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| Send me fun history facts about American music! |
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The FIRST musical instrument
to
receive a patent in America (which makes it officially the first musical
instrument of any kind, recognized in America) was invented in 1761 by Benjamin
Franklin and he called it GLASS ARMONICA.
You can read all about it here:
The
Queen of Glass Music: Franklin's "Armonica"
"The
most important development in glass music came when, in 1761, young
was so
impressed by the instrument that he looked for a way to improve it. As he wrote to his friend, Giovanni Battista Beccaria, in Italy:
"Being
charmed by the sweetness of its tones, and the music he produced from it, I
wished only to see the glasses disposed in a more convenient form, and brought
together in a narrower compass, so as to admit a greater number
of tones, and all within reach of hand to a person sitting before the
instrument (...)"
"Franklin
chose 24 glass bowls, had them tuned by grinding, and mounted them
concentrically on a horizontal rod. Driven by a treadle (very much like an
old-fashioned sewing machine), the glasses spun around, and the player had
only to touch the glasses with wet fingers. Franklin called the instrument the
“armonica”, “in honor of your (i.e. the
Italian) musical language”. The World
of Glass Music"
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George
Washington loved to dance!!
When I was in grade school, I went on a tour of Mount Vernon. As a child of
a carpenter/architect, I was highly impressed when the tour guide told me that
George didn't use a dining room table. He just used boards and sawhorses covered
with a nice tablecloth. You couldn't tell it wasn't a table with the dining cloth
on it. Later when I joined
Firelands
Dulcimer Club, I came across George Washington's favorite dance tune. Then
it all made sense. The dining room can quickly become a dance floor when the
table is removed. I have since been back to Mount Vernon. Tour guide said that
it is not really known whether or not George used the boards and sawhorses
but it is thought that he had small tables that could be easily moved out
to make a dance floor. My guess is that he used the boards and sawhorses
until he had purchased the tables. It is certain that the man danced!
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