(Past) First Lessons (Roderich and Lili)

[Lili Walser]

Today, she'd start her first musical lessons ever... Today, she'd meet her tutor - Herr Edelstein - and begin to learn the piano. Honestly, she was both terrified and excited. What if she wasn't good at it? Mutti could coax such pretty sounds from the grand piano that the timid girl had finally asked whether she could, perhaps, learn.

Almost immediately, Mutti and Vati had begun searching for a tutor... and had settled on Herr Edelstein. Lili knew nothing about him, but what she'd accidentally overheard her parents discussing - that he was a nobleman, from a good family, and had amazing skills. Lili could hardly believe it. Someone who played more prettily than Mutti? Was it possible? Of course... Mutti was the only person she'd ever heard play, so perhaps it wasn't fair to base the entire world around her.

The young heiress to the Walser name had allowed her maid, Sarah, to plait her hair away from her face, though otherwise, her hair was left loose and free to fall past her shoulders. She wore a simple dress of soft pink, one with sleeves that stopped promptly at her elbows, so that she was not in danger of having her movements hindered at all.

As the time for her lesson drew near, she moved into the parlor to wait with Mutti for her tutor. She stayed standing, tucked almost behind Mutti's chair, as though perhaps she could avoid notice that way... truly, she was very shy, and hesitant about meeting this new person. She wished Mutti would attend the lesson with her, but Mutti had other things to do... At least Sarah would be there, so she wouldn't be dreadfully alone with Herr Edelstein. She was sure that she'd not know what to do.

And then the bell was ringing, and Sebastien was going to answer the door, and why, oh, why, had she asked for lessons again in the first place?

[Roderich Edelstein]

Beginners were always rather a tricky subject for the aristocrat.

It meant that he would have to adjust his own level of playing and skill so that this new pupil, who may have never touched a piano (and perhaps never really wanted to) could understand all that he could show them for comprehension. Besides, how could one go and try to learn piano if they could not understand it's workings, and how to make sure it stayed in that state of well being?

It meant new books for the student, with music theory and history of classical piano composers that had to be not only understood by the student, but memorized and easily recited to Roderich to show full comprehension of the musical aspect of the composer's history. Besides, how could one perform a piece by...say Beethoven, without understanding the period's concepts of Romanticism and Beethoven's own interest in the the musical triad? His own fifth symphony and even the Moonlight Sonata both had the repeated triplet sound throughout the whole piece.

Therefore, new students did not always please Roderich. However, when he had been approached by the Walser family for tutelage of their young daughter Lili, the aristocrat could not help but comply. In fact, the Walser family name was one well spoken of in the Edelstein family; Roderich's own father had been Mrs. Walser's tutor for piano when she had been a young girl. Roderich could recount the days when he would listen to his father praising the girl for her natural talent at playing piano just as well as his own protegee of the family.

He was brought to the parlor after he had arrived at the Walser family manor, a quick and simple walk from his own home in the district. "Ah, my apologies if I am any amount of time late," he said, knowing full well however that he was perfectly on time as a teacher should be. "I'm afraid it was a bit of a further walk than I had anticipated it being. I shall try not to go and be so late." With his coat taken from him by the butler, who left the room with a smile, Roderich made his way over to the piano.

"Now, shall we begin, or do I need to provide proof of what I can make her skills out to be?"

[Lili Walser]

As her tutor was shown in, Lili shrank further behind her mother's chair. Lenora, however, smiled and stood. "Hallo, Roderich. It's lovely to see you again. I do hope you found the house with no trouble?" She held out her hand for Lili, who hesitantly moved from behind the chair to stand next to her, hands clasped firmly together and eyes on the carpet. "This is my daughter, Lili."

Timidly, the blonde girl peeked up at him through her bangs. "I-It's a pleasure to meet you, Herr Edelstein... th-thank you, for agreeing to teach me." Though her voice was soft, it was no less sincere for it. She did, truly, want to learn. She could only hope to make both her Mutti and Vati, and her tutor, proud.

