Friendship is Magic

Mr. Face:

He didn't know where the F was? How was it then that he could play piano by sight reading? " F... Is four notes above C? You really don't know? What exactly is it you do with those eyes then, if I can identify an F on yhe piano and hou can't?" I asked, totally perplexed by this.

Finn

"Ah, I . . . simply follow th' circles and lines," I said, and to be frank, it was a small bit embarrassing trying to talk about the technical stuff in all of this when I apparently didn't know as much as I thought I had. "Didn't realise they 'ad names."

Mr.Face:

Circles and lines? I hadn't the slightest clue as to what he meant by that, though could reasonably deduce that it was some form of musical notation. "Of course they have names." I stated. I was about to reach over his shoulder and play a set of scales while supplying corresponding letter names, but was given pause by the recurrent realisation that I. Was. Incompetent. At the moment, and therefore unable to manipulate my fingers to do even that. "I would give a practical demonstration, but I am afraid that that doesn't seem to be physically possible at the moment." I stated somewhat awkwardly. I really despised the fact that I was injured. Injuries weren't things that happened to me. They happened to other people. Not me.

Finn

I paused. Well . . . perhaps he could still teach me something. I pressed a key. "What's this, then?" I'd simply move down the line until all of them were covered. Names. Hm.

Mr.Face:

"That would be an A. If you move seven keys to the left or right of that key then you will find another A. If you hit two A's at once, you are playing an octave. Indeed, this principle also works for any of the other notes you might play as well.There will always be another one seven keys away, and when you hit both at once, it will always be an octave." I explained briefly.

Finn

An A. Alright. That particular key was called an A, whatever that meant, and apparently that was something I needed to know. A is there. Right. Octaves . . . alright. "And these ones are called, what?" I pressed the six next in line.

Mr.Face:

"B-C-D-E-F-G, consecutively." I recited as he played. "Between all of those you have the black keys which are sharps and flats for the notes." I supplied as well, as a potential way to continue expanding his knowledge, so that if I ever happened to reference a B-flat I wouldn't be asked seemingly obvious questions.

Finn

"A'right. Sharps and flats . . ." I was smiling a bit. I don't quite know why exactly, because it wasn't as if this new stuff I was being taught really helped me at all so far except perhaps in the way that if he ever tried to tell me what finger should be on what key I might know what he was talking about. But anyhow, it was something new. You don't get that too often around here, new things. No new knowledge, new news, new experience, only too much time on your hands to keep rehearsing what you've done a million times before. . . . Which in the words of Cricket . . . bright side. Even if I wasn't jumping for joy that Mr. Face was visiting, at least he was something new.

Mr.Face:

"You'll notice that C and F don't have a black key on one side. This is because E and B serve as F-Flat and C-flat. Your flat keys are the black keys immediately to the left of the key you are playing, and your sharp keys are the ones on the right. They represent and play the tonalities fall between the amount of vibratory resonance between your two white keys. For example, if you take Middle C- the C that is at the centre of your piano- and C# and D next to it, you can note that middle C resonates at 261.626 hertz, and the D next to it resonates at 293.665 hertz. C# resonates at 277.183 hertz, making it 15.557 hertz greater than C, but 16.482 hertz less than D. The difference between the C and the D is 32.057. ...Of course that kind of information is only relevant in key changes and what makes key changes possible... but, considering that difference of interval between sharps and flats can be of practical use in a theoretical manner, I suppouse..." I explained. Admittedly, I probably could have found a way to keep all the numbers out of the mix, but they were the easiest way I could think of quickly to explain how exactly the sharp and flat relationship worked.