New 104th chapter 3
"Alright we're done," Jean said sitting down next to the others. All the members of the 104th had
been tasked with cleaning a barn while Levi and the rest started working on the instruments in the house.
"Should someone go tell Levi?" Armin said looking down the row
"Not it!" Sasha yelled out quickly "I think Eren should do it"
"What why me!?" Eren said "I don't wanna do it"
"I agree with Sasha," Jean said "make Eren do it"
"Why don't you do it," Eren said getting in Jean's face
"Eren!" Mikasa plead "not now"
"Ya Jean settle down," Marco said standing up and pulling Jean away
Groaning Annie got up and said "well if you two have enough energy to fight then you have enough energy to both go tell Levi that we're done, everyone else, take a break"
"How put you in charge!?" Eren blurted
'Bad move Eren' Armin thought he knew there was no point in trying to stop Eren from fighting, it was in his nature
"You wanna challenge me Eren?" Annie said coldly
"What if I do!?" Eren spat back obviously not thinking his actions out to well
Annie didn't respond she only fell into a fighting stance with her fist at eye level and feet spread shoulder with apart, almost goating Eren to try it.
Moving over Armin sat by Mikasa who at this point knew as well how futile it was to try and stop Eren. "So do we want to send someone while these two fight it out?"
"Na, let's just see how this pans out," Sasha said
"Might as well?" Mikasa said with a heavy sigh
Eren was the first to go for a strike, quickly he jabbed at Annie's stomach. With lightning speed, Annie both blocked his attack and simultaneously kicked Eren in the knee with enough force to send him forward to the ground.
"Had enough?" Annie said lowing her defense as Eren got back up
"You just got lucky!" Eren said going for another strike this time directed at Annie's head
Moving to the side Annie grabbed Eren by the hem of his shirt and sweep her leg at his knees dropping him backward on his back.
"Alright that's enough Annie," Mikasa said getting up "he's had enough"
Shrugging Annie let Eren up "anyone else?" Annie said looking around at the others, all were silent "alright Jean go get Levi"
Without a word Jean set off back to the house
"Well fought boss," Sasha said patting Annie on the back
"Hey, Annie?" Eren said as he sat back against the wall "How did you do that"
"Do what?" Annie said as she to sat against the wall
"That sweep," Eren said
"It's all gravity, and a little push," Annie said
"Well at least they're getting along," Mikasa said as Jean returned with Levi and Petra.
Levi looked around the barn for a while running his hand along most of the surfaces. Meanwhile, Petra sat down with the others.
"What happened to you?" Petra asked as she examined the scuffs on Eren's face and arms
"He tried to fight the boss, and failed!" Sasha said excitedly
Taking a moment Petra looked from Eren to Annie then finally said "the boss hm, well I suppose it suits you, just make sure you don't let the power get to her head Armin"
"R.. right," Armin said 'what do you expect me to do?'
"Well caption, is it good enough?" Petra said as Levi returned from his inspection
"It's a half-assed job," Levi said staring down at the younger musicians "but it will do, Petra go get the others, the rest of you go and get the instruments, it's time for your first lesson"
Quickly everyone gathered in the barn with all the instruments
"Alright," Levi said addressing Annie "you're in charge do you know what that means?"
"It means I take lead," Annie said confidently
"Yes and no" Levi said "your purpose is to maintain the order in the band, yes you're in charge but you don't lead them in the piece"
"So who does?" Armin asked
"That will fall to your lead," Petra said "for us that's me"
"Petra is the one who controls the tempo and direction of the band where she goes we follow," Levi said
"And if you notice you don't use sheet music," Erwin said "you move by feel and memory, at most you have chords but that's about it"
"Ok, so who's our lead?" Jean said, "does it have to be our vocalist?"
"No it doesn't have to be your vocalist, but more commonly it is," Levi said "for now you won't have a lead until we determine how you play together"
"For now you will separate into your individual instruments," Erwin said "Armin with Eld, Annie with Hanji, Eren and Krista with Levi, Sasha and Jean with Oluo and, Marco with Gunther" and so they all separated each going with their respective teachers.
