Solo A Musical Journey II

[Kelski]

Timestamp: 55th of Fall, 518 A.V.

Continued from: A Musical Journey I

Kelski took a moment to commit those easy terms to her memory.

Mosa seemed to need a break this time, so Kelski took that time to run her fingers on her own black violin once more. Her thin pale fingers started at the top, and worked their way slowly downward. Beautiful... it was a beautiful instrument. And each part was named thusly... scroll... curled and graceful. The pegbox, carved and lovingly embedded with its various pegs. The neck stretching down to the fingerboard to the belly and ebon board. Then there was the bridge, the fine tuners, and the chinrest. She loved every bit of it... every curve and line. She smiled, and nodded.

And rose. She was still looking for Little Rhaus, and it was bothering her more and more that he might have taken off in anger because she wanted Mosa to teach her. So she took the time to search the study, going through the book cases and looking for him under the chairs and tables. It gave her a chance to stretch her legs, even as she hissed his name, the anger turning to more and more to concern.

Then, Mosa was ready to continue on… and did so by clearing her throat and getting Kelski’s attention. Kelski returned to her seat, and took in the next lesson Mosa wanted her to learn. “For stringing the violin, it is best done one string at a time. Don't worry if they seem fragile, as if they will snap.. they aren't. Not really. Don't take all the strings off at the same time because it’s the pressure of the string s on the bridge that holds the sound post up.. that little stick of wood underneath inside. String it one string at a time, replacing one at a time, never removing that pressure." Mosa reiterated, stressing this to Kelski.

The Kelvic nodded.

Mosa then plucked two strings. Both had distinctly different sounds. "This is the A and this is the E." The elderly woman explained.

"With the A and E string, a small wooden tube is usually included on the string near the bottom of it. This tube goes over the bridge, with the top edge of it just meeting the point where the string crosses the bridge into the bowed area. As you remove each old string, take a soft charcoal stick and rub the point on the notch in the bridge and the notch at the top nut. It keeps these points lubricated so that the string will move easily when tuned. Raise all the fine tuners at the tailpiece all the way. You'll use these later after you have brought all the strings up to pitch from the winding pegs. I will show you that in a bit." Kelski nodded. She’d found a small vial of corked charcoal sticks in the storage area of the violin case along with the peg dope and extra strings and hair. She’d wondered what they were for and now she knew.


Count: 502

[Kelski]

"New strings generally stretch - some types more than others, so expect them to go flat and need returning for the first day or so. That’s why we like to use cat gut. Using other sorts of gut invite more flexibility and that’s not good with a violin. What you need to do when you break them in is to play your violin for the first day intensely and give them a good use and do not worry if they go out of tune. That’s the whole point. Stretch them, adjust them, and stretch them again…. until they are where they will remain." Mosa said, causing Kelski to nod. She followed so far though she wasn’t certain how in the heck she managed it. Violins were complex things, as she was learning, and all this instruction was filling her head with a lot of new things she was getting a thrill out of learning.

Another quick break, this one in the guise to refill tea. Kelski used her sharp eyes to search the Kitchen, check the pantry and do a quick peak out on the balcony where she collected more water. She set that water to boil on the stove and laid out their empty mugs, setting tea meshes in them filled with a nice mint brew. Mint would sooth Mosa’s throat in case it got sore speaking so much. Little Rhaus was nowhere in the kitchen, pantry, or balcony to be found.

"Now..." She plucked another string... clearly indicating the D string. "Start with the D string. Then go to the A..." Mosa plucked that one too... "and then to the G" which received a similar plucking...." then to the E." She said, laughing toothlessly a little. "Wind the strings on neatly at the top, minding that you keep the windings straight and even. Tighten each one just enough so you can pluck it and get a sound, then go on to the next one. As you bring each string up to pitch, you'll find the ones that you already thought you tuned will go flat so don't worry about doing them all correctly until every new string is on. That happens because as the pressure on the bridge is gradually becoming stronger, its squishing it down changing the tones of the string. You can't do anything about it, until you get them all on and the pressure equalizes. Now, tune all the strings most of the way.. .pluck and listen.... then let it sit for a while... a bell or two, a day, or even overnight then tune it again. They will stretch and be truer to pitch if you let them. Then, when you retune, it will take less effort and less effort... especially if you play it a lot.... until they are at their optimum point and ready to be played without much adjustment. " Mosa added, studying Kelski to see if the Kelvic did understand.

