STORY:
ARNOLD REIJNEN

In front of me, behind a very large guitar, sits a very small girl with blond hair and big surprised eyes. She would like to learn to play the guitar. Which is good. But that will be a problem for the first thirteen weeks, because I need that time to see:Whether she is musical? whether she has sufficient fine motor skills? Whether I can teach her in this period of time to learn to read notes? Whether she is there because she…wants it herself , or her mother sent her? And to see if she really is a die-hard?

This girl Susanne Dekkers, quickly answered all of the questions positively. After a few months she says that she has songs in her head and that she wants to write them down. I encourage that. The first nursery rhymes emerge, but they are real, they are original. I’m in the theatre in Den Bosch with my wife Truus. Together we will listen to the Singer-Songwriter Suzy Dexter. We got VIP tickets. And we enjoy it to the fullest. After the break, where we reminisced with Susanne, it becomes very quiet, and she hesitantly starts to play Romance Anonymous. I get goosebumps and a frightening feeling. After a few measures she stops.You can hear a pin drop. Then she says: “I was able to play that completely once. Not anymore. I developed my own style. And that is partly thanks to my guitar teacher, where I had my first lessons as a little girl. And he and his wife are in the hall. There.”

It’s Saturday morning. I’m listening to Suzy Dexter’s CD. It gives me a warm feeling again. How good is that girl? She writes all of the lyrics herself, she composes all of the songs herself. She arranges them, she records them herself, produces and releases them. Fantastic!