UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 27, Page 9
April 13, 1995
Prof's love of the blues inspires new avocation

     You'd expect Susan Ruel, an assistant professor of English, to
spend time in the journalism lab in the basement of Memorial Hall,
where her students learn the finer points of news writing.
     You probably wouldn't expect to hear an impromptu concert there,
with Ruel going solo on her Marine Band harmonica. But, you just
might, for as Ruel says, "the acoustics are great."
     Inspired by her love for the blues, Ruel started playing the
harmonica seriously about two years ago, and now takes lessons from
Adam Gussow, a professional blues harmonica player in New York City,
where she lives most of the week.
     "I get a kick out of it," Ruel says. "I've had years of lessons
in violin and piano, and now I'm finally having fun with an
instrument. There's no drudgery in practicing."
     She's performed at parties, in subways and on streets in Memphis
and in Paris. Ruel also presented several performances on Bulgarian
radio, when she was involved in a UD faculty program in that country
last year. She says she used to think buses were good places to
practice, too, until a student asked her to stop.
     "I was playing quietly," she says, "but it was in my early days,
so it probably didn't sound so great."
     One memorable appearance was at the W.C. Handy Park in Memphis,
where she jammed outdoors in the sunshine with other musicians.
     "Oh, that was so much fun," she recalls. "The park is a shrine to
the father of blues. A bunch of people gathered around and listened."
     She's reached a new phase in her playing where she "jams" with
whatever she's listening to and can play by ear. She's also mastered a
technique typical of blues called "bending notes"- lowering the tone
by a quarter or a half tone.
     "I learned how to do it about two years ago, when I was first
starting out," she says. "I was so excited at the time. It took months
and I had almost given up."
     Ruel is not the only one who's excited. She's won the hearts of
small children and dogs, whom she claims as "some of my biggest fans."
     "My little nephews have their own harmonicas," she says. "There's
this dog that sings along with me when I play sometimes. I can't tell
whether it's in pain or not."
     Ruel calls her harmonica a source of "pure enjoyment."
     "I have a long way to go," she says. "I love it though, so cheap
and easy to carry around. It's amazing the sound you can get out of
it."
     Because she's still learning, Ruel says she understands how her
journalism students get frustrated because they're beginners, too.
     "I try to show them it's important to keep trying, to not give up
and to relax," she says. "Don't be afraid to hit a wrong note because
it's all part of the learning process."
                                                       -Joell Lanfrank