jew's harp


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Jew's harp

or jew's harp (jo͞oz)
n.
A small musical instrument consisting of a lyre-shaped metal frame that is held between the teeth and a projecting steel tongue that is plucked to produce a soft twanging sound.
[Origin unknown.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Jew's′

(or Jews'′) harp`,


n.
(sometimes l.c.) a small, simple musical instrument consisting of a lyre-shaped metal frame containing a metal tongue, which is plucked while the frame is held in the teeth, the vibrations causing twanging tones.
[1585–95]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.Jew's harp - a small lyre-shaped musical instrument that is placed between the teeth and played by twanging a wire tongue while changing the shape of the mouth cavityjew's harp - a small lyre-shaped musical instrument that is placed between the teeth and played by twanging a wire tongue while changing the shape of the mouth cavity
jews' harp, mouth bow
musical instrument, instrument - any of various devices or contrivances that can be used to produce musical tones or sounds
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
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References in classic literature ?
There was a carpet all over the floor, and in one corner there was a forty-pinny and a Jew's harp and the divil knows what ilse, and in another corner was a sofy, the beautifullest thing in all natur, and sitting on the sofy, sure enough, there was the swate little angel, Misthress Tracle.
View in context
For example, Dongyanshan will present Atayal tribal musical and dance performances, including Tayal Jew's harp performances and rituals to pray for blessings, at 11 a.m.
Opening hours of Taiwan's national forest recreation areas during LNY
The Fifth Jew's Harp Festival invites everyone whose Jew's harp is waiting to be played to the Club of Different Rooms in Tallinn.
Event Guide
As part of the Origins section, readers get a primer on one of the oldest instruments in the world, the mouth harp, or Jew's harp. The story follows a group of mouth harpists in India, including Neptune Chapotin, the founder of the World Mouth Harp Festival of India.
What's Life Without Music? "The stories span across decades of experiences, mirroring our lives with music--how we come to experience music for the first time, how we grow with music, how music helps us to understand the world around us, the many ways in which music can help us heal, and its presence as we leave this world."
The instrument goes by several names: Jew's harp, jaw harp, mouth harp or juice harp, and it's been in use since as early as the fourth century B.C., where a musician apparently playing it can be seen in a Chinese drawing.
Music
A Glockenspiel B Xylophone C Jew's Harp D Aeolian harp 5.
General Knowledge Quiz
ETony Blackburn looked baffled as one individual with shaggy, permed hair twanged an oversized Jew's harp, while his bespectacled colleague crooned into the microphone.
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
(2) There is a detailed account of this in Michael Wright, 'The Jew's Harp in the Law, 1590-1825', Folk Music Journal, 9.3 (2008), 349-71 (pp.
The Jews-Harp in Britain and Ireland
Baebee Ocampo Reynoso, introduced participants to some native Filipino musical instruments like the kalingatongali (nose flute), hegalong (native guitar) and kubing (Jew's harp).
An artistic break for teachers
In Wood Street I sold sandpaper, In Buck Street I sold prayer books, In Duddeston Street made pattern cards, In Doe Street I sold fishhooks, In Ashted I made Jew's harp springs, In Thomas Street made awl blades.
Jack of All Trades song sheds lights on industry; Birmingham has long been known as 'the city of a thousand trades'. Chris Upton looks at a folk song that brings that image of the city to life
Along with the standard guitar, drums and bass, there's brass, organs, Jew's harp, a whistle solo and something called a cholongo, made from an armadillo's shell and apparently smuggled out of Peru by James' girlfriend.
Time heals old wounds as a happier Revellions look forward to future; Long awaited new album can help draw a line under an uncertain period for band; The Big Interview

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