Know your Instrument - Learn how to Play - Harmonium

Know your Instrument - Harmonium

The harmonium was brought to India either by Western traders or by religious missionaries and musicians in the late nineteenth century. In 1887 Dwarikanath Ghosh of M/s Dwarika & Sons, Kolkata, is said to have remodeled the instrument to suit the requirements of Indian musicians. By 1910 it had already penetrated the remotest parts of India. Today it has found a place in music of all kinds, folk, light, semi-classical or even highly-reputed classical music.

The earliest references to the harmonium were made in Krishnadhan Bandopadhyays book Gita Sutra Sar, published in 1885. In 1894 Nandlal wrote Harmonium Shiksha, an instructional manual. A keyboard instrument, it consists of a small portable box, approximately two feet by one foot and about nine to ten inches high, the back opening to act as the bellows. There are reeds inside the box, while the keyboard is on top. One hand plays the keys while the other hand works the bellows. The reeds, one for each note, are fixed at one end and free at the other. When the bellows are compressed and a key pressed, the air passes under the corresponding reed vibrating it, thus producing the desired pitch.

Todays version of the harmonium is capable of providing a whole range of tonal excellence very rare in other instruments. A top quality harmonium has two, three and even four sets of reeds, with the provision for air-release in a zigzag fashion, ensuring softness of tone and melody.

Source :
http://www.itcsra.org/sra_story/sra_story_newsletter/aug_06/know_your_instrum...

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