Gimmie The Music

Walking into the classroom, Julian resisted the urge to head over to the large piano in the corner. He was done with the piano, and had been for years. So why did he want to sit down and remember how to play that instrument?

Huffing, Julian crossed his arms, taking a seat as far away from the instrument, determined not to even look at it.

Ondrea made her way into the classroom, abruptly missing her harp. The school had a harp, of course, but it wasn't her harp. It just wasn't the same.

She had intended to take a seat and quietly wait for class to begin. Then, she saw who had arrived to the room before her. Ondrea couldn't help it; part of her just felt the irresistible urge to do everything in her power to irritate the boy. And he clearly had something against the piano - it was obvious from his pose and the intentness with which he refused to look at it.

Stretching deliberately, Ondrea set her bag on the floor, then gracefully seated herself upon the the piano bench. Then, she placed her fingers to the keys and started playing the first bright, happy song that popped into her head.


Song Ondrea plays

Flicking his gaze up to Ondrea as she walked in. Frowning slightly as she crossed the floor, his face paled noticeably as it dawned on him where she was heading. Please don't play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, he pleaded to whatever was out there, because if she does I swear I'll vomit all over her.

OK, so maybe he wouldn't actually vomit on her, but listening to that song made him feel uncomfortably hungry and brought back memories he'd prefer to forget. Letting out a little sigh of relief as heard the song she was playing, he watched her for a moment before commenting, "Well you're in a happy mood, aren't you?"

Mélodie skipped into the class, practically dancing to the tune that the girl was playing. "Hello Juli" she grinned and took a seat right next to the boy. "This is a nice, cheerful song isn't it?" she said to Juli, totally oblivious to the sarcastic tone he had.

"Hey Lodie," Julian greeted, smiling at her as she sat down beside him. "It is," he grumbled slightly, but smiled nonetheless at the Valée. "So," slinging an arm around her, he tilted his head, "How's life?"

"No reason I shouldn't be," Ondrea remarked smugly, continue without pause. "I could go with something more somber..." With a short chord progression, she had shifted to a rather melancholy song in a minor key, playing a few measures before shifting back and picking up the sonatina where she had left off. "It is not a day for somberness, though."

She inclined her head in acknowledgment of the other girl as she arrived, choosing to finish the song rather than break off in the middle.

Rora ran up to her music class, excited. She wasn't much for singing, but she really loved playing piano. She greeted the children already there, "Bonjour! Je suis Rora. Enchanté de faire votre connaissance." With that, Rora flashed everyone a smile and flounced to a seat.

Melodie grinned at Juli. "It is going great, ma chérie" she giggled "How about you?" she asked him, realising that he was the only one he was going to get a conversation out of. The other girl seemed to be too occupied with her music.

Lodie realised that she had thought that too soon. Moments later a really cheerful girl walked in, who Lodie recognised as the prefect of her house. "Bonjour." she muttered, instantly disliking the girl.

"And why's that?" Julian glanced at Ondrea curiously, "What's so great about today?"

Grinning at Mélodie, he said, "Amazing as usual. I can't complain." Looking over at the Valée prefect, he rolled his eyes at her, leaning towards Lodie to whisper, "You were robbed."

Ondrea shrugged a shoulder. "Nothing, in particular," she replied. Full moon's a week away! another part of her chanted gleefully.

Finishing the song with a flourish, Ondrea turned on the piano bench to face the rest of the classroom. Seeing no point in standing, just yet, she remained where she was until the professor entered the room.

Leaning against the stone outside the classroom door Basil nodded his head in time with the piano music being played by a very accomplished pianist. Deciding his students had enough time to get settled he strolled into the room, pendant dangling over bare skin revealed by his three quarter sleeve white poets shirt. His brown leather knee high boots clicked sharply on the floor as he approached the front of the room clapping his hands together slowly.

"Well done, Ms. Montgomery," Basil commented as he laid a hand on her shoulder. "You're playing has improved exponentially. I'm glad you decided to grace us with your talents once more." He gave her a rare smile before turning and scowling at the rest of the class. "The rest of you get up off the floor. You should have your instruments out either ready to be switched for a different one or you should be warming up! It's not that difficult of a concept, people. You want to be in this class you are going to earn it. I do not accept lazy musicians!" His mismatched eyes blazed. "Mr. Rousseau, I shall remind you only once this term that you best keep your hands where I can see them and keep your snake in your trousers while in my class. I don't care what you do outside these walls, but do not give me a reason to kick you out of my classroom." He gave his non-productive students a glare before taking a seat next to Montgomery on the piano bench.


