Claude Debussy (Tag: Bradley)

[Michael Jones]

This place certainly was very different from home. His home was huge, like this place yes, but this place had a bit more of a familiar feel. He wasn’t used to it, and he didn’t really know how to deal with it. When he learned of music class, which the older kids got to participate in a bit more than he did, he was slightly skeptical. There was absolutely no way they’d have actual good piano’s in here, or musical instruments. He was a bit..snotty at times, and viewed this place as being rather far in the country, without much in terms of classical art running around the place. So he was very surprised when he snuck into the music room that morning. It was before people were really up, and he had left his roommate sleeping soundly, so he was assured no one would come.

The twelve year old stared at the piano across the room, his eyes wide open. It was beautiful, and it seemed polished and well taken care of to the boy. He looked around, then slowly let a soft pianissimo note fill the room. His favorite note: an F. The boy relished the beautiful sound, and repeated it. However, this time he allowed himself to create a major triad surrounding this fantastical note. He grinned. Perfectly tuned. Not a note out of place, and the keys were smooth. Softer than warm butter. Slick and easy to play on as well. Michael ran his fingers along one of the keys. It seemed a waste to leave this piano sitting here, with no one to play it. Everyone was asleep as well, it did not really matter if he let himself play just a bit. He’d worked hard enough to appear pretty normal and perfectly kempt, so this wouldn’t matter.

Michael shrugged off his shoulder bag, opening it to deposit something quickly. The bag was pretty much an awful mess, destroyed from way too much neglect. He hadn’t even been here that long. Mostly, he just didn’t care enough to make it look good on the inside. He didn’t need to. He’d always been taught that things had to look good on the outside, and it didn’t matter what your personality was or how things were inside of things. Michael followed that way of thinking religiously, and so he had to learn how not to judge people only on appearance here. After all, it wasn’t like one of his prestigious prep schools. It was for any child who was at least a bit special. Like Michael.

He sat down at the piano bench and gazed at the piano for merely a moment. He soon decided which piece he’d like to do. It was a good one, as it warmed him up for a moment, and then he was able to just show off a bit of his skills, even if they were just to himself. The boy took a breath and then his body melted as he started in on the classic Debussy song “Claire de lune.” The song started with merely a cord, and a little string of notes, but grew into so much more. The piece turned over, letting the generally high melody switch down to a bit lower of a melody. The notes and their rhythm’s growing more complicated by the second. He grinned a bit to himself, closing his eyes at the memorized piece. He had to learn this in his private school. All of the children who went to that music class did. He was just one of the few boys that followed through and really memorized this piece. He relished the notes more than words could even describe. Michael continued to play his hands stroking the white and black keys diligently.

Michael kept the tempo rather slow and lovely, unless descending down one of the many chromatic scales, and danced playfully over some of the rather high notes, letting them ring for moments in the air. The dynamics changed only slightly, and he kept it rather quiet, so as not to disturb other children. He was a child, however, so there were moments of course where he messed up, but he corrected them, only slightly interrupting the flow of the wonderful chords, and their beautiful harmonies. It was a long piece, so he spent a bit of time on each part.

[Bradley Reeves]

Bradley had a habit of arriving at school long before most of the other teachers. There were two reasons for this. The first was that he liked to be well prepared, perhaps even a little more prepared for the day ahead. Which meant that arriving early would give him plenty of time to prepare for the day as well at get his classroom looking spotless (not that it needed it, since he also stayed late every day to clean up after classes were through). Also, arriving earlier gave him a few moments each day to spend with the love of his life, music. Before the hustle and bustle of the day started with students running around to class, bickering in the hallways, or sometimes randomly using their powers to create havoc, Bradley could enjoy a few moments peace. Not that he minded the noise the students created, it was in essence a kind of music of life, but their noises were often linked with messes.

