The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Jew’s Harp

(in Russian, vargan), self-sounding reed instrument, either a plate made of wood, bone, or metal or a metal bow with a reed in the middle. When played, it is pressed to or squeezed by the teeth; the reed is pinched by a finger, thread, or stick. The mouth serves as a moving resonator; the tones of the overtone series needed to play the melody are picked out by changing the shape and size of the mouth cavity. The quietness and small range—a fourth or fifth—of the Jew’s harp limits its repertoire to short dance melodies and traditional tunes. The Jew’s harp is found among many peoples of Middle and Southeast Asia and Oceania (plate-shaped) and also Europe, Central Asia, and Africa (bow-shaped); it has various national names. A perfected Jew’s harp, the aura, was popular in Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

R. B. GALAISKAIA

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References in periodicals archive

| Medicine Head perform on Top Of The Pops in 1973, with, top right, John Fiddler on guitar and vocals and Peter Hope-Evans on Jew's harp. Left, among their champions was Radio one DJ John Peel, along with John Lennon, Phil Collins and Pete Townshend

Medicine men Oddball pair of Black Country pals became cult hit in Seventies; A shaggy permed pair from Stafford enjoyed a string of hits in the 70s as Medicine Head. MIKE LOCKLEY tells their story

Even his rumination on 9/11 called On That Day simply asks "Did you go crazy / Or did you report / On that day they wounded New York." The stark Jew's harp that is his "break" simply adds a raw poignancy to a question that is as simple and basic as Cohen himself is becoming as he matures in grace to be a wizened sage for our time.

Cohen's elegiac album speaks for itself

A Jew's Harp maker, an Artificial Eye Maker and a Well Sinker were among the first visitors.

SHHH! CHARLES STAYING QUIET ON NEW LIBRARY; Prince famously described old building as more like somewhere to burn books EXCLUSIVE

Bobbing along with jew's harp and jangly bluegrass guitar, the music lends a kind-of Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn atmosphere to the film, albeit one filtered through much wearier eyes.

Down the River

Connections are made between the so-called Jew's harp and development of the harmonica and the accordion.

A History of European Folk Music

Poet Clem Starck will read poems from five of his award-winning poetry collections, accompanied by Fisherpoet musicians Jon Broderick and Jay Speakman on guitar, harmonica, jew's harp, banjo, and other various instruments.

BOOK NOTES

OF all the unconventional instruments introduced into pop music in the Sixties - harpsichord and sitar, dulcimer and mellotron - one of the most unusual is surely the Jew's harp. The Who experimented with it, as did Black Sabbath and (most appropriately of all) Leonard Cohen.

Don't go breakin' my harp; HISTORY Historian Chris Upton looks at the Black Country origins of an unusual instrument played by bands such as Black Sabbath and The Who to singer Leonard Cohen

He uses strummed and picked banjo, Jew's harp and shruti box to create some startling music and poetry - much of it to cherish.

All eyes on Belfast; THEE OH SEES AMONG ACTS AT CATHEDRAL QUARTER ARTS FESTIVAL

Jack himself was a multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, banjo, mandolin, melodeon, mouth organ, and Jew's harp. He had a charismatic presence as a singer and storyteller.

The Elliotts of Birtley

IT'S more than 40 years since Chicago jazzman Claude McKin recorded this unique jew's harp cocktail jazz classic.

BEV BEVAN'S RETRO ROCK

Vocalist Tane Raj Singh Sodha and Khan Sakar Manganiar, Dholak (double-sided drum), Khadtal (castanets) and Morchang (Jew's harp) performances have left audiences spellbound all over the world .

Orchestra joins chorus to celebrate anniversary

Michael Wright's study of the Jew's harp in the law is also a ground-breaking piece, unearthing the association of what in past centuries was an extraordinarily popular musical instrument with criminal wrongdoing.

Editorial