenthal, machines were invented to punch the covers for the reeds. In 1857, Matthais Hohner, a clockmaker from Trossingen, started producing harmonicas, eventually to become the first person to mass-produce them. He was the first to order the wooden comb that goes in the center of the instrument from other firms which machine-cut the parts. By 1868, he could deliver his first orders to the United States.

By the 1820s, the diatonic harmonica had largely reached its modern form. Other types followed soon thereafter, including the various tremolo and octave harmonicas. By the late 19th century, harmonica production was a big business, having evolved from a handcraft into mass-production with figures well into the millions, a market which continues to expand. New designs were still developed in the 20th century, including the chromatic harmonica, first made by Hohner in 1924, the bass harmonica, and the chord harmonica. In the 21st century, radical new designs are still being introduced into the market, such as the Suzuki Overdrive and Hohner XB-40.

Diatonic harmonicas were designed primarily for the playing of German and other European folk music and have succeeded well in those styles. Possibly unforeseen by its makers, the basic design and tuning proved adaptable to other types of music such as the blues, country, old-time and more. The harmonica was a success almost from the very start of production, and while the centre of the harmonica business has shifted from Germany, the output of the various harmonica manufacturers is still very high. Major companies are now found in Germany (Seydel, Hohner - once the dominant manufacturer in the world, producing some 20 million harmonicas alone in 1920 when German manufacturing totalled over 50 million harmonicas), Japan (Suzuki, Tombo, Yamaha), China (Huang, Leo Shi, Suzuki, Hohner) and Brasil (Hering). Recently, responding to increasingly demanding performance techniques, the market for high quality instruments has grown, resulting in a resurgence of hand-crafted harmonicas catering to those wanting the best, without the compromises inherent in mass manufacturing.

Development of Harmonica in United States

Shortly after Hohner began manufacturing harmonicas in 1857, he shipped some to relatives who had emigrated to the United States. Its music rapidly became popular, and the country became an enormous market for Hohner's goods. President Abraham Lincoln carried a harmonica in his pocket, and harmonicas provided solace to soldiers on both the Union and Confederate sides of the American Civil War. Frontiersmen Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid played the instrument, and it became a fixture of the American musical landscape.

The first recordings of harmonicas were made in the U.S. in the 1920s. These recordings are 'race-records', intended for the black market of the southern states with solo recordings by DeFord Bailey, duo recordings with a guitarist Hammie Nixon, Walter Horton, Sonny Terry, as well as hillbilly styles recorded for white audiences, by Frank Hutchison, Gwen Foster and several other musicians. There are also recordings featuring the harmonica in jug bands, of which the Memphis Jug Band is the most famous. But the harmonica still represented a toy instrument in those years and was associated with the poor. It is also during those years that musicians started experimenting with new techniques such as tongue-blocking, hand effects and the most important innovation of all, the 2nd position, or cross-harp.

The harmonica is used in blues and American folk music, jazz, classical music, country music, rock and roll, and pop music. Increasingly, the harmonica is finding its place in more electronically generated music, such as dance and hip-hop, as well as funk and acid jazz. The harmonica has other nicknames, especially in blues music, including: harp, blues harp, mouth organ and blues mouth organ.

Development of Harmonica in Hong Kong and Mainland China

Harmonica music started to develop in Hong Kong in the 1930s. Individual tremolo harmonica players from China moved to Hong Kong to set up different harmonica organizations such as The Chinese Y.M.C.A. Harmonica Orchestra (中華基督教青年會口琴樂隊) and China Harmonica Society (中國口琴社). Heart String Harmonica Society was another organization set up by the then sole agency of Hohner in Hong Kong, W.S. Shirly & Co.

In the 1950s, other than tremolo harmonica, chromatic harmonica became popular in Hong Kong. Prominent harmonica players Larry Adler and John Sebastian were invited to perform in Hong Kong. Local players such as Lau Mok (劉牧) and Fung On (馮安) were also devoted to the promotion of the chromatic harmonica. In the Chinese Y.M.C.A. Harmonica Orchestra, Fung On gradually replaced tremolo and diatonic harmonicas with the chromatic harmonica.

The symphonic orchestration of the Chinese YMCA. Harmonica Orchestra started in the 1960s. The goals were to enhance the tone colour and the volume and to perform pieces composed for a symphony orchestra. In the mid-60s, the Chinese Y.M.C.A. Harmonica Orchestra had developed into one with about 100 members. Aimed at imitating the symphonic orchestration of the western orchestra; a number of traditional instruments in a western orchestra were replaced by various types of harmonica: violin and viola were replaced by 12-hole and 16-hole chromonicas; cello by chord harmonica, contra bass and octave bass; double bass by octave bass; flute by pipe soprano; clarinet by pipe alto; trumpet by horn soprano; trombone by horn alto; oboe by melodica soprano; English horn by melodica alto; French horn by melodica professional. Simultaneously, double bass, accordion, piano, and percussion like timpani and xylophone were also used.

The 1970s was regarded as the flourishing period in the development of harmonica music in Hong Kong. Haletone Harmonica Orchestra was set up at Wong Tai Sin Community Centre. Fung On and others continued to teach harmonica and set up harmonica orchestras in local secondary schools such as Hotung Secondary School, King's College, Kiangsu-Chekiang College, Queen's College, St. Paul's College, St. Paul's Co-educational College.

In the 1980s, the number of harmonica learners decreased steadily, the result being that harmonica music in Hong Kong did not grow notably.

In the 1990s, however, the development of harmonica music flourished again. Harmonica players in Hong Kong began to participate in international harmonica competitions, including the World Harmonica Festival in Germany and the Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival in different Asian cities.

In the 2000s, the Hong Kong Harmonica Association (H.K.H.A.) (香港口琴協會) was established. The arrangement of its orchestras – the H.K.H.A. Harmonica Orchestra and the H.K.H.A. St. James' Settlement Junior Harmonica Orchestra – largely follows that of the Chinese Y.M.C.A. Harmonica Orchestra. It is evident that over the last forty years, the symphonic orchestration of harmonica music remained, in principle, the same. Put differently, the influence of Fung On in the symphonic orchestration of harmonica music in Hong Kong has been sustained for nearly half a decade.

Overall, Hong Kong can be seen as the forerunner of the formation of symphonic orchestration of harmonica music around the world.

Development of Harmonica in Japan

In 1898, the harmonica was brought to Japan; there, the Japanese were more interested in the sound of the Tremolo; however after about 30 years, they became dissatisfied with the richter-based layout of the tremolo harmonica, and thus developed the scale tuning, as well as the semitone harmonicas, in order to be able to perform Japanese folk songs. During sometime in 1924 and 1933, it was brought to other places in East Asia.

Development of Harmonica in Taiwan

The history of the harmonica in Taiwan began around 1945, due to the influence of numerous harmonica experts, as well as versatility and cheap prices of the harmonica. It became one of the standard instruments on the island, being treated as a serious instrument during its peak at the 1980s — more so than Europe and America, where it was often associated as a blues-only instrument. However, as the western lifestyle began to spread, as well as an increase in living standards, many instruments that were once too expensive to buy could be bought by the Taiwanese. Additionally, due to many schools of methodologies on the harmonica, the harmonica as an instrument almost faded to obscurity in the 90s. In order to raise the appeal of the harmonica back to it what it once was, numerous harmonica lovers in Taiwan began to promote the harmonica heavily, starting with the introduction of harmonicas and methodology that are popular in the Western world (eg. Chromatic and Diatonic harmonicas), as well as participating in numerous international competitions.