Kelski was following her and nodded, memorizing which string was which and what order Mosa had given her for the replacements. Then Mosa gave her a quick lesson on changing strings. They removed and replaced the G string carefully, doing it multiple times until Kelski got it. She even showed the Kelvic how to neatly wrap the strings around the pegs correctly.

Count: 554

[Kelski]

"Now, keep your old strings with your violin just in case you break one during an important concert or festival, and you need a quick replacement that will hold its pitch. They will be shorter than usual, but at least you can keep it going through the event and take time to break in new ones afterwards. Its also a good rule of thumb to break in a new set of strings before the old ones are worn out, instead of replacing old broken strings with a new set. Always use the same type as well. This way you will have a good string that’s not past its prime tone, but is already broken in and will not go flat.” Mosa advised, not one to waste, but thinking it important that old strings be kept as spares when they were needed.

“I’m not saying you will ever be a concert or festival type Violinist, Kelski. But the you’ll want to play during important things. People die. People get married. People celebrate birthdays. You can play for all of that, and even for yourself. Make life easy for yourself, do you understand me?” Mosa asked, trying to pass on her wisdom to Kelski while she could.

“I didn’t buy my violin, Mosa. I found it.” Kelski said suddenly, knowing Mosa didn’t know it. “I don’t know where to get strings in Sunberth… or even who sells instruments.” She added, uncertain.

“Oh, that’s easy. There are instrument makers and sellers a plenty in the market. But its good you found it and didn’t buy it. It means this violin is special. It chose you. Violins often choose their players, Kelski. This one chose you. And for that reason, I will teach you how to play it. It will fill in the gaps and if you listen to your heart you will learn even more from it than a mere teacher can teach.” Mosa claimed, causing Kelski to sit up and look startled.

Kelski thought she heard a tiny Little Rhaus snort of disbelief. But when she glanced around frantically, she couldn’t see him. Kelski furrowed her brow puzzled. Where was he anyhow? Was he listening in? Kelski half convinced herself she was hearing things and swung her focus back on Mosa.

She glanced down at the instrument and then back up at Mosa. “Are they alive?”

Mosa laughed. “Not in the way we know it. But they do have souls. Every musical instrument ever made has a soul.” The old woman affirmed.

Kelski ran her fingers over the strings, glad her instrument came with strings when she found it though she knew time and practice would wear them down. Mosa wouldn’t steer her incorrectly. She had no idea how to read music, what notes were, or any of it… but she was confident that she’d learn. Mosa wouldn’t steer her wrong. She could read, so A, B, C stuff made sense to her. So as long as the old woman assigned tags to the strings, the Kelvic could follow it.


Count: 508

[Kelski]

Tuning though… that might prove more challenging. Stretching, Kelski got up and decided to take a break. She cleaned up the now-empty lunch plate that had been laid out for Mosa some bells ago, and walked into the kitchen in the guise of tidying up. Fresh tea was poured and laid out since the water was now steaming hot, and she used the excuse to slip down to the retail area to check on Ebon and ask him if he’d seen Little Rhaus. Ebon hadn’t… and so leaving him his own tea, she went back upstairs and back to her lessons.

“I need to talk to you about tuning, Kelski. Violin strings are tuned by turning the pegs in the pegbox just beneath the scroll. You can tune the violin by using fine tuners. I don’t like them because they are more annoying than anything and if you can’t get the pegs to tune in your violin, then they need to be replaced. So each can be turned to tune the instrument, but use the pegs first and foremost – as a primary way – and when they stop working, replace them rather than use the fine tuners. Just don’t turn the pegs and tighten the strings too much. If you do, they will snap or not sound right at all. Everyone snaps strings when they are first learning, so don’t worry if you do as well. Fine tuners work by turning a small metal screw, which moves a lever that is attached to the string. While using the tuners is easily, they lack enough range of travel to make a significant pitch different and the sharp corners of the prongs may cause the string to break when the string passes through – acting as a knife - so as I said before, don't worry if you accidentally break a string, it will happen to you eventually. Just try to be careful." Mosa said, then pulled out a rolled bundle of cloth.

