Amidst The Dissonance

The Pianist's Melody

"You've been behind that piano for about two hours now, y'know. Wouldn't it be best to take a break?"

No response. Only music.

"Kaede." There was a knock on a door, but it went unheard.

Kaede hummed to herself quietly as she continued to play her composed piece. It was typical of her to practically hear her mother's call with every note she played. These days, she had merely come to ignore it until she was finished. Afterwards, she'd ask just in case, but would usually get a "no" in response.

"Kaede Akamatsu. Can you hear me or not?"

"Ah, wait a minute..." The pianist quieted the music, pressing into the keys lightly. So she hadn't been hearing things this time. Her mother was trying to speak to her. Her muffled voice had been cutting through her consistent melodies.

Upon hearing the music quiet down, she continued speaking. "Take a break, please. We don't want another blister incident."

Unfortunately, her last few words were overshadowed by a few low-octave chords.

"H-huh?" the pianist looked behind her at the closed living room door. Under the small opening at the foot of the door, she noticed the familiar shadow of her mother. Her head tilted slightly as she continued to press into the keys, her face scrunching up as she accidentally played a sour note. "W-what did you say?"

Silence. Reluctantly, she began raising the volume of the song. Still, she tried again. "M-mom? Do you need something?"

Even through the rising volume of her song, Kaede could swear she heard her mother sigh.

"Never-mind." she finally spoke. "Just come to the kitchen when you're done." There was a slight pause as the melody quieted down, giving her enough time to tell her one more thing. "Just please don't overexert yourself this time."

A scowl crossed the pianist's face.

I won't. Jeez, don't make me take another long break...

Ignoring her mother's last sentence, she turned around and continued to press into the keys. Her eyes scanned each page as she continued to play each note, each chord, each rhythm. She smiled, satisfied, feeling proud of her melody...until a sour sequence of notes followed her second repeat.

Abruptly, she stopped, pursing her lips. She must've sight-read them incorrectly. She studied them briefly before attempting to play the song again . The melody continued as usual, as peaceful and as pleasant as before...until the sour sequence repeated itself.

"Uh...what?" Kaede paused. She played the sequence in sections; her fingers played each chord and note as she listened for sour tunes.

None.

She tried again, once again making sure she played everything accurately.

Nothing. It sounded fine.

She tried one last time, now piecing the entire sequence together. She played it three times, checking to see if she had messed up somewhere. She adjusted her fingerings, played the notes at different volumes, added in an extra eighth rest.

It sounded just fine. The sequence had no bitterness to it; it perfectly fit the D Major key she was in.

Pursing her lips again, she started from the beginning of the page. If the sequence sounded better this time, then the problem was definitely poor sight-reading. It wasn't surprising for her to mess up while playing, but it still wasn't something that just happened out of the blue. Kaede's sight-reading was described as "beyond phenomenal"; she was practically known for playing incredibly on her first try. Not perfectly, but still very incredibly, of course.