As Annie and Hanji moved to the porch a thought suddenly struck her 'Hanji isn't part of Levi's group'
"So Annie you play violin right," Hanji said leaning on the railing of the porch "how long have you been playing"
"At least a decade," Annie said "I didn't get formal teaching until I got to middle school"
"Who was your first teacher?" Hanji asked
"My mother," Annie said
"Hm, and you only know violin?" Hanji asked
"Yes," Annie said not sure where this was going
"Alright, I'm sorry to tell you but your violin will have no use here," Hanji said genuine regret in
her voice "may I see your violin?"
Slowly Annie handed Hanji her violin practically shocked.
Examining the ivory violin Hanji noted the obvious age 'wow this must be at least a good twenty years old'
"Annie I want you to continue playing this instrument," Hanji said handing the instrument back to her. "But for now I will teach you how to play this" removing a tarp Annie say a large double bass "alright Annie do you know what this is?"
"It's a double bass," Annie said "it's like a larger violin"
"Kind of, unlike the violin you won't be using the bow very often" Hanji said picking up the large instrument "you strum at it with one hand and make the chord with the other, like so, your main job is to keep the tempo going" Hanji strummed at the springs producing a low chord "give it a try"
Taking the bass Annie began forming the chords and strumming the strings "Hanji, your not part of Levi's group are you?"
"No I'm a substitute member of Levi's elite combo," Hanji said as she watched Annie go through the chords chromatically "so I am usually the scout"
"Scout?" Annie said stopping briefly
"Keep going your doing good," Hanji said edging her back to the chords "the scout is the one who looks for jobs for the band, you will need to decide who among you will fill that position, the need to have a lot of connections and a fast talker"
Armin looked over at the porch where Annie stood with Hanji and the large double bass he sat with Eld at the piano watching his hand's crawl along the keys
"You don't play the melody," Eld said not looking up from the piano "you support the band with the chords, take over"
Quickly switching places without missing so much as a beat Armin was now at the piano playing the chords that Eld had, and Eld was sitting where Armin had been
"Move to the minor" Eld commanded. Confused Armin stopped not sure what he meant "quickly move to the relative minor!"
When Armin couldn't do that Eld stopped him tubing the bump above his nose he said: "what playing experience do you have?"
"My grandfather taught me and I played in a few recitals," Armin said quickly not wanting to upset the older man any more than necessary.
"Have you ever played jazz?" Eld asked an almost pleading tone in his voice
Thinking back Armin could remember playing a lot of classical and romantic era prices, but no jazz "no I can't say that I have" Armin said
"Ok," Eld said pausing to think for a moment "in jazz you need to think about where your likely to go, makes sense"
"Kind of," Armin said
"So if you're in C major what is your relative minor?" Eld asked
Taking a moment Armin finally said "a minor!"
"Right, now you need to be able to think of that faster" Eld said
"Why?" Armin asked looking down at the piano
"That's because you don't know exactly where your lead will go," Eld said "and you need to be there to support them"
From the dock's Mikasa could hear the bombastic sound of brasses who were somewhere on the side of the house. Mikasa was sitting on the dock listening to Petra talk about her role.
"You are the cover of the band," Petra said, "you are the first thing most people will see and here so you need to be able to hold strong, can you do that?"
"Of course," Mikasa said 'that's a dumb question'
"Prove it," Petra said a tease in her voice "sing"
"What do you want me to sing?" Mikasa urged
"Whatever comes to mind," Petra said with a smile
Hold me close and hold me fast
This magic spell you cast
This is la vie en rose
When you kiss me, heaven sighs
And though I close my eyes
I see la vie en rose
When you press me to your heart
I'm in a world apart
A world where roses bloom….
