This ancient musical instrument is still used as a ritual in some cultures.
This ancient musical instrument can be found in the culture of many peoples of the world under different names. The name "jew's harp" comes from the ancient Slavic word "varga", which means "mouth".
It is believed that the jew's harp originated from a tree shattered by lightning, which sounded in the wind.
The jew's harp looks very simple. It somewhat resembles a key with a tongue, however, despite its apparent simplicity, the masters of the jew's harp can even convey the sounds of wildlife and human speech. Imitations of the song of a lark, the voice of a goose, a cuckoo, and the sound of a woodpecker, for example, are considered classic techniques for playing this amazing musical instrument.
The classic jew's harp is made of wood, bone; today, metal jew's harps are also made.
It is interesting to note that the jew's harp is not a self-sounding instrument. The musician who takes the jew's harp will be part of it, since the oral cavity when playing the harp will play the role of a resonator.
Other names of jew's harp:
- khomus - in Yakutia,
- demir-khomus - in Bashkortostan,
- timir-khomus - in Khakassia,
- tumran - in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug,
- komus - in Altai,
- kousiang - in China,
- mukkuri - in Japan,
- maultrommel - in Austria, as well as Germany.
