Manualism (hand music)

Manualism is the art of playing music by squeezing air through the hands. Because the sound produced has a distinctly flatulent tone, such music is usually presented as a form of musical comedy or parody. The musical performer is called a , who may perform a cappella or with instrumental accompaniment.

Playing recognizable tunes by squeezing the hands together is extremely difficult, and could take many years of practice to master the art. Some manualists practice for as many as 30 years before finally reaching a presentable level of proficiency.

Just as a trumpeter makes sound by blowing air between the lips, a manualist makes sound by squeezing air between two hands.

The hands are held together, trapping a pocket of air between the two palms. Using the fingers of one hand, the air is squeezed out the top, between the base of the thumb and the opposite hand, to form a musical note. The pitch is determined by the force used to hold the hands together. The tighter the grip, the higher the note.

Bass notes may be produced by squeezing the air pocket out the opposite side, near the pinky finger.

Even with years of practice, manualism is very difficult to control. It may be one of the hardest "instruments" in the world to play, and live stage performances are extremely rare.

Records of manualists performing the art prior to the 20th Century have yet to be discovered, though it seems likely that someone must have attempted to make music in this fashion from the earliest days of musical parody.

A Universal Studios newsreel from 1933 may be the oldest filmed record of a manualist performing the art. The footage documents a farmer named Cecil Dill from Traverse City, Michigan, who claims that he first learned to play "Yankee Doodle" in 1914.

In 1974, John Twomey, a successful Grand Rapids, Michigan attorney, performed "Stars and Stripes Forever" on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson . This performance was seen by several million people in the United States, not only in 1974, but annually for many years thereafter, as the segment was repeated many times on the annual Best of Carson shows. It is also included in the Best of Johnny Carson collection.

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