Nicolette
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Post by Nicolette on Apr 12, 2009 16:04:18 GMT -6
Anitra's Dance echoed through the empty orchestra room from the grand piano that sat in the center of the large room. It was the first Saturday of the school year and most students were either working on their first homework assignments, doing various projects, interacting with their new peers, meeting up with old friends, exploring the town, or sleeping the day away.
Since the school was open even on the weekends, Henri De la Fontaine found himself on campus, sitting in the orchestra room while his fingers danced over the keys of the large piano. It was the familiar feel of the keys beneath his fingers that gave him the feeling of being at home. He wasn't sure how to take that feeling, however, as he felt glad that he was thousands of miles away from home, sitting in a new school... And here, he got to actually be with his sister. Oh, how he had missed Nicolette.
His fingers fell from the keys as he finished the song. The works of Edvar Grieg were indeed interesting to play and there were even a few pretty familiar tunes he knew by Grieg, including the song he had just played, but he felt a slight emptiness as he looked at the empty stand in front of him. There was no music, for he had memorized the song he had just played, and that left him feeling bored... He had nothing else to play...
He was very tempted to take a look through the countless filing cabinets against the wall... But wouldn't that be rude? He wondered for a moment, his eyes watching the cabinets as if they would give him an answer... They were calling his name and he couldn't help but rise and walk over to a random cabinet, placing his hand on the cold, metal handle. A shiver ran up his arm and down his back as he slowly pushed in the button and pulled the cabinet open, his eyes gazing down at the various packets filled with music of all sorts.
He noted that the cabinet he had opened consisted of mainly string music. His eyes travelled over to a paper posted on the wall above the cabinets and he read that the first sixteen cabinets were strictly string music, the next twenty were strictly brass, woodwinds, and other various band instruments, the fourteen after that were percussion, and then the fifteen after that were for piano.
He raised an eyebrow. Such a collection they had... He went to the appropriate filing cabinet section and opened another random cabinet, looking in for music he could take a look at.
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Post by Admod on Apr 12, 2009 23:20:40 GMT -6
The sky was really cloudy and it was sprinkling a little. Aidefgen had found herself walking around the school halls at a brisk pace searching for a place to just be. Class hadn't seemed to be starting up really fast at the moment. Some of her teachers were going over review of what the 7th graders should have learned in the 6th grade. The only problem that she had was learning history. The leaders, states that were allies, enemies, and neutral had given her a head ache. She didn't want to learn history of this plane. She couldn't find the need to really learn them.
She heard sounds of a piano coming from somewhere. She didn't find many people in the hallways and she wondered who could be playing it. It was Saturday and she didn't really see someone practicing on a day off...but then again she did know that some things had to be practiced daily to improve them. She quietly got to the orchestra room by following the sounds and then peeked into it. She could see a slightly pale figure playing a piano in the center of the room. He stopped shortly afterward and Aidefgen frowned. She wanted to hear more of it. She never heard the song before.
Aidefgen was standing near the door peeking into the room for some time before she found the right moment to enter. It was when the boy got from his chair and walked towards the cabinet. She walked into the room and noticed the amount of space it covered. She was stunned momentarily from the shear loudness of her steps on the floor. The orchestra room was designed to enhance every type of sound apparently. The bell around her neck was jingling with an enhanced sound as well. She still took steps closer to the boy next to the cabinet. She was curious to know what he was doing. She began to chew on her lips as she watched him trying to think of something to say.
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Nicolette
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Post by Nicolette on Apr 13, 2009 19:46:37 GMT -6
Unaware of another presence in the room, Henri continued to search for something to play that he knew. He scanned through the alphabetically arranged music, his dark eyes focusing on the titles for just a moment before he'd move onto the next title. Nothing was catching his interest as nothing seemed familiar...
He saw a few familiar titles that weren't classical music, but they were piano parts to songs he'd listened to recently, such as the song Imaginary or Hello by the American band Evanescense. He took a few of those songs, surprised that the songs were even in the files, and walked back to the piano, setting the pieces down...
However, his eyes caught sight of a figure.
He turned around quickly in attempt to catch glimpse of the odd figure he saw. "Is someone there?" He called out quietly.
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Post by Admod on Apr 13, 2009 20:31:07 GMT -6
Aidefgen stopped her breathing when the boy began to ask who was there. She could see him so clearly. She wasn't aware if it was dark in the room or not. She began to walk towards him. Every step made her bell jingle as she got closer. She thought of something to say really quick and settled down on the truth. "I...I'm here. I heard you playing and got a little curious. You play well."
