Harmonica
From WWR
A harmonica is a free reed musical wind instrument, with a number of metal reeds housed in pairs in chambers within the instrument. The player selects the notes by placement of their mouth over the proper holes in the front of the instrument. Blowing in the hole usually vibrates one reed, and drawing air through the hole activates the other, producing different notes. Some harmonicas (primarily chromatic harmonicas) also include a spring-loaded button-actuated slide that, when depressed, redirects the airflow to activate different reeds.
For some strange reason, a harmonica is also known as a harp. So when you hear someone say, "we need a harp player on this song," there's a 95% chance that they want a harmonica player -- not a harpist.
The harmonica is commonly used in blues and folk music, but also in jazz, classical music, country music, rock and roll and pop music. Harmonica seems to be an instrument that crosses ethnic, musical, and cultural divides in a manner that is not as well duplicated by many other instruments.
Probably the most popular harmonica players among Whole Wheat Radio listeners are Big Tom and Mikael.
