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.
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.
Gallery
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File:Cass-muha-1880.jpg|C. A. Seydel Söhne Harmonica (1880)
File:Mouth organ (or symphonium) (c.1830, London) by Charles Wheatstone, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.jpg|Symphonium (c.1830) by Charles Wheatstone
File:M.Hohner Trumpet Call Harmonica in C.jpg|M. Hohner Trumpet Call Harmonica in C (1906)
<!-- File:Harmonijka ustna 10301A Blues Session Steel A firmy Seydel.jpg|C. A. Seydel Söhne Blues Session Steel -->
File:Mundharmonika.jpg|Harmonica (rear) and Blues harp (front)
File:16-hole chrom 10-hole diatonic.jpg|Chromatic 16-hole (over) and diatonic 10-hole (under) harmonica
File:Melodicas.jpg|Hohner Melodicas
File:Ploong.jpg| Plung, played by the Mru people of Bangladesh and Burma
File:Sheng (Chinese mouth organ).jpg|Sheng, a Chinese mouth organ
File:Gifujyou5846.JPG|Sho, a Japanese mouth organ
File:Sandakan Sabah Sompoton-01.jpg|Sompoton of Sabah, Malaysia
File:Khene.jpg|Khene, used in Mainland Southeast Asia
File:Miao musicians.jpg|Lusheng, used in Laos, Vietnam, South China
File:Sets of free reed aerophone (free) - Soinuenea.jpg
file:Ploy.jpg|Cambodia, Ploy
File:Musicians playing kadedek mouth organs, Engkurai, Pak Bunau, Borneo.jpg|Keluri, used in Borneo.
File:Qeej, free reed gourd mouth organ of the Hmong people.jpg|Qeej, free reed gourd mouth organ of the Hmong people
</gallery>
See also
- Gourd mouth organ