She got to the piano where the boy was and she looked at the music he had. She couldn't read it. She just nodded and looked away.
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Nicolette
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Post by Nicolette on Apr 13, 2009 20:38:24 GMT -6
"A-ah... You startled me..." Henri looked down at the keys of the piano, his cheeks turning a pink color out of embarrassment over being frightened over nothing and then the compliment the girl gave him. He rose his fingers to they keys and placed the properly for Hello, looking at the notes of the music.
"Mer...Thank you." He then said, thanking the girl for the compliment. He had nearly thanked her in French, but caught himself before he could make the mistake. He was better at stopping himself than his sister, who frequently spoke French even when they were in London together.
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Post by Admod on Apr 13, 2009 21:28:26 GMT -6
"I'm sorry...I. I just couldn't keep away from the playing. Um...hi. My name is Aalyshah Nadeschda. What's your name?" Aidefgen smiled a bit when she saw Henri put his hands back on the piano. She wanted to hear more of his playing. She began to think of something she could play with him. She didn't have much talent with an instrument. She just couldn't find the right instrument to play. She heard his thank you and looked a bit confused at the first part of it. She wondered what he was going to say before he said thank you. It wasn't enough for her to be bothered, so she continued doing what she was doing.
Aidefgen pulled up a chair next to the piano and sat down to watch him play. A small thought came to her before the boy could begin. She began to chew on her lips a little before she asked, "So...is their anything I can do to help?"
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Nicolette
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Post by Nicolette on Apr 15, 2009 19:11:29 GMT -6
Henri looked at the girl for a moment before turning back to the piano, resting his fingers more comfortably on the keys as if he were getting ready to play.
"Henri De la Fontaine." He decided to leave it at that and let the girl make the discovery that Nicolette was his sister for herself. For now, he wanted to play. "If you must do something, then please just listen..."
With that, his fingers began to dance across the keys, playing the melody of Hello loud and clear through the large orchestra room.
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Post by Admod on Apr 15, 2009 23:18:12 GMT -6
Aidefgen heard his name and thought if sounded familiar. She began to think about if for a while and couldn't think of where she heard 'de la fontaine' before. She was still thinking of it when Henri started to play. She listened to the notes and melody and eventually got into it. Her body began to move from right to left according to the rhythm and a smile appeared on her face. She liked the song even though she had no idea what it was.
When the song ended, she heard the last notes fade away after bouncing on the walls that made the ending even the more better. She took a deep breath and then exhaled. She liked Henri's playing. She wanted to hear more of it, but didn't want to keep asking him to play. She began to think of his name again. "That was wonderful. Who taught you how to play? It leaves a nice resonance. Although...I'm pretty sure that's the piano."
Aidefgen let out a small giggle and then shook her head which produced a jingle from her bell around her neck. She looked at Henri with her milky-white eyes and then she smiled feebly. She put up the hood of her hoody and then shivered a bit.
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Nicolette
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Post by Nicolette on Apr 17, 2009 22:52:29 GMT -6
Henri shrugged, looking at the keys of the piano and letting his fingers slide up and down them, though he didn't make any noise as he did so.
"I had some lessons when I was young, but I mainly just taught myself once I got the basic idea down...Once I knew note names and what they looked like, reading music became easy. The real trick was getting the fingers to follow what the music instructed."
He heard the shiver and looked over at her, puzzled for a moment, before looking back down at the keys. "The room tends to be cooler since instruments don't do well in warmer temperatures..."
He, himself, however, did not wear a jacket. Instead, he was dressed in a white dress shirt that had the first two buttons undone and a pair of black pants with dress shoes. It was a little fancy for it being a Saturday, but he didn't mind dressing the way he did. He deducted it to be best to dress semi-normal for the first while before he wore his trenchcoat and such.
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Post by Admod on Apr 19, 2009 10:32:27 GMT -6
Aidefgen listened to Henri for some time and didn't make a sound. She smiled at him and began to think how hard it would be to learn how to play the piano after only learning the basics. Without anyone to teach her advanced things, she would be lost. She began to take in Henri's profile. He was dressed nicely.
She stopped her shivering and then nodded at Henri's comment on how the place was cooler than the rest of the building because of the instruments.
Aidefgen got up and sat down on the piano bench with Henry. She then turned her head to him and said, "Teach me the basics Henri. Please? I'll try to learn as fast as I can. It'll be fun if we can play together sometimes."