"Perhaps you could play something for Lili before you begin to teach her?" Lenora spoke again, after smiling down at her daughter. She was glad that Lili had voiced this desire... oftentimes, the girl was quiet with what she wished, until she knew that it wouldn't trouble others. It was a good trait, but sometimes, Lenora wished that Lili had inherited just a little more of the Beilschmidt boldness. "I must be off, as I've a gathering to attend, but I trust you two will get along splendidly." She'd have to make certain Sarah kept a close eye on her little bird... Even if Lili didn't speak for herself, Sarah would. She bent to press a kiss to Lili's head, then smiled at Roderich. "If this lesson goes well, we'll work out a completely set schedule. I will return in a little more than an hour." And with that, she swept out the door, leaving Lili feeling quite abandoned.

All the same... with Mutti gone, and Herr Edelstein here to teach her, she must be prepared to at least speak with the man. "... W-would you... Th-that is... I... If you don't mind, I w-would like to hear you play... Mutti says you're more talented than she is..." Her cheeks flushed slightly... she wasn't used to speaking so candidly to any of her tutors, much less ones she'd just met. Oh, dear. She glanced at Sarah, who only smiled at her encouragingly before attending to her mending again, then returned her attention to the floor, just in front of Herr Edelstein's feet. She hadn't quite mustered the courage to look up at him yet.

[Roderich Edelstein]

"Grüß Gott, and of course I found it quite easily. It's simply walking distance from my own estate, though now I'm rather regretting that I did not take the carriage or a taxi." Roderich smiled as his eyes were drawn to the small blond girl. Slowly, he bowed towards her, a smile on his face. "Please, do not feel as though you must call me Herr Edelstein. Simply call me Roderich; I find it's better in my relationship with the student."

But the Aristocrat nodded, smiling at the girl. "Depends on what sort of level playing you'd want to hear. I can play from simple tunes to some of the most complex ones ever written." And with that, Roderich's fingers began to dance, slowly starting with the simple "Ode to Joy" before switching to Rachmaninoff's third piano sonata. Fingers flashed across the keyboard as the tempo picked up gradually, eventually stopping at a pace that the tutor cared deeply for. Speed, precision, and of course attention to detail, the brunet kept playing until he slowly went back to the original piece, playing one final chord to end the original song.

