This week, we’ll be showing and explaining to you how the theremin works. First, we wanted to tell you all how unique this instrument is. Unlike any instrument that might come to mind, this one requires no physical touch. Just imagine playing Can’t Touch This on it! This unusual instrument was invented in 1928 by Leon Theremin. More commonly known as the theremin, it was originally named the etherphone. It is also considered the first electrical instrument ever made. 

Now that you have an idea of what the theremin is, let’s break down the specific features of the theremin. First, how to play it. As shown below, there is a horizontal (played by left hand) and vertical (played by the right hand) section. The horizontal antennae controls volume and the vertical controls pitch. The further away from the horizontal one, the louder the sound gets and the closer to the upright one, the higher the pitch. To change pitch, most theremin players use hand positions like circles, “ok” signs, etc. Next, sheet music. Theremin sheet music is almost exactly the same as violin. There is only one staff and it is for treble clef. It’s also read like normal violin sheet music. 

The more humid it is, the higher the pitch of the theremin is. It has also been used in a lot of movie soundtracks for mysterious and eerie moments. Some include The Lost Weekend (1945), Forbidden Planet (1956), The Delicate Delinquent (1957), and even Ghostbusters (1984)! Since this instrument requires a lot of practice and possibly perfect pitch for those without a home key (reference key), it’s fairly rare and not many people know of its existence. Going into depth about the perfect pitch part, most theremin players have perfect pitch but it’s not necessarily required to be able to play the theremin. Those who don’t have perfect pitch use the piano or other instruments to guide them. 

Surprisingly, the Beach Boys used the theremin in one of their songs: Good Vibrations. Brian Wilson, the band’s lead guitarist, wanted to incorporate strong vibrations in their music and realized his neighbor had a theremin. Being too difficult to learn by himself, he turned to Dr. Paul Tanner, trombonist and inventor of the Electro-Theremin, to invent and play his instrument on the original recording of Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys. 

Here is a short youtube video by Carolina Eyck, theremin virtuoso, on how the theremin works and how to play a scale. 

How to play a scale on the theremin | Carolina talks Theremin

More likely than not, when we watch a video of someone playing the theremin, a good amount of the comments are saying the musician is just humming rather than playing an instrument. we find that amusing because when we first discovered the theremin, we, too, thought the musician was humming. When we realized there are no strings, hammers, or reeds of any kind, we researched more about the mechanics of this unusual instrument. 

We hope you enjoyed learning about this interesting instrument. See you in a bit!