mouth organ
A mouth organ is any free reed aerophone with one or more air chambers fitted with a free reed. Though it spans many traditions, it is played universally the same way by the musician placing their lips over a chamber or holes in the instrument, and blowing or sucking air to create a sound. Many of the chambers can be played together or each individually.
Also recorded as mouth organs
mouth organ
George Leung · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Field
- free reed aerophone.
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wikidata · Q6926344 · wikipedia · Mouth organ
In this article
Overview
Overview
The mouth organ can be found all around the world and is known by many different names and seen in many different traditions. The most notable variations include the harmonica, and Asian free reed wind instruments consisting of a number of bamboo pipes of varying lengths fixed into a wind chest; these include the sheng, khaen, lusheng, yu, shō, and saenghwang. The melodica, consisting of a single tube that is essentially blown through a keyboard, is another variation.
Deux modèles de Mélodicas de marque Hohner
The original uploader was Ukulele at French Wikipedia.
Key facts
Key facts
• Classification — * Wind • aerophone • Hornbostel Sachs — 412.132 • Hornbostel Sachs Desc — Free reed aerophone • Articles — * Sheng • Shō • Lusheng • Yu • Saenghwang • Plung • Sompoton • Khene • Harmonica • Melodica
Gallery
Gallery
• Illustration — C. A. Seydel Söhne Harmonica (1880) • Illustration — Symphonium (c.1830) by Charles Wheatstone • Illustration — M. Hohner Trumpet Call Harmonica in C (1906) • Illustration — Harmonica (rear) and Blues harp (front) • Illustration — Chromatic 16-hole (over) and diatonic 10-hole (under) harmonica • Illustration — Hohner Melodicas • Illustration — Plung, played by the Mru people of Bangladesh and Burma • Illustration — Sheng, a Chinese mouth organ • Illustration — Sho, a Japanese mouth organ • Illustration — Sompoton of Sabah, Malaysia • Illustration — Khene, used in Mainland Southeast Asia • Illustration — Lusheng, used in Laos, Vietnam, South China • Illustration — Cambodia, Ploy • Illustration — Keluri, used in Borneo. • Illustration — Qeej, free reed gourd mouth organ of the Hmong people
Identity
Identity
Four men of the Hei Miao (Black Miao) tribe playing the mouth-organ.
Literature
Literature
The Mouth-Organ in Education, The Musical Times, 1955
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Mouth organ, revision 1169905057 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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Citations
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Broader subject
1- sompotonTerminology
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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