Jaw harp
Instrument with a springy metal tongue whose sound is shaped by the mouth cavity.
What it means
The jaw harp consists of a frame, usually of steel, and a springy tongue fixed within it. The player holds the frame against the teeth or lips and plucks the tongue. It vibrates and produces a low, constant fundamental, whose overtones are amplified by the shape of the mouth cavity.
By altering the mouth space, tongue and breathing, melodies are formed from the overtones. The result is a quiet, buzzing sound more like whispering than a trumpet. In the classification of musical instruments it belongs to the idiophones, because the sounding body itself vibrates.
Musical use
Jaw harps are found across Asia, Europe and North Africa and are at home as folk instruments in many cultures, for instance in Austria and Bavaria, in Siberia and in India. They are used as solo instruments, to accompany dance or song, and in new music.
It should be distinguished from the harmonica, in which air sets metal reeds vibrating: with the jaw harp the tongue vibrates when plucked, and the breath merely shapes the sound.
Other names
The instrument is also known as the Jew's harp; the name "jaw harp" is now often preferred. In German it is also called Brummeisen, in Spanish guimbarda.
Performance practice
Press the jaw harp firmly but without force against your teeth and pluck the tongue outwards. Take care not to strike the frame against your teeth. Practise even plucking first, before shaping melodies with mouth positions and breathing.