“Classic Harmonica Blues,” out on May 21, features 20 tracks by the blues’ greatest harmonica players. Photo courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings In the early 20th-century, southern black ...

The first song played in space was performed on a musical instrument that weighed just half an ounce and could only make seven notes. In December 1965, while NASA's Gemini 6 was speeding through an ...

The blues world was changed forever on a sunny day around 1960 when a little boy walked into a five-and-dime in Los Angeles. ...

About 500 harmonica players have descended onto the San Antonio River Walk for a convention with a single purpose: preserve and promote the fading use of harmonica in popular music. Harmonica ...

Then Martin glanced up at the TV in his room and saw something that changed his life. A local news channel was airing a segment on “Harmonicas for Health,” a program from the COPD Foundation to teach ...

Most nights, you can walk into a blues club and find a harmonica player blowing their heart out onstage. The wailing, honking sound associated with Western movies and juke joints is what many harp ...

There are myriad reasons why playing music is one of the most enjoyable and spiritually beneficial things to do on earth. Melody, rhythm and lyric are but three glorious aims. One drawback to playing ...

When “Blowing in the Wind” was blasted on the airwaves in the early ‘60s, the sound and image of Bob Dylan standing on stage inches away from the microphone, blowing harmonica was burnt into the ...

Caitlin O'Kane is a New York City journalist who works on the CBS News social media team as a senior manager of content and production. She writes about a variety of topics and produces "The Uplift," ...

While we managed to avoid a drum set in the house when the kids were younger, we did suffer through three recorder concerts all with weeks of “practice” prior to the event. It was excruciating and we ...

The harmonica is suddenly in the news because the Democratic candidate for Vice President, Senator Tim Kaine, is a devoted player. Kaine was introduced to the instrument at a young age by a friend.