Jew’s harp is a reed instrument, one of the oldest musical instruments. Its appearance has been recorded in different parts of the world. Each nation has given it its own name. Despite the similarity of the structure, the nations of the world could not come to a single name for this instrument. (More details in the article History of the Jew’s harp’s Origin.) This instrument has reached our days almost unchanged. Its structure remains the same across cultures, only its appearance changes.

Despite the simplicity of its structure, the jew’s harp is notable for the complexity of playing technique. It is necessary to make oscillatory movements of the reed so that the reed does not touch either other parts of the jew’s harp or teeth. The difficulty lies in reproducing a rhythmic melody, combining different timbres of both the jew’s harp and the natural human resonators that are used while playing. Directing the sound to the head, the performer can use the nasal resonator. With the addition of singing, the chest resonator will come into play. (For more information, see the Playing Technique article.)

In ancient times, jew’s harps were used for meditation and to purify human spirit. Nowadays it is also used for the aesthetic pleasure of melodies. Modern musicians are experimenting in search of new sounds. For example, some jew’s harp performers interpret famous tunes, improvisation with beatboxing (see video example). Or they improvise together with DJ’s at club parties. These combinations of ancient and modern trends allow us to call the jew’s harp a musical instrument of our century.

As for Glazyrin’s jew’s harps, they are a modern modification of ancient lamellar reed instruments. Master Glazyrin managed to embody the richness of sound timbre, simplicity of form and attractive appearance in one product. (article about us)

Jew’s harp for beginners

For those who are acquiring this instrument for the first time, we offer a line of special jew’s harps for beginners to choose from. Firstly, these jew’s harps are smaller in size. Secondly, they are designed for practicing strikes, training hands and learning the basics of playing. The sound of these jew’s harps is soft, calm, suitable for meditation and relaxation, for example, when accompanying yoga classes. Jew’s harps with a small frame should be held by the base and only in this way. Compared with narrow-frame jew’s harps, exemplars with a wide frame can boast a number of options for holding; there are significantly more of them.

Jew’s harp for professionals

This line of jew’s harps is for people who already have an idea of such a wonderful instrument. These models are much larger in size and, as a result, they become more complicated as to the technique of playing them. Also, the number of possibilities and techniques for creating unique melodies and unusual sounds is expanded. A possibility for detailed sound elaboration emerges. You can experiment with improvisation using fast and intermittent rhythms. The wide frame of the jew’s harp allows you to hold it in various ways: by the frame decks, by the base with two fingers, by the base with three fingers or enfolding it with a hand. (See picture)

What does the jew’s harp consist of? First of all, to understand its structure, it is necessary to know the main components:

• Tongue – A plate between the decks of the frame, with the oscillation of which, a musical sound is created

• Frame – Jew’s harp’s metal base

• Gaps – The distance between the jew’s harp’s tongue and the decks (parallel frame sections). This is one of the most important parameters, responsible for the volume and width of the instrument’s spectrum. The smaller and smoother the gaps, the louder and richer the sound, and the easier it is to emit it (measurement in micrometers).

• Trigger – Part of the jew’s harp, with which the tongue is brought into a state of oscillation, due to which the sound is formed.

• Looper – Tip of the tongue that creates a certain tension. Most noteworthy, thanks to it, the necessary resistance is formed for the correct oscillation of the tongue. Also, this place can be hollow, when provided for increasing the weight. Consequently, in this cavity, you can insert a special weight ball, which comes in the kit with such models as Phantom and Phantom Mini.

• Connecting part – The place where the tongue is fixed to the base.

The jew’s harp is not only a musical instrument for extracting sound, but also an instrument that encapsulates the cultural heritage of the peoples of the world.

Its birth occurred about two thousand years ago in Europe and several thousand years ago in Asia.

The music of the jew’s harp did not have musical notes and was passed on from generations to generations only verbally. Because of that, the art of playing and the structure of the jew’s harps of those years came to us only partially.

This instrument has many names in different languages of the peoples of the world. The European name is the most common, at the moment, in English it sounds like jew’s harp. It first appeared in the 16th century and became widely used after the 18th century.

Initially, the instrument had the name trump (from the verb to play the trumpet, roar or trumpet). But the literal translation of the current title may mislead our reader, because it translates as a Jewish harp. Jew’s harp has nothing to do with the Jewish people; neither does it look like a harp in its structure and appearance.

Jew’s harp history

It can be assumed from its history of origin that the jew’s harp has absorbed a lot of different languages into its name. In French it was jeu trump, which translates as a trumpet for playing, which, in turn, was formed from the Danish jeudgtromp – child’s pipe. In German, it sounds as maultrommel – lip drum. In Estonia, parmupill. In Norwegian and Icelandic, munnharpa. The French version is guimbarde that translates as ridiculous, absurd person. In Latvia, vargas. The Italian version, scacciapensieri has spiritual connotations – to drive out, drive away the thought. In Lithuania, dambras, bandurelis. Bulgarian version is rumbazuk.

In America, tongue instruments appeared thanks to European merchants; they brought them together with silks and weapons. In this country, these instruments are called trompa, trompe, tyrimpa, and also jew’s harp.

According to most jew’s-harp experts, the jew’s harp takes its origin from southeast Asia. Then it spread to India and in Europe. Most of its Asian names are similar to the often used – Khomus. For example, komuz, comys, shankobyz, kobyz, gopuz, they all mean a musical instrument. It was also used as a musical instrument in shamanism during rituals. The Turkic people called it khomyhyn, which translates as sorcery, magic, enchantment, witchcraft. Its magical properties were used to banish evil spirits.
Now these instruments are mainly used to create ethnic music and for immersion in meditation while playing.