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Nicolette
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Post by Nicolette on Apr 19, 2009 18:29:51 GMT -6
Henri glanced at the girl next to him for a moment, surprised at her request, though he tried not to show it. She seemed to be serious in her request and she seemed genuine when she said she thinks it would be fun to play with him one day. So he simply nodded and placed his right hand on a set of keys.
"You see the key my thumb is on? This is middle C. If you are working with a song in C-major, you will usually use middle C." He motioned with his other hand to keys that looked similar to the one he was touching with his thumb. "These are also the notes of C. Listen."
He pressed the lowest C and went to each C afterward until he reached the highest.
"Hear how they sound almost exactly the same? Each C marks a new octave in the C-major scale..." He moved his hand and pressed down the key that was two to the left of the middle C. "This is A." he slowly moved up the keys, naming them as he hit them. "B, C, D, E, F, and G. And then it starts over again with A. Does that make sense?"
He hoped he was doing well in his teaching... He had never taught anyone piano before, so he was extremely nervous, though he tried not to show it.
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Post by Admod on Apr 19, 2009 21:10:55 GMT -6
Aidefgen watched Henri place his hand on a certain amount of keys on the piano. She began to keep note of his exact movements and what he said to her. She tried to copy his position on the piano except she was an octave down. She began to remember were all the C's were. She nodded her head as Henri told her information that she needed to learn a little bit.
When she began to hear the notes that Henri started to play, she nodded and said, "Yes. I understand somewhat. A to G are the notes and they keep repeating as you go up. What do I use the black keys for? Do they go A through E and repeat or something completely different."
She began to press down the notes in order from A through G and then back down. She began to repeat them in a trance. "This is A...and the rest of the alphabet...and this is it going backwards. I think I understand this first concept. Continue please."
She scooted closer to Henri and got a better view of the notes he was playing. She had her right hand on the piano and played up to were his was. "Next lesson please." She laughed out aloud and waited for Henri to do something.
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Nicolette
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Post by Nicolette on Apr 19, 2009 21:50:26 GMT -6
Henri couldn't help but smile slightly at the girl next to him before looking back down at the piano to show her what the balck keys would do. He placed the finger of his right hand on the black key next to the C.
"This is a note that can be both sharp and flat, because they are half steps. A whole step is between two notes, such as A and B or C and D. A half step is between a white key and a black key." He played C and then he played the black note. "In this case, this is C-sharp." He then played D and then the black note. "And in this case, that same note is D-flat." He thought for a moment before he opened the music, looking for an accidental in the music. He found one and pointed to it. There was a sharp sign in front of a note. "When you see this, it means to sharpen the note. Usually, you will press a black key unless it is E-sharp, F-flat, B-sharp, or C-flat."
He moved his hand to play E. "See how there is no black key next to it? The half step above E is an F. E and F and B and C are the only notes that are half steps from each other. Does that make sense?"
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Post by Admod on Apr 20, 2009 23:27:39 GMT -6
Aidefgen began to chew on her lips after receiving the information about the black keys. They were sorted in pairs of twos and threes. Henry had his hand on the key next to the C. She heard him explain that the note he pointed to was both a sharp and a flat. She didn't know what a sharp or a flat was. When he elaborated on the differences on a half and whole step, she began to understand some things, but add more things she didn't understand to her question pool.
She pointed to the E in confusion and asked, "How come this note doesn't need a black key next to it to make it sharp, and B to C doesn't too? I guess I understand, but I don't really. What makes it so different compared to the other notes?"
A look of frustration appeared on her face as she began to think about it. She looked at Henry for a while and then said, "Um...next lesson Henri de la Fon...erainey."
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Post by Nicolette on Apr 21, 2009 18:57:40 GMT -6
Henri bit his lip a little in concentration when he noted that the girl didn't understand, but she seemed ready to move on to the next lesson. She knew the note names well enough and could match them to the keys. The next part would be matching them to the notes on the page.
"...It's De la Fontaine... But if that's too much, you can just call me Henri Verity... Or just Henri..." He said softly. He wasn't disowning his father's last name. French names were just hard, was all...
He stood from his seat and walked over to the other side of the piano where his backpack rest on the floor. He knelt down by it and began to look through it for some old scale sheets he had brought from home. When he had located one, he walked back over to the piano and put the sheet over the other music sheets.
He motioned to the C-major scale and pointed to the first note. "You have been able to identify the note C on the piano... And now you will be able to identify the note C on the treble clef set."
He then went through to explain the differences between Treble and Bass Clef.
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