He was about to enter the music room when a wonderful, yet unexpected sound reached his ears. He was expecting to see one of the other staff members, perhaps another music teacher seated on the piano bench when he walked in. However, he was pleasantly surprised to find a young boy instead. The lad didn’t look familiar (and Bradley was sure he would have known a student who could play so well at such a young age) so he assumed the boy was a new student that he hadn’t been informed of yet. It happened a lot at Hammel and although it clashed with his OCD dreadfully, it was something he had been forced to learn to live with.

Coming around the end of the piano to get a better look at the boy, Bradley couldn’t help but noticed the disheveled state of his backpack. But at least the boy himself looked clean and proper. He thought of introducing himself, but didn’t want to interrupt the boy’s playing. Although there were a few mistakes, it was clear that he had been taking lessons of some kind before his time at Hammel. And Bradley could see if that if the boy kept at it and practiced, he would be an excellent musician in the future.

Standing by the edge of the piano and watching the boy’s hands play across the ivory keys with a smile on his face, he waited for the piece to finish.

[Michael Jones]

He looked at the piano for a moment as he continued, then closed his eyes once more to let himself complete the work. Playing piano for him kind of let him just fall into the music. He probably should have known not to make the mistakes, true, but he wasn’t quite a maestro yet. Michael shifted his hands a bit, adding his favorite little flare at the end, a slight twist to the melody, then used the pedal below the piano to make the last chord resonate. It was only after that did the boy open his eyes. He was definitely relaxed now, and felt like he could make it through the entire day at Hammel without any issues of stress attacks or of feeling like he didn’t fit in. He knew that he probably didn’t, as most of these kids didn’t go to private schools or stay in fancy mansions their whole life, but at least he could feel a bit more at ease. That particular Debussy piece was very easy for someone to relax into. After all, the entire piece was set to a soft piano tone, with very little increasing in tempo or changes in the dynamics.

He was leaning over to grab his bag when he caught sight of a pair of feet. Or rather, some shoes that seemed to have legs sticking up out of them. There was a rather horrible feeling in the twelve year old’s stomach as he saw this, and he really really hoped that this random person in the room wasn’t someone who’d single him out at all. That would SO not be good. Especially not for music. While his parents appreciated the fine arts and all, they expected him to become a business powerhouse like them. Frankly, he didn’t really want to do that at all in any way, but he could at least evade the question of what he wanted to be until he got into high school. Michael’s brown hair slightly fell over his eyes, cheeks burning bright red as he sat up. He was going to be in so much trouble too…he snuck into a classroom before the teachers were even there, but it seemed that some kind of adult was still here, and seemed to have been here for a bit, as he hadn’t heard any footsteps at all. Maybe he’d entered right towards the beginning!!

Michael could feel that ever present pulse in the back of his head, letting him know that if he was truly frightened, he could make it all go away rather quickly, but he was glad that he was more borderline worried than he was actually frightened. The boy scratched his head, clearing his throat a little bit as he almost just twitched his head up to see the male’s face. It was definitely a teacher or an adult of SOME kind. He was wearing a suit, after all. He didn’t think that if this guy were just a janitor he’d be wearing a suit so early in the morning. Come to think of it, he hadn’t yet even seen the janitors. Maybe they just kind of…cleaned at night. Anyways, he looked rather guilty now, feeling as though he’d completely invaded the space, and hadn’t given the space the proper attention he deserved. If he knew he was preforming something, he’d pick something less challenging that he knew better. He made some mistakes in this one because it was a harder piece. He only played it because he knew it, and because it was pretty much his most favorite piano piece ever.

“Ah…s-sorry…It was unlocked so I just…came in. I’ll head off now.” He stood, the piano bench scraping slightly on the floor as he hastened to pick up his messy bag. Of course, he’d forgotten that it was still open, and the boy heard the loud noises of various papers being scattered onto the floor. Oh great. Add insult to injury. The boy knelt down and started to messily round them up to just kind of…shove them into his bag. This was turning out to be a bit more stressful than he’d wanted it to be.