The Timeless Library

48. Chord and Key

Sarah echoed the piano with her voice, calling out the notes as she pressed each key in sequence.

"...and the key of F. F, G, A, B flat, C, D, E, F."

Her teacher Victoria smiled. "Good. Now let's practice reading a simple melody." Taking a blank sheet of staff paper, she hunched over the piano, penciled in some notes, and placed the song on the stand. "Remember, the key of F."

Sarah frowned at the paper as she counted out the position of the first note. "A, B, C... that one's a D then," she muttered. "So the next one would be... C, D, E... an E, then, gosh, let's see... A, B, C-ow! Victoria!"

"Too slow," Victoria said with a chuckle, still holding the pencil she had used to poke Sarah out of her thoughts. "Don't just go through the notes alphabetically every time, or else we'll never make it to the end. See if it's on a line or on a space, then remember the mnemonic. Look, here. The note is on a line, so, Every Good Boy Does...?"

"...Fine," Sarah snapped her fingers. "That's an F."

"Correct. Don't forget that you can use the notes that come before as context, too. If that's an F, and the next one is two steps below it, it's a what?"

"D. And the next one is two steps below that, so B." Sarah pressed the corresponding notes on the piano, only for the final one to sound horribly jarring.

"B flat," Victoria corrected. "Not B natural. Key of F, remember."

Sarah fixed her performance, then started from the top, only to stop again upon seeing Victoria tidying up her things.

"Whaaat?" Sarah whined. "Leaving already?"

Victoria nodded and ruffled her hair. "I'm afraid that'll have to do for today. I've got a gig tonight. Take these songs home and keep practicing your sight-reading, okay?"

"No, not okay." Sarah huffed. "Reading is boring. Scales are boring. I just want to play music. I mean come on, I'm fifteen! Let me play something that isn't Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for once."To her surprise, Victoria didn't reprimand her like she usually did. Instead, she brought a hand to her chin, taking Sarah's complaints seriously this time.

"I actually might have an idea. But let me check with your parents first, okay?"

~~~~~

One phone call and half an hour later, teacher and pupil stood before the doors of the bar where Victoria was meant to perform.

Sarah stared up at the neon sign and swallowed hard. "Are they even going to let me in?"

"Don't worry," Victoria answered with a smile, then opened the door and stepped inside.

Sarah trailed behind, watching as her teacher amicably greeted the man standing behind the bar. Victoria explained the situation, and the man-apparently the owner of the place-smiled and nodded.

"Sure thing, Vic. She can sit here with me while you play. She'll have a great view of the stage, too." The man turned his full attention to her. "What's your name, young lady?"

"Sarah..."

"Welcome, Sarah. Now then, I obviously can't serve you one of our regular drinks, but how does a glass of apple juice sound?"

She smiled and fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. "That would be nice."

~~~~~

The way Victoria's hands moved along the keys was hypnotic. Sarah had seen hints of it in class, but on the stage her magic was on full display. Sarah's glass of apple juice lay long forgotten on the counter as her eyes followed the movement of Victoria's fingers, her arms, her back, all swaying to the music. She embodied the song. Even though countless eyes were on her, spotlight shining, she was still just lost in a world of her own making.

That. That's what Sarah wanted to feel. That's what she wanted to be.

"You like jazz, huh?"

Startled, she turned to find the owner leaning on the counter, watching her with amusement. "Now I get why Vic brought you here. Not a lot of kids get that look in their eyes when they see a boring ol' jazz performance."

"I guess." Embarrassed, Sarah looked away, continuing to study her teacher's every movement. She had her eyes closed while playing, Sarah noticed. "Huh. All this time getting on my case for not wanting to practice reading sheet music, but look, she hasn't used a single piece of paper all night."

"She's improvising," the owner explained, earning Sarah's full attention at last. "She picks a scale and works off of it, coming up with a new song on the fly. But to do that and do it well takes a lot of practice. You have to study a bunch of jazz songs, and know your scales like the back of your hand." He tapped the side of his head. "That's probably why she's so insistent in class, I'd guess."

Sarah groaned. "Fine. Fine!" She threw her hands up in the air. "I get it. I'll do it. I'll study my sheet music. I'll learn my scales." She glared at the owner, determination in her eyes. "And then, I'll be on that stage one day, too. Just you wait."

The owner chuckled. "I look forward to it, young lady."