The melodica is similar to the accordion and harmonica in that it is also a free-reed instrument. On top of a melodica there is a musical keyboard. The keyboard is 2 to 3 octaves long and is used to control the pitch of the sound created. The player blows air into a mouthpiece on the side of the melodica, and when the play presses a key on the musical keyboard, air is allowed to flow through to a reed.

The most common melodica is the tenor melodica. With a tenor, the left hand holds a handle at the bottom of the melodica, and the right hand is free to press the keys on the keyboard. If both hands are required to play, the melodica can be placed on a semi-flat surface and a tube used to blow into the mouthpiece.

Soprano and alto melodicas have a higher pitch and are designed so that they can be played with both hands at the same time. The left hand can play the black keys while the right hand can play the white keys.

The popular molodica manufacturers are:

• Hohner

• Samick

• Bestler