Doddy Hernanto: JP/Indra Harsaputra

Life is a choice. This applies to Doddy Hernanto, better known as Mr. D, who regards the guitar as his life and chooses to teach disabled people how to play this instrument instead of signing a contract with a major music label, which would offer luxury and popularity.  

“Teaching is my way of life, while the guitar is life itself. As a guitar teacher, I can more freely express my life compared with having to be engaged in the music industry,” he told The Jakarta Post in Rick Hanes’ music studio and export guitar production house, which is owned by Tommy Kaihatu, 44, in Tambak Sawah, Surabaya.

Mr. D began to be widely recognized after introducing his one-finger guitar playing technique. He became even more famous after frequently duetting with a jazz guitarist from Bali, I Wayan Balawan, who is popular for his touch-tapping style and for forming Batuan Ethnic Fusion, with its exploration of Bali traditional music.

“I want to change the basic guitar strumming guide so as to make it easier for all learners, including the handicapped. Though played with one finger, it can still produce beautiful instrumentals,” said Doddy, who was born in Mojokerto, East Java, on Nov. 24, 1961.

Since 2011, along with Tommy, Doddy has been touring to teach the single finger method in several schools in Indonesia, from East Java and as far as Papua New Guinea. Doddy invited the participation of tokobagus.com, one of the largest e-commerce sites in Indonesia.

Based on data from the Health Ministry, disabled people in Indonesia constitute 3.11 percent of the population, reaching a total of about 6.7 million. “A lot of disabled children have no schooling, as they belong to poor families. Some are even hidden by their parents, who feel embarrassed by their children’s physical or mental disabilities,” he noted.

Doddy is inspired by the spirit of Tony Lommi, the guitarist of English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, who has never given up in challenging the assumption that a rock musician should have a complete fingers to produce musical notes on the guitar. At 17, Tony had an accident and lost his middle finger tip, now replaced with an artificial one.

Despite the limitation, Tony, along with Black Sabbath, won MTV’s award as the greatest metal band of all time. Black Sabbath was even listed among the 100 greatest hard rock artists, after Led Zeppelin. Rolling Stone magazine also named Black Sabbath the heavy metal kings of the 1970s, selling 15 million albums in the US and 100 million albums throughout the world.

Doddy was born into an art loving family. His father, Soenarko, was a violin player. He introduced stringed instruments and the ukulele to Doddy at 10. Observing the boy’s gift, Soenarko sent him for private lessons. After Soenarko’s demise, his mother, Siti Rochani, opened a food stall at Tanjung Perak Surabaya for his college study.

Although he failed in his study of architecture at the technological school of the 10 November Institute in Surabaya (ITS), the first child of five siblings managed to graduate from the mathematics department of Surabaya’s Pedagogic and Teacher’s Training Institute (IKIP).

“I appeared on TVRI Surabaya to play keroncong [Portuguese-tinged Indonesian pop] music to earn some money,” he recalled, adding he spent his honorariums on books and guitar course fees. “Mother was angry when I sold the motorbike she had bought me to buy a guitar,” he said, claiming he never smoked and drank liquor at a musical shows.

After college, Doddy married Ida Nurdiana, now 49. Different in faith, they have led a happy life with four children. “I join mosque prayers and she goes to church. The difference even makes us love each other. We also let our children choose their own faiths without compulsion,” he pointed out.

Doddy, however, declined offers to join the music industry and move to Jakarta. He chose to teach math at two private senior high schools in Surabaya. “I don’t want to leave my mother, who worked hard until my graduation. I want to make her happy by being always close to her,” he said.

While supporting his choice of work, according to Doddy, his mother has never prevented him from leaving Surabaya. “She only advised me to do something good to others without having to be a champion,” he revealed. This prompted him to be a teacher.

In the eyes of his students, Doddy is a model math teacher in a rocker style. He has also changed the notion among students that math is a very difficult subject to learn. “A math teacher should unnecessarily always assume a stern appearance,” he remarked.

For his musical existence, in 2001 he joined Alex Snazzy (vocals and guitar) and Gunawan Saputra (drums) in an indie group in the blues genre in Surabaya, Shine on Blues. This band was formed to popularize the blues in the country.

“The blues music hasn’t yet flourished in Indonesia, while many rock musicians have played in the blues, such as Ritchie Blackmore, the former Deep Purple guitarist, and Jimmy Page,” he indicated.

Amid his busy engagements listed in Hot Chord music magazine, Doddy has written Open Tuning Guitar — Play Guitar with One Finger. Since its release in September 2011, 2,000 volumes have been sold. Another 3,000 will be published in its second edition. He has also produced a mini-album of guitar instrumentals using the open tuning technique.

“This technique has been popular since the 1920s among African musicians. But few people have learned it due to the dominance of European music education,” he said. Open tuning will also enable one to play by the slap method, hitting the guitar with the palm of one’s hand. “To make open tuning easier to play, I’ve created a digital guitar connected to an iPhone or iPad. Users can play the guitar through the program provided by Apple without using the stomp box or sound mixer,” he assured.

Produced by Rick Hanes in Tambak Sawah Surabaya, this guitar hasn’t yet been released at home, though. Its expensive components led the producer to sell it in America at the price of US$1,200 per unit.

Famous singer, song writer and record producer Stevie Wonder once said, “Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn’t mean he lacks vision”, so Doddy wishes to impart some vision to the disabled in order to carry on their creative work.

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