Description
The harmonica is a wind instrument (aerophone) that is closely related to the accordion in terms of tone production. It was designed by Christian Friedrich Buschmann in 1821. Instead of using bellows, air is blown or sucked through openings with the mouth. The airflow causes a reed to vibrate, which produces a note. The harmonica is generally alternating in pitch; blowing and sucking produce different notes. The simplest harmonicas are diatonic: these harmonicas contain only notes from a specific major or minor scale. The harmonica is an instrument that has spread throughout the world, and it was the first instrument played by humans outside the atmosphere (astronaut Wally Schirra during Gemini VI, 1966). The Netherlands also has many harmonica players, some of whom have formed a union. Several United States presidents played the harmonica, including Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan.