(OOC: There are no desks, nor chairs in this classroom. I suggest you all go back and read the classroom description. Also it is IMPLIED[u] that as a French school the students and teachers speak French. However, since not everyone that roleplays can speak the language we type our posts in English and assume that the conversation is in French unless specified.)

Still watching Ondrea curiously, he shrugged, flicking his gaze over to Professor Skydancer as he walked in. Wincing slightly at his tone, he glanced over at the lockers of instruments, pulling himself up off the floor.

Snapping his gaze back to the Professor, he raised an eyebrow at the comment, biting his tongue to keep himself from snapping at the professor. Simply nodding, he stalked over to the lockers, seething as he pulled out a cello and bow. Picking up a music book, he flipped through it for a moment, settling on a song. Nodding to himself, he flicked his gaze up to the professor for a moment before beginning to play.


((Song he's playing. Or at least attempting to. ))

Lodie grinned at Julian, whispering back "Tell me about it," seconds before the professor walked in. She frowned at him, before getting up, giving one last smile at Juli and did some vocal exercises. She was a bit petty that he praised Ondrea, but she did well hiding it.

She stepped to the piano, using her right hand to trace out the major scales, and matching her voice to it. She had been practising pretty much every day of the holidays, pretty much annoying the hell out of her family, but she had managed to stretch her vocal range from G3 to E6 to E3 to A7.

She got out her music book and started on an old fashioned song from a foreign muggle musical. She had been practising it for a while now and was happy with how she started.

Song Lodie sings: No Good Deed - Wicked

"Thank you, professor." Ondrea ducked her head humbly, though a smug smirk threatened her lips - not that she let the man see it. "And thank you, sir. It is good to be back."

The girl barely held back a snort at what what said to Julian. She'd forgotten how very much she liked professor Skydancer, though, before he had rather intimidated her.

Ondrea had vacated her seat on the piano bench to allow Mélodie access to the keyboard. She moved around to face the professor with a polite, respectful smile.

"Professor," she addressed the man, "I was wondering if I could seek your guidance. I play the piano, of course, and sing, and I have become rather accomplished at the harp, as well. I am uncertain, however, how they might effectively contribute to an ensemble. So, I was wondering if you might be able to suggest a new instrument I could learn?"

"With feeling, Mr. Rosseau," Basil exclaimed. "Allow the music to fill you and flow around you." As the boy played his peice, Basil turned his attention to the girl singing. He was sure he had been explicit in his instructions that this was an instrument day. They would get back into choral work later in the year and if that wasn't acceptable then the Creative Arts class was down the hall. "Ms. de Venin, where is your instrument? I was sure I did not stutter when I instructed you to take out your instrument." His gaze hardened as he looked the Vallee girl up and down. "Now do you or do you not have a hearing problem. Get. Out. Your. Instrument. And stop wasting my valuable time. Choral work shall be done later in the year or you could go down the hall and join the Creative Arts class."

Turning back to his precocious student now standing in front of him. Basil knew that as a professor he wasn't supposed to have favourites but he had always liked Montgomery. She was intelligent and had her own unique way of thinking, even if she had been rather timid when she was younger. "Well, Ms. Montgomery, you are already quite an accomplished musician. There are several different ways I have seen pianos and harps used in different ensembles depending on the style of music being played. However, if you are looking for a challenge may I suggest a brass or a woodwind. They use more wind then singing does sometimes and really work the lungs."

Getting up and gesturing to the girl to follow him, the rocker went over to the lockers, waving a hand at them causing several to pop open. "I don't recall you being in class when we went over the different instruments. For brass we have everything from a coronet," he pointed to a middle, left hand locker, "down to the massive tuba," he then pointed to the large locker on the bottom. "With woodwinds you can choose from the piccolo down to the bassoon, bass clarinet, or baritone saxophone." Basil indicated a series of lockers.

He gave her a wry smile. "However, I believe with your confidence and attitude you'll do well with one of these." Basil reached into a central locker and pulled out a rectangular case with a bit of weight to it. Setting it down on the ground he kneeled down and opened the case. "This is an alto saxophone. It's not necessarily a difficult instrument to play but it has a very large repertoire and is used in almost everything. It was made famous in jazz music for its soulful sound but a great many composers are developing music for it and many classics have been transcibed to include the alto sax." As he explained he put the saxophone together and held it out towards her. "Try it."

"With feeling," Julian muttered under his breath, not raising his eyes from the music book to waste a glance at the Professor. The man didn't necessarily annoy him, but well, there were moments - rare moments - when he had the need to take his cello and throw it at him.

But he couldn't actually do that because he liked being a prefect, and it wasn't his cello, and he doubted he'd actually be able to hit him. Sighing softly, he hummed along to the song as he continued, playing it a little louder.