(no subject)

[windeity]

WHO: John and a bunch of people who may sorely regret things
WHERE: The Town Without A Name
WHEN: Maaay
WHAT: Questers on a grand quest or two or six
WARNINGS: Violence bc fight threads ig, John's goofy taste in pop culture and tbh John and Vriska deserve their own warning

So anyway, prompts in the comments x2

Comments

[doublesharp]

[Quest or not, the promise of learning how to play something new with a friend is exciting. He'd started learning the guitar quite some time ago, despite singing being his specialty, but piano is definitely new! Of course, Riku doesn't waste any time bounding over to John with a bright smile the moment their eyes meet, waving all the while.]

Yeah, I can't wait! I brought my guitar, just as promised!

[Not that he really needs to clarify it, since the case is clearly on his back, but hey.]

[windeity]

Sweet. This will be great! I did the student-teacher thing when Guren assigned all of us sparring partners but I have never actually taught someone specific skills I'm actually good at. Which one should we start with first? [But he's heading into the house, motioning for Riku to follow.]

[doublesharp]

[Still grinning, Riku follows behind John as he's invited inside.]

Really? Then this should be fun! I'm fine with either, but since you've never done any teaching before, do you want to start with the piano? I know a little bit, like which keys are which notes, so at least there's that!

[windeity]

That sounds good to me. And that's a great start! That'll make this a lot easier than starting from the ground up. When my dad was teaching that was the hardest part to memorize. [Once inside, Riku's going to probably notice a few things including a skeleton in a dress and a tank with a lobster in it, not to mention a bunch of captcharoids on the walls of various animals and objects.]

We'll test you first with scales then.

[doublesharp]

So your dad taught you! That's so cool! My parents and my brother like music too, so maybe that's where I got it from.

[The room looks normal for a solid .5 seconds until all of the oddities jump out at him. What weird picture frames (?).... The lobster makes sense, but he kept a skeleton (and dressed it up)?! Thanks, Dave.]

You have a really interesting place.... Oh, scales! Okay! I know what they are, since I sing, but not how to place my fingers the right way and all of that.

[windeity]

So it's a family thing. That's kind of the same for us, too. My sister didn't live with us growing up but she plays bass and yeah, my dad taught me when I was really little. I cannot really remember a time I did not know how to play.

[He's seated at the bench soon after, rolling his eyes.] Ignore the decorations, Dave is kind of weird that way. [Fond as he may be, he can admit his best friend's taste is unusual. He's looking at the keys though and setting his fingers in the proper position.] Here, we'll start you lower on the bass notes so you can hear the notes better. Mirror your fingers like this. It's the best set-up for your starting notes. And we can ignore the pedals for right now because those will just complicate things.

[doublesharp]

That's so neat! So you have a sibling that plays music too! [Talking about family is both exciting and a little depressing, but he just can't help himself as he follows John to the piano.] My older twin brother is an idol too! He's amazing, way more than I can put into words.

[Ah.... Suddenly everything makes sense.]

So Dave is your roommate! No wonder you're in Ruga! He's has, uh.... unique taste? [The moment John puts his fingers into position, though, Riku's already leaning over inquisitively.] That doesn't look too hard! You don't mind if I sit next to you, right?

[Because setting his guitar down, that's definitely what he's doing, and he mirrors John's finger placement about two octaves down.]

Like this?

[windeity]

Yes. All of my friends played something. Dave has his turntables and his sister Rose knows how to play the violin. We used to trade music back and forth to share with each other and Dave would remix it and stuff. [Back before their entire lives changed, back when they were maybe eleven or twelve and the biggest problem was coordinating timezones to chat. Even while he's talking though he reaches over to adjust Riku's hands veeeery slightly, but there's an encouraging smile.

Sitting next to him apparently isn't a problem.]

Anyway yeah. Roommate, best friend, all of that. It is probably easier to teach you while he's out doing his own quests. [He doesn't explain why though.] Normally you start learning one set of scales and then the other. You have majors and minors, but it's easiest to learn your major scales first because major scales have half steps between the third and fourth and the seventh and eighth notes. So basically, your half steps are the keys without a black key between them. Try to follow my lead. [And he uses one hand to slowly press on each key, playing his way to the right.]

SORRY, I TOTALLY LOST THIS TAG.

[doublesharp]

Used to? So you must've been friends back home, too! It must be nice to have someone you're close to here with you!

[That's more than enough to get a bright smile out of him in return, and he's more than happy to allow John to adjust his hands, listening carefully and nodding every so often as the scales are explained to him.]

I think I kind of get it.... [Keys without a black key. Got it. Nodding once more, he slowly follows John's playing with his own fingers.] So that's how you reach over to the next note when you run out of fingers! Pianists make it look so easy!

YOURE GOOD NO WORRIES

[windeity]

[There's a grin because...yeah. It's definitely nice, even with the problems that have come up sometimes. Either way, he moves enough for Riku to follow along, nodding as the notes echo after his own.]

Yeah! It takes a lot of practice to do it fluidly and without thinking about it, but it's pretty easy once you know what you're doing. It's even easier if you know how to read music. [An adjustment of his hands again.] I'm going to play it myself this time and then I want you to repeat it without my help. Let's see how you do.

[He shifts his hands back again, adjusting for the scale and playing slowly and clearly for Riku to learn and memorize. Once finished, he pulls back and waits for Riku to try.]

[doublesharp]

So it's just like any other instrument, I guess! Not that I'm an expert guitar player or anything, but.... I'll try to repeat it just like you!

[Leaning in, he furrows his brow and nods along as John plays the notes clearly. And once that's finished, he follows by playing the notes in turn, much less fluidly and a little more slowly, but the notes are correct.]

How's that?

[windeity]

That's a really good start! Yeah! [He's so easily pleased and his hands rest lightly on the piano.] It's definitely just like any other instrument when you are starting out, but throwing in the pedals and everything makes it a little more challenging. We won't get into that yet. Getting used to moving your hands fast and fluidly enough is the main idea.