And The Christmas Blues Doesn’t End

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Even though the Harmonica is an ‘Austrian’ instrument, as a child I was never too fond of it and it showed in my performance. I remember our farm cat leaving each time I picked up the harmonica.

John Popper’s way of singing the blues and playing the harmonica is unforgettable, not just for a blues lover.

A little bit of history:

At the beginning of the 1820s, the harmonica was invented around Vienna. Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann is often mentioned as the inventor of the harmonica, but there is no evidence.

Today, it is assumed that there is no single person as an inventor. It is more likely that the harmonica appeared in several places at the same time. The harmonica was probably first used as a tuning aid by instrument makers. Later, the idea of marketing as a by-product was born. In musical circles, the instrument therefore receives no attention in the initial phase. Patents for this were also not published.

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1825 – Wilhelm Thie buys a “mouth harp” and begins to build a replica of it. As a result, he founds the world’s first harmonica factory in Vienna, Austria. Thie’s harmonicas sell well and are widely distributed.

The sale of harmonicas was first mentioned in writing in Vienna in 1825. From Vienna, the production spread throughout the German-speaking world. Three centers emerged: Vienna, Klingenthal (Austria) in Saxony, and Trossingen in Württemberg (Germany). In the further course of the game, Knittlingen is added.

1860s

Harmonica production reached enormous numbers by the standards of the time. Around Klingenthal, three million harmonicas are now produced per year. Mass production begins by sawing the comb body with the help of machines. Thanks to milling and punching machines, the production of reeds and reed plates can be accelerated even further.

The instrument is inexpensive and affordable for large parts of the population. It is something like a folk instrument. Today, the harmonica is considered the most built musical instrument in the world.

The American Civil War spurs demand. The portable instrument is ideal for the soldiers. This makes the harmonica an elementary instrument in American music. It is still inextricably linked to the cowboy image today.

1868 – Mathias Hohner begins exporting harmonicas to the United States of America. He sends some of his instruments to emigrated relatives. As a result, he managed to increase his popularity to such an extent that he now exports large quantities. (Hohner Musikinstrumente GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, founded in 1857 by Matthias Hohner (1833–1902).

1880s

By 1887, Hohner was already producing one million harmonicas per year. In America, there is an economic crisis during this time, so that sales collapse. The Hohner company looks for other sales markets worldwide and thus ensures that the instrument becomes known worldwide.

1890s

1896 – The Marineband model is launched. This later became the best-selling harmonica in the world. At the same time, the diatonic harmonica has reached its modern form. The Hohner Marine Band is still a popular model and is immortalized on countless recordings. It is therefore the standard of a diatonic harmonica.

In 1897, Hohner was already producing 3 million harmonicas a year.

In 1898, the harmonica was introduced in Japan. There, the tremolo harmonica is becoming the most popular form.

1900

1911 – Matthias Hohner now produces eight million harmonicas per year.

In 1913, Hohner published a chromatic harmonica in an English product catalogue for the first time.

1920s

The harmonica became increasingly popular as an instrument among the people and increasingly appeared in popular music recordings from 1925 onwards. A boom is developing in the USA and harmonica bands are forming all over the country. The harmonica is even becoming part of school lessons. Meanwhile, new harmonica types are being developed. The chromatic, bass and chord harmonicas date from this time.

1920 to 1930 – C.A. Seydel Söhne produces 7 million harmonicas per year.

1924 – Hohner now sells the chromatic harmonica.

1925 – In Trossingen and Klingenthal, a total of 25 million harmonicas are produced per year.

1930s

The triumphal march of the harmonica can no longer be stopped. She presents herself in films. Larry Adler is the first harmonica virtuoso to master both classical and jazz on the instrument. For the first time, classical composers write pieces for the harmonica. Among them are Arthur Benjamin, Malcolm Arnold, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Darius Milhaud.

In Asia, the harmonica continues to spread, and Hong Kong is developing into a center for tremolo harmonica players. There the first harmonica organizations are formed.

In Japan in the 1930s, experiments were carried out with alternative tunings that were better suited to Asian music. There, for the first time, a harmonica tuned in minor will also appear.

1930 – Hohner sells 25 million harmonicas per year worldwide.

1940s

In the USA, harmonicas became scarce due to import bans in the 1940s. After all, the main manufacturers came from Germany and Japan – and were therefore enemies. Due to the Second World War, the materials required for harmonicas are also scarce. In the United States, Finn Haakon Magnus develops a harmonica made entirely of plastic. It is true that this made the instruments cheaper to produce. But they lacked the characteristic sound. So they became popular there only as children’s toys.

1947 – The song “Peg O’ My Heart” by the Harmonicats becomes the hit of the year. The US musicians’ union is reacting to this. It changes the classification of the harmonica from a toy to a recognized instrument. Harmonica players have been able to become members since then.

1950s

The harmonica spreads in various musical styles. It has played a major role in the blues for some time. In the 1950s, the electric blues harmonica sound developed in Chicago. This shapes the harmonica sound, which also becomes dominant in rock.

In this decade, the chromatic harmonica is spreading in Hong Kong.

1952 – A patent for a plastic comb body is registered for William Kratt.

1960s

In the 1960s, the Chinese YMCA Orchestra was founded. The harmonica is becoming more and more popular. In England, with rock’n roll, an enthusiasm for blues spills over to Europe and with it the harmonica. The Beatles in particular made the instrument known to a wider audience in pop music. In addition, American soul and funk are becoming more and more popular in Europe, in which the harmonica is often used.

1965 – The harmonica becomes the first musical instrument in space when astronaut Walter Schirra plays “Jingle Bells” on a Hohner Little Lady he smuggled aboard the Gemini 6 spacecraft.

1970s

The harmonica can be found in countless popular recordings in rock, pop, jazz and blues. Howard Levy discovers the overbending technique and perfects it. This makes the Richter harmonica universally applicable.

1980s

The German manufacturers are investing in chromatic instruments. There are also now so-called customizers that revise and tune commercially available harmonicas.

1983 – Lee Oskar enters harmonica production with Tombo

1986 – Matthias Hohner GmbH has produced over a billion harmonicas.

1990s

Hohner renews its machines. Not least due to Steve Baker’s influence, the product range is renewed.

After German reunification, C.A. Seydel reappears on international markets.

2000 to the present

The development of the harmonica is not yet complete. Japanese harmonica manufacturers are pushing innovations. Suzuki, for example, releases a harmonica with which overblows are particularly playable. American providers such as Turboharp are also developing new concepts.

The German manufacturers, for their part, have reacted to this with new developments. Seydel uses novel materials. Hohner experiments with resonance reeds (Hohner XB-40). There is also an increasing orientation towards the needs of harmonica players.