"Armstrong?" Petra said stopping Mikasa "a nice choice"
"Thank you, I remember Grisha always listened to Armstrong when he worked in his office," Mikasa said
"You have such a lovely voice, nice and deep," Petra said with a smile "it will help you but you need to be louder"
"Louder?" Mikasa repeated
"Won't I have a microphone?" Mikasa asked confused
"Not always, and you're at a severe disadvantage" unlike the others your instrument cannot be fixed by a repairman, so you will need to take extra special care of your voice, ok"
"Ok," Mikasa said
"Alright," Petra said with a grin "then let's hear what else you can sing"
"Pay attention Yeager!" Levi snapped as Eren turned slightly to the dock to see Mikasa and Petra. Eren, Krista, and Levi were on the front porch of the house. They each had their instruments on their laps, Eren and Levi with alto saxes and Krista with a smaller soprano sax
"Why I already suffered lessons from you before" Eren snapped back
"Ya but not like this, you haven't," Levi said letting out a heavy sigh as his gaze too wandered to where Mikasa and Petra sat. "you've never played jazz before, and it's different to the old show tunes I used to teach you"
"How so?" Eren asked taking the moment to get out of practice
"First off you're not playing by yourself," Levi said
"Well obviously," Eren said earning himself a smack on the back of the head "oww what the hell!"
"Will you two please not fight!?" Krista exclaimed as Eren crumpled in response to the pain in the back of his head
Ignoring Eren's crying Levi continued "your job now will be to create the "volume" you, and a little bit of Jean will be the ones who will create the size of the band, Krista, however, your job is different"
"Ok, what is my job?" Krista asked enthusiastically
"Well normally your part would be filled by something more along the lines of a clarinet, but you have a soprano sax, so your job is to provide a bit of a lift for Mikasa and add texture, your biggest problem will be being loud enough, unlike Eren who will need to try to be quiet enough"
"Why's that" Eren and Krista asked
"Eren could easily overpower the entire combo, and Krista you will have a little trouble being loud enough amongst all these bigger instruments," Levi said "so Eren, back off and Krista come out a little"
Sasha began to snicker as she heard the sound of Eren getting hit from the other side of the house.
"Something funny potato girl!?" Oluo said glaring at her
"Nothing at all" Sasha said straightening out.
"Alright then as I was saying….." Oluo said getting back to his long-winded speech about how the brass was the heart of the band. All Sasha and Jean could do was sit there and finger at their instruments. Jean had a shiny silver trumpet and Sasha had a dull brass trombone
'Gods it's been awful long since I done picked up a trombone' Sasha thought 'let's see where it middle school?, ya it must because I done changed ta tuba around high school'
From the direction of the house, Erwin walked over and said "that's enough lecture Oluo"
"But I was just getting into the most important part," Oluo said dumbfounded
"Oh don't worry there's always time tomorrow," Erwin said winking at Jean and Sasha "so let's see how good they are, play a little something for me"
They began slowly in quarters and eighths but no sooner then they started they quickly moved into fast sixteens and slow thirty seconds while still maintaining a large full sound
Stopping them Erwin said "ya, that's great you two will do just fine, just watch you don't burn yourselves out to fast"
Walking into the house Erwin saw Gunther and Marco going at it Marco was on the drum set and Gunther was watching stopping him every few minutes to point out mistakes and suggestions
"How's he doing" Erwin yelled over the sound of the loud drums
"He's doing real good," Gunther said an unusual smile coming across his face
"good, then let's wrap it up and reconvene in the barn" Erwin shouted back
Going around to the other sections Erwin repeated the order and in a few minutes, everyone was back in the barn waiting. Standing in front of them Erwin said "from the sounds of things you are all doing really good, so I think it's only fair that we don't work you too hard, so please take the rest of the day off, enjoy the lake"
After a brief moment of cheer, Erwin said "Levi I will want to have a discussion with your group before today's out so we can go over tomorrow's schedule, besides that the rest of the day is yours"
With that everyone disbursed and so ended the first day of official training.
Alright thanks for reading. Just a general disclaimer i don't play all these instruments so writing about them is a little challenging. Anyway let me know what you think
fox
