Vintage Antique Jews Mouth Jaw Mouth Harp Metal Steel Sicily Italy special
Length: 2.8 inches
Period: 1960th
Handcrafted product of Sicily, Italy
From a personal collection
The history of the Sicilian jaw harps
Jaw harps has been used in Sicily since the Middle Ages. However, it is actually a much older instrument that has its roots in Asia. An ancient Chinese drawing from the 4th century BC. in fact it depicts a man intent on playing what looks like a marranzano!
From Asia, Jaw harps then spread throughout the rest of the world, finding fertile ground in Europe. The Sicilians probably discovered it thanks to the dominations they suffered over the years, or thanks to the merchants coming from distant lands who used the ports of Sicily as a base for their trade and expeditions. What is certain is that the Sicilians immediately loved it, making it their own, making it a full part of their traditions and becoming skilled in its construction.
How the jaw harp is made and how it is played
The Sicilian harp is an idiophone musical instrument. This term refers to an instrument that produces a sound only thanks to the vibrations of the material it is made of, without therefore there being any surfaces or tension elements. The wind chime is in fact made up of two elements, an iron tongue and a metal horseshoe.
The musician holds the instrument between his teeth, so that the mouth can act as a sounding board. With his hands he moves the metal tongue, which vibrates on the horseshoe. This is how sound is produced! The sound can obviously be modulated as you prefer, by moving your mouth and modifying your breathing. The wind chime and the musician are therefore one, connected to each other, interconnected, interdependent. It is only thanks to this relationship that music can originate.
However, a minimum amount of attention and skill is needed in playing this instrument. If the vibrating metal tongue hits the teeth, or worse still the tongue, the musician could get really hurt!