Welcome to harmonicasales.com.
We invite you to browse our online catalog of harmonicas by HSS Hohner.
On the pages to follow you'll be able to view and purchase a variety of
instruments.
We are proud to carry the full line of Hohner Harmonicas!
Order online or call us today at (800)969-4772.
Our
Harmonica Inventory includes the following:
Hohner Diationic Harmonicas
Hohner Echo Harmonicas
Hohner Octave Harmonicas
Hohner Tremolo Harmonicas
Hohner Chromatic Harmonicas
Hohner Specialty Harmonicas
Harmonica Accessories
Harmonica Instructional Materials
Harmonica Package Deals
About Hohner Harmonicas
The history of the harmonica, as we know it
today, is an amazing tale which begins in the year 1821. It was then that
sixteen-year-old Christian Friedrich Buschmann registered the first European
patents for his new musical invention. His so-called "aura" was a free-reed
instrument consisting of a series of steel reeds arranged together horizontally
in small channels. An awkward design, it offered only blow notes arranged
chromatically.
Buschmann described his new instrument to his brother as "a new instrument that
is truly remarkable. In its entirety it measures but four inches in
diameter...but gives me twenty-one notes, and all the pianissimos and crescendos
one could want without a keyboard, harmonies of six tones, and the ability to
hold a note as long as one would wish to."
Initial designs by Buschmann were widely imitated, leading to many modifications
and advancements. A Bohemian instrument maker named Richter may have made the
most important advancements in early harmonica design. Around 1826, he developed
a variation that consisted of ten holes and twenty reeds, with separate blow and
draw reed plates mounted on either side of a cedar comb. Richter's tuning,
utilizing a diatonic scale, became the standard configuration of what Europeans
referred to as the Mundharmonika or mouth organ.
In 1857, the history of the harmonica changed dramatically as German clock maker
Matthias Hohner turned to manufacturing harmonicas full-time. With the help of
his family and a hired workman, he was able to produce 650 instruments that
year. Soon after, he added local workers and developed mass production
techniques.
Young Hohner was an outstanding businessman and showed his marketing savvy by
developing ornate cover plates bearing the producer's name.
He introduced the harmonica to North America in 1862, a move which would propel
the Hohner company to its status as the world leader in harmonicas. By 1887,
Hohner was producing more than one million harmonicas annually. Today, Hohner
produces over 90 different models of harmonica, with a variety of styles and
tunings which allows the player freedom of expression in all forms of music,
from Classical and Jazz to Blues, Country and Rock, to the indigenous music of
people worldwide.
Groth Music Company
8056 Nicollet Ave S
Bloomington, MN 55420
mailbox@grothmusic.com
(800)969-4772 Fax: (952)884-1134