In March 2021, Suzy Colclough decided, in her early fifties, to learn the chromatic harmonica from scratch. She contacted Pete Hewitt for a possible teacher. Her husband, ‘Dogfish' Dave Colclough, already active in HarmonicaUK, was wellknown to members as an excellent blues player, but few of us knew Suzy. In April, Suzy started taking weekly lessons with me and participating in most of my Zoom workshops. Not everyone is aware that both Suzy and Dave are visually impaired: “Dave can see something, most definitely light and dark, but I am completely blind, which is rare – only 2% of people are like me”, Suzy explains.
SUZY COLCLOUGH: CHROMATIC HARMONICA FROM SCRATCH Adam Glasser, HarmonicaUK Patron Suzy gave up her business as a complementary holistic therapist 10 years ago. She had always enjoyed music. When she was little, her nanny had an organ which fascinated her, and a book that played tunes. But Suzy never had any music tuition until quite recently, when she tried the saxophone. After only two lessons she was forced to give it up because of illness. But upon hearing the chromatic harmonica, she realised it was a path to the kind of music she wanted to learn. I have never in decades of teaching come across anyone who has made so much progress in such a short space of time, starting from zero knowledge of music theory or instrumental experience. She has been consistently passionate and committed with a complete approach to learning music, developing a beautiful distinctive tone, and playing exercises and songs in different keys, and the desire to deeply understand music theory. With distinctive tastes and a relentless work ethic which she is able to sustain even during times of ill health, there is no limit to how far Suzy Colclough may progress as a player and teacher: "I found learning over the past months really enjoyable. Occasionally, I don't understand, but I tend to just take it away, leave it for 24 hours, and then I wake up in the morning, and it makes sense. I know the way I work and study because I've done therapy qualifications since leaving
