Has anyone used a melodica? What is it like? Would it be suitable for accompanying hymns in a non-church setting (ie nursing home with elderly people)?

It's basically a piano keyboard that you blow through. I guess you could use it for hymns in that setting, not sure I'd want to.

Liz

I'd have to agree with Liz.

I think they are only one octave (or at least the one I've played was).

Hmmm - maybe that is why there was no bids for the ones on Ebay. There is one that is 32 key - would that be better than a single octave?

I used to play one occasionally in school assemblies but it was in combination with other instruments mostly.

The ones we get are three octaves (37 keys).

Ebay is a funny place.

Liz

I've got two Hohner ones, the soprano and alto 'button' types. I rather like them. They sound quite like accordians but without the chords. I've used them for folk tunes, ska and blues. (sounds like a harmonica then). I imagine they'd be fine for hymns too as they seem to blend with other instruments quite well.

They're very simple to play, though some tunes are tricky due to having to hold the instrument with one hand and play with the other. You can ones with a blowing tube so you can put it on a table instead though.
My ones have two octaves. The alto has a nicer tone than the soprano. You can get ones with proper piano keys or just buttons.

Thanks obble. Forgive my ignorance but what is ska?

You're welcome
Ska's like reggae but a bit livelier I suppose. From Jamaica too I think (I'm no expert!).
Perhaps I should have said that melodicas sound more like concertinas than accordians. Or maybe that's splitting hairs.....

I always thought they sounded more lke a harmonica than anything else. I always found it pretty easy to play, as long as you know the piano layout. My grandparents had one and i always used to play on it before I took up horn.

Its small and not too loud so it should be perfect for what you want

They do sound like harmonicas, because they are built in much the same way.

Every Japanese child has to have one for school - you can get a longer mouth pipe so that you can sit them on a desk or on your lap to play, or play it like a huge recorder, with a short mouthpiece. The Yamaha version is called a Pianica, usually 32 keys, though there are also small 25-key versions.

You can also buy a lower-pitched tenor melodica, which may be more suitable for accompanying hymns, but I don't know how easy they are to find.

Are pianica's good for practising harmony exercises such as the ones found in the Anna Butterworth Harmony in Practice Book, or harmony exercises in any book for that matter and are you able to practise intervals and things such as diminished chords and cadences, and listen to the differences between minor and major like on a piano?

They might be, in *theory* so to speak, but having to blow into the mouthpiece is a bit of a distraction, and if the kids you are looking after are asleep, they might think a fire has broken out!

Most pianicas have only a small range - 32 keys includes the black ones, so that means the smaller ones only have a range of about an octave and a half, not enough to play bass and treble in with 2 hands.

Thanks very much all ears. I was wondering about the pipe, and wasn't overkeen on having to blow. My real preference is for a really, really light keyboard that has some resemblance to a piano sound.

I have to walk carrying the keyboard.

I'll send you a pm in about five minutes

I'm quite interested in these too. How much are the alto 2-octave ones with piano keys, roughly?

Violinia

I really dislike melodicas. They could make useful pitchpipes but not much else. The sound is very dull and you can do little to vary it apart from adding some vibrato or jaws harp style effects. I would rather a cheap keyboard to a melodica any day.