"Now then, if you're still interested in lessons, I do believe we should begin now, ja? Sie sollten es gerade gut tun. I even have everything you would need: books, sheet music, information even." Roderich smiled once more at the timid girl, scooting over on the bench of the piano to allow for her to sit down next to him. "Sollen wir beginnen?"

~~~~~~
Sie sollten es gerade gut tun: You should do just fine.
Sollen wir beginnen?: Shall we begin?

[Lili Walser]

What was this? H-he didn't want her to... to follow all the proper protocol rules when addressing someone older than her - not to mention, a teacher? H-he... didn't wish for her to be formal with him? ... Had he had a run-in with Cousin Gilbert? Her best cousin was well-known for saying things like that... but she couldn't ask. It wasn't proper.

"J-ja, Herr Roderich." If he didn't wish to be called Herr Edelstein, she thought, perhaps, she could remember that. But... was it really alright for her to address him so informally, even though he'd directed her to? Would she be scolded later? But as he sat down at the piano, she fell quiet, listening to first his words, and then the music. The first song, she recognized - how could she not? It was a simple piece, one that she'd tried to mimic Mutti's playing of many times. But the faster song, the one with so many notes and so quickly, too, was one she'd never heard. It was thrilling. Mutti never played such fast music.

By the time he finished, Lili was actually looking at him, eyes wide and shining. "W-Will I be able to play that, one day?" She couldn't help the question, but when she'd registered that she'd asked, her cheeks flushed faintly pink once more, as she directed her attention back to the floor. Most of her other tutors did not like it if she asked a question without being invited to do so... she was a young lady, after all.

As he moved over on the bench, she stepped closer, then sat down hesitantly, smoothing her skirt. Her back was impeccably straight, something both her etiquette and dance tutors would be proud of. Vati, too... Mutti was proud, but Mutti wanted her to be able to have fun, sometimes, too. It was why Mutti never fussed if she was somehow coerced into a game with Cousin Gilbert and the other cousins.

Rather than directly answer his question, however, she just nodded, peeking up at him from under her lashes. This was strange, too, having to sit so very near to her instructor.

[Roderich Edelstein]

Herr Roderich? No no no, that would just not do. Dear Lord, if the girl’s mother even knew he was being addressed as Roderich, even specifically expressing to her that just “Roderich” was fine…who knew what Lenora would even think? Then again, Roderich wasn’t entirely close to the Walser family, so perhaps Lenora would be upset enough that Lili wasn’t to address Roderich as “Herr Edelstein” at all. It was always problems with etiquette like these that the brunet wished he had never even thought of trying to create that bond between teacher and student.

Such was the life of a musician and teacher.

“Honestly, just Roderich’s fine. Herr is far too formal, and I’m not at all at my formal job. I do try to be as close as I possibly can to my students, though in no improper way what so ever. I mean, it is best when a student is able to trust an instructor, and to gain that trust, one must become close to the student. It’s something I learnt from my father,” the aristocrat nodded, looking down at the ivory keys, with a smile on his face. Memories of his father just because of a lesson? What was wrong with his emotions now?

When the young girl spoke again, he could not help but pause at her words. There were of course, many reasons a student would pick up piano, and Roderich had certainly met his fill of most types. Some chose to pick it up as a social hobby, perhaps the most popular reason that he had students. Others did so to impress someone they were in love, or to upset another. These students were less common, but enough that most of the time, he would turn them down after a first meeting. But then there was the rare breed that wished to generally learn piano because they found the instrument to be beautiful, such as himself.

“Do I believe you’ll be able to play like this? The question is, are you willing to put up with countless hours of practice to get to this level like I have. But I believe that with much work and a good amount of mistakes, you can achieve any form of perfection. Therefore, yes…I do believe you can perhaps someday play like I can.”

Perfect posture all ready, it was honestly one of the better perks of having that of the higher up aristocracy taking lessons from him rather than the bourgeois with their lack of posture that was rather annoying to constantly correct. “Alright, if you have any prior knowledge of the instrument, positioning, fingering, tunes, go ahead and play them. I need some sort of idea of what all you can do already to figure out where to begin with you.”

[Lili Walser]

"Y-yes, sir. I-I mean... R-Roderich..." Goodness but it was strange. It was like addressing Cousin Gilbert by just 'Gilbert,' but that was a little more usual, as Cousin was family - he certainly liked to remind her of that enough.

Herr Edelstein -- Roderich -- wanted her to trust him? Such a concept was almost foreign to the girl. Her other tutors wanted her to listen to them, to obey them, to respect them... but there was never anything said about trust. That one simple word went a long way toward Lili's continuing comfort in his presence, even if the idea of 'closeness' gave her pause. Mutti wouldn't have chosen a bad teacher for her, though, and the fact that Mutti had learned from Herr Edelst-- Roderich's -- father... well, Mutti had to trust him, too.

She listened to his speech attentively, though she found it hard to look up at him. Rather, she snuck peaks at him through her bangs, then focused her attention on the keys in front of her once more. "I... I-I want to try..." was all she murmured, though, reaching one hand up to gently run a finger along the edge of a key, her touch almost lighter and briefer than the blink of an eye. She did so love the way the piano keys felt, but was dreadfully afraid to somehow cause the piano any harm, and so rather more often than not, she avoided touching it altogether.

