Jew's harp

The Jew's harp is a member of the plucked idiophones (Hornbostel–Sachs 121.2). Listen to 2 recordings and learn how it makes its sound.

Listen to the Jew's harp

Munniharppua

0:41CC BY-SA 4.0by ElectricToothpasteWikimedia Commons

0:41

Klangdemonstration einer vietnamesischen Maultrommel - Dan Moi Jew's Harp - aus Eisen

0:15CC BY-SA 4.0by DrTrumpet , Roland Bades (declaration of…Wikimedia Commons

0:15

Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.

How the Jew's harp makes its sound

In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the Jew's harp belongs to the plucked idiophones (lamellophones): flexible tongues or lamellae are plucked – the mbira, kalimba, music box and jaw harp.

More broadly it is one of the idiophones, where the solid body of the instrument itself vibrates, without strings or a stretched membrane.

Press play above and watch the spectrum: the evenly spaced peaks are harmonics, and their relative strength is what gives the instrument its character.

From Wikipedia

The Jew's harp, also known as jaw harp, juice harp, or mouth harp, is a lamellophone instrument, consisting of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or reed attached to a frame. Despite the colloquial name, the Jew's harp most likely originated in China, with the earliest known Jew's harps dating back 4,000 years ago from Shaanxi. It has no relation to the Jewish people.

Jew's harps may be categorized as idioglot or heteroglot (whether or not the frame and the tine are one piece); by the shape of the frame (rod or plaque); by the number of tines, and whether the tines are plucked, joint-tapped, or string-pulled.