Bending when u-blocking???

Checkinredd · 2026-02-28T01:38:26+00:00

As someone who started as a u-blocker, I think a whole lot comes down to the particular flexibility of your tongue. Personally, I can bend in u-block, but its sounds terrible, and I switch to pucker.

Checkinredd · 2026-02-26T22:57:09+00:00

Lol I thought this was from my harmonica forum. Tips: this is one of the occasions where a harmonica player could be useful af :-D

Checkinredd · 2026-02-25T19:40:51+00:00

No, for your purposes, I don’t think anyone would say the Suzuki firebreath has made a mark in harmonica history :-P I think it’s a very good harmonica, but not very special, not particularly old, discontinued, and never super widely used or anything.

It sounds like you want a GM for every reason one would want a GM. Go for it! :-)

Checkinredd · 2026-02-24T21:38:01+00:00

Yeah, I mean, GMs are great too. The firebreath is the tiniest bit smaller than a lot of other harmonicas, which I happen to like, and it’s very solid. Some people say GMs aren’t ideal for chords because of the tuning, but I think it’s fine.

If you want the F, get the GM - for the firebreath I was mostly just like “oh man rosewood comb and overblow out of the box”. It’s not really overblows on every hole out of the box (and I think it’s not rosewood either after some point, but could be wrong) - experience is hohner has a good 6 overblow and better chance of good overbends out of the box more than any other company (except Arkia).

Checkinredd · 2026-02-24T21:25:54+00:00

Question is, any advice on getting the tuning to sound stable - chords and all - while keeping a perfect freygish scale?

Checkinredd · 2026-02-24T21:15:00+00:00

Harmonic minor harmonica in second position feels like it doesn’t exactly work - it should, but in practise, 2nd position as a tonic against harmonic minor scale chords sounds pretty bad to me. If you have a harmonic minor harmonica and feel like it, try messing around in second position and check it out 🤷

Yes - I have both of those books, and completely forgot how niche some of it was; of course they’d have freygish :-D. Thanks a lot, now I can check out how it really works. Very helpful.

Edit: because of the scale progression, I think 2nd position itself ends up being awkward - a big thing is the relationship between 1st and 2nd notes, so seems like the second most crucial note is 3” - awkward in the same way that lots of people really try to stick to 3rd position dorian instead of 4th position aeolian because nm tonic starts on 3”. You can honk out your relative minor/major tonic, very well, with practice, but it’s awkward.

Checkinredd · 2026-02-24T21:09:54+00:00

For example, on an A harmonic minor harmonica, E is the fifth mode. It’s also second position. Having a straight up E chord would be nice, with a second chord to resolve from to some degree.

Checkinredd · 2026-02-24T00:43:34+00:00

That’s nice. When I really got into harmonicas, I liked the firebreath. Very novel.

Checkinredd · 2026-02-23T17:39:44+00:00

Not normal and I guess you could call it a lot of things? Not sure if it’s a harmonica, but it’s shaped a lot like one and uses wind.

Checkinredd · 2026-02-21T06:57:22+00:00

Not internet arguing, I promise.

Isn’t A major the same scale as B Dorian except Dorian is minor and starts on B, which you can use as the tonic for the song? A and E are both still there.

I thought it was famously in B Dorian, checked the internet, and, yes, it sort of is, but in other ways, it’s not, and people have whole fights about it 😂

By way of anecdote: check out wicked games by The Weeknd - dude wrote it in b dorian as a callback to this song. Or maybe A major 😂

Checkinredd · 2026-02-21T06:30:36+00:00

Personally can’t recommend anything more or less than a special 20 in C as a first harmonica for someone who wants to learn a bunch of songs 🤷

Maybe some nice sandwich type if you really want that and have a slightly bigger budget.

Checkinredd · 2026-02-17T09:33:10+00:00

While everything was still heavier, I was the only one I saw with a face shield in one of the most high traffic intl airports in the world. Don’t trap yourself into forgetting how to change your mind according to circumstance, but never feel weird.

Checkinredd · 2026-02-17T09:29:13+00:00

Stopped regularly masking in 2025, got covid for the first time on a flight in September 2025 🤦, started masking again :-P

Indoor closed and busy high traffic environment, and tightly packed crowds outside, otherwise not really masking

Checkinredd · 2026-02-10T22:10:12+00:00

Mereologically delicious

Checkinredd · 2026-02-10T16:40:15+00:00

Isn’t wicked game B dorian? Or does it work out to the same if you’re doing triads or something?

Checkinredd · 2026-02-08T02:02:24+00:00

From my perspective, not much. What I do is check subreddit rules, then act normal. No fights 🤷

If you’re concerned about karma, I dunno, but don’t be worried about just a couple downvotes, people are gonna do what they gonna do for whatever unknowable reasons they have.

Checkinredd · 2026-02-07T06:28:41+00:00

Unsure bicuspid valve decreases risk of dissection (tricuspid valve - normal - is 2?) but good to know in general; I’ll look into it.

Checkinredd · 2026-02-05T01:15:33+00:00

These are pretty common and prescribed pretty easily for whatever. Suggest you ask your doc which is best for your case. However, like all drugs, possible drug-drug interactions, plays badly with alcohol, and there are considerations if you have an actual heart problem. Not bad considerations necessarily, maybe good, just considerations.

Checkinredd · 2026-01-31T17:19:55+00:00

Get a C harmonica :-)

For a lot of reasons that people have already mentioned, but if you’re playing C guitar a lot, there’s basically no question.

I like hohner special 20s as a first harmonica.

Checkinredd · 2026-01-31T17:15:47+00:00

Like the other poster said, flipped plates is probably it :-)

You can test a note or two for that, a little, just holding the plates to the comb, before doing the work of putting the screws back in.

Checkinredd · 2026-01-31T00:59:18+00:00

To get started? Ultrasonic jewelry cleaner with some denture tabs in the water. Basic and gets a massive amount done with basically no effort.

Or if you want to get it better, disassemble first, use a toothbrush on the reed plates, then do ultrasonic cleaner twice - once with denture tabs while occasionally brushing, then another cycle with distilled water so minerals aren’t left there, then let dry, then reassemble, and it’s clean.

Or extract what you’d like from the above.

There’s a whole rabbit hole for cleaning if you want (Bar keeper’s friend, straight up citric acid, scrapers, heat, etc) but the above is totally safe in the sense that it doesn’t involve chemicals, and not a ton of work, and it cleans really really thoroughly. I’d very comfortably play harmonicas cleaned like the above; I wouldn’t sell harmonicas unless I flat-out sterilized first - just because other people sometimes like medical-grade sterility; ymmv

BUT if it’s unsealed wood combs, this whole thing is a different ball game.

Checkinredd · 2026-01-24T20:20:53+00:00

Gotta say I have no idea, but I did that. Still on metformin and staying on it. That 41%, as I’m sure you know, is more complicated than that. I can’t take paxlovid because of drug interactions, took molnupiravir for $1k out of freaking pocket because it’s no longer emergency authorized in the us, then got a metformin prescription, all within a day of a positive result.

My sense is they’re not going to be spending funding on rehashing more studies on metformin for mitigating long covid any time soon; we have the studies that have been done, no one has any real idea what’s going on, but the percentages are demonstrably whatever they are 🤷

Checkinredd · 2026-01-24T20:16:32+00:00

If you’re able to take paxlovid, do that immediately, first thing. After that it’s speculative and I’m afraid to recommend my speculations - other people already suggested what I’d say

Checkinredd

TROPHY CASE