"Y-yes, He-- R-Roderich." She would stumble over the disuse of the title for some time, she just knew it. It was all so strange. Hesitantly, she placed her fingers on the keys as she'd seen Mutti do, curled ever so slightly, then, after another moment of hesitation in which she nibbled on the inside of her bottom lip, afraid of what he might say if she told him that she really didn't know much other than a few simple songs, and not even all of them, she began to play the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

[Roderich Edelstein]

Well it was good that she wished to try and learn to be as good of a musician as he was. Roderich always found it impressive when a student had a personal goal or something they wished to prove to the world whenever they were taking lessons from him. It showed to him that they were at least dedicated at what they were doing. Therefore, it would then be Roderich's duty that they were able to attain that goal, which was why he was such a hard instructor.

At least she seemed to play well, and have a basic understanding of the beginnings one needed to play piano. That alone was able to make his job far easier to teach her. Besides, one of the simple beginner's songs happened to be "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". So Lili happened to be far ahead of the curve.

"Well done, Well done indeed. So you have some experience playing I can see. Do you by any chance know scales or arpeggios perhaps? If you don't it happens to be fine, I just so happen to be interested if you had known any of those things. However, if you do not, then if I may so suggest that we begin lesson with those?"

[Lili Walser]

"J-ja, some... I... M-Mutti taught me to play... j-just a few songs..." the girl murmured, voice quiet. "I... w-what are scales? A-and arpeggios?" Well, scales were things on fish and reptiles... but however did those apply to music? Unless, perhaps, one could play music on them somehow? Unfortunately, she'd seen the maids scaling fish - and that was neither musical nor pleasant. One could scale a mountain, as far as she knew - books often used that as another word for climbing... but she still didn't see how that applied to music at all. And arpeggio... that was a new and completely foreign word to her. She hadn't a single clue what that one meant.

"Ja... He-- R-Roderich." If he wanted to teach her those first, then she'd learn those first. He was her teacher, after all, and she'd do as he directed. It was what was expected of her as a daughter of a noble house. And... and, well, she'd have to listen to him if she wished to learn any music at all.

[Roderich Edelstein]

So in the end she did not understand some basic concepts of music like notes, scales and arpeggios. Which of course, this fact was fine; many people did not understand that there was a science, a math, along with a form of art that arose out of music. Many just assumed that it was a simple process of slapping in different dots on or between lines, occasionally adding squiggles and hats or other lines to make up a tune. Yet one had to first formulate the concept behind the music. Was it to be in full time, with a four-four measure? Was it to be in half time instead? How many notes did one want played in a certain measure? How loud was the music to be played? Would there be any variation to the volume of the piece at all? What was to be the pitch, the key of the music? And further on with that, how were the sounds created, and how could they best be played for optimum sound quality? Only with these could music be forged from the fires of the imagination, sculpted like clay into a masterpiece that would be set in stone for ages and never forgotten.

Or at least that was what a composer dreamt of having happen.That did not always happen, which was a sad statement to the nobleman.

None the less, Roderich at least knew where to begin. Thankfully, the girl showed that she was well educated, meaning that he would not have to go about and teach her the alphabet as well so that she would learn note names. "Let me begin with the basics about music then, my dear. If you look at sheet music, I am sure you see the lines and dots scattered across the paper, yes? These are what we call notes. Each one corresponds with one sound: going from the letter A, to the letter G. There are eight notes in total, before going back and repeating A once more."

Roderich move his hand, pressing down one of the piano keys. "This is A. Each note rises in pitch a little higher when going up one end of the keyboard," more keys were pressed down, corresponding with his hand traveling more so to the right of the piano; "Yet if you go the opposite way, the notes lower in pitch. The group of eight notes, A through G, are called an octave." But the brunet was not even close to being done. He quickly moved his hand once more, pressing down the first, then third, moving to fifth and finally ending on eighth key in the octave. "When you play notes like those, they are called an arpeggio. It is always the first, the third, the fifth and the eighth note in an octave."

After he paused to let the information soak in, once more Roderich pressed piano keys, moving up one by one, until ending on the eighth note once more. "A scale is what it sounds like: you're in a sense, climbing up an octave. An octave is like a hill, that you can climb all the way to the top, but also climb down as well. And depending on what major or minor scale you are, the different in sound it is."

Hopefully, all of this was sinking into the girl, as she seemed quick enough to comprehend what all he had said. But at least if she didn't she would have work cut out for her, and the books he had brought would explain it perfectly. So, as he let the girl once more relax and process what he had just taught her, he reached over to his things, and took out two books: one that taught the theory behind music, and another to practice writing out music in. "For now, practice writing down each note and the letter that corresponds to it, and learning scales. We can work on the arpeggios later. I do hope you don't mind, but this must come first before we begin with real music. One must be able to read what is written for them to play."