以樂器學的角度來看，口簧琴如同約翰•賴特（JohnWright)所下之定義：
將未固定薄片的末端置於口腔前，且利用手的動作產生振動，除了製造 固定的音高之外，更可以發出豐富且符合泛音序列的泛音。藉由舌頭與 喉嚨的各種動作，吹奏者可以改變口腔裡氣流的自然頻率，成為各種不 同體積的共鳴器，增強所吹奏的泛音，如此可製造更多樣的音響與音樂 效果。
從泛泰雅族的觀點而言，口簧琴不僅是工藝物質，更是社會文化環節的一個 重要溝通器具。以樂器發聲的物理現象來看，口簧琴利用簧片震動與改變口腔的 方法，除了吹奏出實音之外，也能同時吹奏出許多泛音。所以，本文擬由口簧琴 的聲、曲、調為出發點，探討口簧琴在音樂型態上所衍生的人文意義。 從本文論述可以得知三點泛泰雅族口簧琴音樂型態的人文意義：
一、 從聲到擬語聲響化：語言節奏化的溝通傳遞。 二、 從曲到歌謠器樂化：歌詞因地化的意義解讀。 三、 從調到語意旋律化：旋律相似化的語意傳達。 因此，藉由本文泛泰雅族社會文化的口簧琴，並非只有物質的概念，並且具 有人文意涵，以這個觀念解讀泛泰雅族口簧琴的聲、曲、調，才可以理解口簧琴 深層的內涵。

In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, John Wright describes the organology of the Jew’s harp in his entry on the instrument:
The free end of the lamella is placed in front of the player’s mouth cavity and set in vibration manually; this produces a sound of fixed pitch, rich in overtones which correspond closely to a harmonic series. By various movements of the tongue and larynx the player is able to modulate the natural frequency of the air contained in the mouth cavity which acts as resonator of infinitely variable volume and amplifies selected overtones, thus producing a wide variety of sonorous and musical effects.
In the community of the pan-Atayal, the Jew’s harp is not only a musical instrument but also an important communicative device. Acoustically, the Jew’s harp can produce both fixed pitches and overtones through the player’s modulation of his/her mouth cavity. In view of the extensive potentials of the pan-Atayal Jew’s harp, this paper probes into the humanistic significance and values of the Jew’s harp in the pan- Atayal community by taking a close look at its three musical aspects, namely sounds, songs, and melodies:
(1) sounds: the playing of rhythms at a fixed pitch to imitate linguistic syllables
(2) songs: the playing of lyrical songs that are open to contextual interpretation
(3) melodies: the playing of conventional tunes to convey assigned meanings
Through the exploration of these three aspects of the music tradition, this paper suggests that the Jew’s harp, other than being a musical instrument, also embodies essential humanistic significance and values in the pan-Atayal community. It is only with this approach to the instrument and its music that we may be able to arrive at a more comprehensive understanding of the tradition.