3 minute read
Blind Ambition, Dave “dogfish” Colclough
It had always been my ambition to play a musical instrument, but somehow I didn’t get around to it until I was in my forties, and, somewhere in between, I lost my eyesight. So why did I pick the harmonica? (Diatonic first and then chromatic.) Well, quite frankly, I tried to think of an instrument I could learn by listening to instruction rather than having to see where to put fingers, etc. The harmonica seemed perfect for me because, firstly, most of what’s going on is happening unseen and has to BLIND AMBITION be described (I have even heard it be called a blind instrument due to this) and, secondly, I thought it would be easy. Dave ‘Dogfish’ Colclough It turned out I was correct on the first point and very wrong on the second! We are grateful Who would have thought our tiny instrument could be for Dave’s help in making our magazine more accessible and we now have digital, so beautifully expressive and yet so technically difficult to master? With so many techniques and nuances to learn, it is an instrument that fascinates me. I often find myself talking about this at great length to my long-suffering wife, Suzy, and in the process I have print and large print discovered that I can identify the sound of eyeballs rolling. versions available. So, having chosen my instrument, I bought my first We would love to harmonica for the princely sum of £6 and headed off to create an audio YouTube to search for lessons. version too so if any Although my harp was as leaky as a colander, I easily found budding voice over artists want to have a go ....? beginner lessons and began the painful process of getting single notes. I should say at this point that I quickly realised that you get what you pay for and upgraded my harmonica, and I would recommend to beginners to not go for the cheapest. Good quality harps are really affordable, and cheap ones can hamper your progress and discourage you. The wealth of lessons on YouTube are great, but after six months I found myself flitting from one lesson to another (some far too advanced for me at this point). I felt my learning was unstructured, and I was attempting to learn too much too soon and absorbing very little.
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It was then that I started Skype lessons with my tutor Michael Rubin (michaelrubinharmonica.com). Structured learning really works for me, and, along with music theory, techniques that seemed impossible are becoming second nature. Michael is not at all fazed by my lack of sight and has adapted to overcome any difficulties that have arisen, even finding apps to help me, such as Talking Tuner, a free app that speaks out the note played and how sharp or flat you are. Another great app that works well with the voiceover function on my iPad and iPhone (which reads out text to me) is Harp Key Pro, an app that shows the note layout for the diatonic harmonica. You can change the key to include overblows and overdraws and change the tuning. Of course I come up against difficulties. For example, tab doesn’t work for me: there doesn’t seem to be a standard way of tabbing out, the voiceover calls out a minus sign as a hyphen, and, unless the tab has sufficient spacing, it reads like a child reciting the alphabet, not knowing the correct order and hoping that going fantastically quick will hide it. So, I mostly learn songs from ear and with the assistance of another app, Amazing Slow Downer. This app allows you to import a song and not only slow it down, but also set loops to learn specific parts, and you can also change pitch. Not all of my harmonica hacks are high tech - I made myself a tactile circle of fifths out of a cutting board and kids’ plastic letters, and the humble rubber band helps me identify certain harmonicas. Sometimes, simplest is best. What I’m trying to say is, whatever your ambition, there is usually a path to get there - you’ve just got to find yours. It has been great, since joining HUK, to get to know some of you through the very enjoyable Friday coffee mornings and excellent lockdown sessions on Zoom, and I look forward to meeting up in the future.