She held one end and unfurrowed the other end, showing a length of cloth with pockets sewn into them that held little devices that looked like U’s with handles on them. “These are a full set of tuning forks. I’ll lend them to you since I have perfect pitch. They will help you learn the tones. Each fork has the corresponding note etched into it. Notes run from A through G. That’ means there are seven of them.” Mosa added, grinning slightly. Kelski nodded as Mosa continued.

Kelski shifted, nodded, and watched Mosa as she explained further. “This is the A string… its located here.” Mosa said, gesturing to the string on the violin. “The A string is always tuned first because it is considered the easiest sound to memorize and if you only have one tuning fork, it will always most likely be an A. If you can tune your A in correctly, then you can just go up and down octaves… pitches…to find the other notes correctly too.” Mosa said.

Kelski interrupted. “What’s an octave?” She asked, feeling silly she didn’t know.


Count: 513

[Kelski]

Mosa nodded and answered immediately. “An octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. So an A can be higher lower etc… various octaves, but it is still an A.” Kelski nodded, understanding. “Now, getting back. The A string is always tuned first to a reference pitch such as a tuning fork. The other strings are then tuned to the A in intervals of perfect fifths by bowing them in pairs, this puts the open strings in just intonation, which means the lower strings may sound flat compared to their nominal equivalents." Mosa said, running the bow across the strings so it struck two at a time, bringing forth the first music Kelski had heard Mosa play. She blinked, nodding, understanding but only understanding due to the gesture, not due to the words.

“However, one thing I need to caution you about is the bridge.” Mosa pointed out which part was the bridge and then continued on with her warning. "You need to be careful because tuning your violin, especially if you use the pegs can cause the bridge to lean, usually towards the fingerboard. Don't allow it to stay that way because if you do, the bridge will warp and your violin won't sound the same again. After tuning your violin, make sure the bridge is standing straight up and is centered, loosen the strings if it is leaning at all." Kelski could see how that could happen and nodded, carefully studying her violin.

Mosa wasn’t a great teacher.

But Kelski recognized she knew her stuff. "Little temporary type adjustments can also be made by stretching a string with your hand. The strings may be flattened by pulling it above the fingerboard or sharpened by pressing the part of the string into the pegbox." That sounded easy enough, though Kelski had no idea what a sharp or a flat was. "These techniques will be useful if you're playing for anyone, and need to tune in a hurry without pausing during a performance. It will reduce the ill effects of an out of tune string until the opportunity arises to take the time to actually carefully and properly tune your instrument later on." Mosa said thoughtfully.

Kelski tilted her head. “I don’t understand sharpen or flatten. What does that mean?” The Kelvic asked, curious. There it was again! Another mysterious little snort of disdain. Kelski was starting to believe that Little Rhaus was in the room listening, but as much as she scanned she couldn’t see him. Kelski hadn’t stooped to looking under the couches, and she was starting to suspect that’s where he was.

“It is very simple. Sharp means to go up a half step, while flat means to go down a half step. With the violin, it is incredibly easy. To add sharps and flats follow this rule; Flats should be played by sliding the finger down towards the scroll half a step, and sharps are played by sliding the finger up half a step towards the bridge. The first finger should be placed about 1 inch from the end of the finger board depending on violin size. Whole steps are roughly one inch apart and half steps are roughly 1/2 inch apart. But don’t worry about that now, Kelski. We’ll deal with fingering and where the notes are later.” Mosa said, gesturing to the violin in her hands and what she was talking about in regards to fingering.

Continued In: A Musical Journey III

Count: 580

[Kelski]

G R A D E S

Kelski

Violin +5, Investigation +2, Music Composition +2

Violin: Which Strings Are Which & What They Sound Like, Violin: How To Tune One, Violin: How to Tie Strings, Sunberth: Where To Buy Violin Strings/Supplies, Violins: Have Souls, Music Composition: What Octaves Are, Musical Composition: What Pitches Are

PM me with questions or concerns.