Harmonica Quiz Questions and Answers
Q1. What is the harmonica also commonly known as?
A. French harp or mouth organ
B. Blues flute
C. Pocket piano
D. Reed whistle
Answer: A. French harp or mouth organ
Q2. The harmonica is classified as which type of musical instrument?
A. Free reed wind instrument
B. Stringed percussion instrument
C. Free reed wind instrument
D. Membrane aerophone
Answer: C. Free reed wind instrument
Q3. What ancient Chinese instrument is considered the precursor to the modern harmonica?
A. Sheng
B. Erhu
C. Pipa
D. Guzheng
Answer: A. Sheng
Q4. Who is often credited with inventing the modern harmonica around 1821?
A. Joseph Richter
B. Matthias Hohner
C. Charles Wheatstone
D. Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann
Answer: D. Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann
Q5. Which company, founded in 1857, is famous for mass-producing harmonicas?
A. Hohner
B. Seydel
C. Suzuki
D. Lee Oskar
Answer: A. Hohner
Q6. The most common diatonic harmonica typically has how many holes?
A. 8
B. 10
C. 16
D. 18
Answer: B. 10
Q7. How is sound produced on a harmonica?
A. By blowing and drawing air over metal reeds that vibrate
B. By striking tuned metal bars
C. By plucking strings inside the comb
D. By rubbing glass rims
Answer: A. By blowing and drawing air over metal reeds that vibrate
Q8. What is the main structural part of the harmonica that forms the air chambers?
A. Mouthpiece
B. Cover plates
C. Comb
D. Slide button
Answer: C. Comb
Q9. Which type of harmonica can play all 12 notes of the chromatic scale without bending?
A. Diatonic
B. Chromatic
C. Tremolo
D. Octave
Answer: B. Chromatic
Q10. The diatonic harmonica is most commonly associated with which music genre?
A. Opera
B. Classical
C. Orchestral
D. Blues
Answer: D. Blues
Q11. What feature does a chromatic harmonica have that a standard diatonic does not?
A. Double reeds per hole
B. A side slide button
C. Bamboo pipes
D. Valved windsavers only
Answer: B. A side slide button
Q12. Tremolo harmonicas are popular in which region’s traditional music?
A. South America
B. Africa
C. East Asia
D. Scandinavia
Answer: C. East Asia
Q13. What technique allows players to lower the pitch of certain notes on a diatonic harmonica?
A. Overdrawing
B. Bending
C. Trilling
D. Puckering
Answer: B. Bending
Q14. Who is a famous blues harmonica player known as “Little Walter”?
A. Jacob Little Walter
B. Walter Horton
C. Marion Walter Jacobs
D. Walter Shakey
Answer: C. Marion Walter Jacobs
Q15. Which famous player popularized the chromatic harmonica in jazz and classical music?
A. Toots Thielemans
B. Sonny Boy Williamson
C. Junior Wells
D. James Cotton
Answer: A. Toots Thielemans
Q16. Bob Dylan is well-known for playing harmonica on which of his songs?
A. Like a Rolling Stone
B. Blowin’ in the Wind
C. Mr. Tambourine Man
D. The Times They Are a-Changin’
Answer: C. Mr. Tambourine Man
Q17. Stevie Wonder featured prominent harmonica on which song?
A. Superstition
B. Isn’t She Lovely
C. Signed, Sealed, Delivered
D. You Are the Sunshine of My Life
Answer: B. Isn’t She Lovely
Q18. What is the typical range of a standard 10-hole diatonic harmonica?
A. Three octaves
B. Two octaves
C. Four octaves
D. One octave
Answer: A. Three octaves
Q19. In blues harmonica, playing in “second position” means the key is what relative to the harmonica’s label?
A. A fifth above
B. A fourth below
C. The same key
D. A minor third
Answer: A. A fifth above
Q20. Which technique allows access to missing chromatic notes on a diatonic harmonica?
A. Hand cupping
B. Tongue slapping
C. Overblowing and overdraw
D. Throat vibrato
Answer: C. Overblowing and overdraw
Q21. The Hohner Marine Band is iconic in which genre?
A. Blues
B. Jazz
C. Folk
D. Rock
Answer: A. Blues
Q22. Who pioneered amplified Chicago blues harmonica in the 1950s?
A. DeFord Bailey
B. Big Walter Horton
C. Sonny Terry
D. Little Walter
Answer: D. Little Walter
Q23. Which harmonica type uses pairs of reeds tuned slightly apart for a beating effect?
A. Chord
B. Chromatic
C. Bass
D. Tremolo
Answer: D. Tremolo
Q24. Overblowing typically works on which holes of a diatonic harmonica?
A. 1 through 6
B. 7 through 10
C. Only 4 and 5
D. All holes equally
Answer: A. 1 through 6
Q25. Neil Young featured harmonica prominently in which hit song?
A. Old Man
B. Heart of Gold
C. Harvest Moon
D. Rockin’ in the Free World
Answer: B. Heart of Gold