Author Note: I know even less about guitar and music composition than I do about piano. The composition program Sayo uses in this isn't real, I made it up.
As Sayo misclicked yet again, dropping another note in the wrong spot, she muttered a curse under her breath. She was still getting used to using this program, to trying to compose music on the computer.
Right now Sayo was working in her room, on a laptop she carried to school with her each day. Part of the requirement for her major was to buy the composition software and to have hardware that could run it.
One of Sayo's classes was entirely focused on how to use the software, which was good because she needed all the help she could get with it. They had learned to place all the different types of notes, a variety of shortcuts within the program, how to export the music, and many other things.
When each part was broken down, they were easy to understand. But when Sayo had to work in the software herself, to utilize all aspects of it together, it became more challenging to manage. It was much harder than writing the notes down on paper.
That was just the program. There was also the issue of actually composing music.
Most of Sayo's other classes were focused on this topic, on how to build compositions. She had learned about chord progressions, utilizations of major and minor keys, creating flow, setting tempos, and much much more. Every day there was something new to add to the mix, another moving piece that made up the gears of the machine that was composition.
Just like with the software, Sayo could handle the smaller aspects of it. She memorized each new technique and how they were used. In practice, she could apply them individually.
However, putting them together, creating something new from scratch, was a significant challenge. Sayo didn't like to admit it, but she'd been struggling in class with even short compositions. Each time, Sayo buckled down on the strategies she had learned. She used them one at a time to build her compositions, with varying levels of success.
One of Sayo's professors had assigned a composition as homework. This was the first time they were working without a template or on a specific skill. The instructions were to create a short, two page composition, utilizing the techniques they had learned in the first month of class. They were given one week to complete it, with an online dropbox to turn it in.
This led to Sayo working on the assignment in her room, sitting at her desk with the door closed. She had her notes open on the table next to her so she could reference them.
The assignment was due tomorrow, and she had already spent time earlier in the week working on it. She didn't have much done past choosing a tempo and key signature; she had spent a long time thinking with the blank composition in front of her.
Her guitar was sitting on her bed, out of its case. She had taken it out when she started, but hadn't played anything beyond tuning it.
The clock ticked on her desk, marking each passing minute.
Sayo's progress on the composition was slow. She focused on each technique that she'd learned so far, applying them to the piece one by one.
Sayo could hear the guitar parts from Pasupare's songs quietly through the wall. Hina must've been practicing in her room, which was just one room over. Sayo tuned it out to focus on her composition.
She placed each note and rest carefully, making sure they were all in the right spaces. She compared each segment to her notes and refined them to match.
It took a couple long hours to finish her composition. It was exactly two pages, which was the required length.
Sayo retrieved her guitar; she should at least play it once before submitting it. If she didn't, then she wouldn't even know how it sounded.
She sight-read her new piece, playing it from start to finish.
It was easy to play, at a straight forward tempo. The song flowed from her fingers, echoing quietly through the room.
When Sayo finished, she put her guitar back down. She looked back over the music, unsure of how she felt about the song. The sections didn't connect together very well. She also wasn't sure about the melody, it felt like something was missing.
Sayo went back to working on the composition, making tweaks to chords and trying to improve the flow.
The next time she looked at the clock, it was already 11:30. Sayo had class in the morning, so she needed to go to bed soon.
She looked over her composition one last time, not sure exactly what she was checking for.
Then she exported it from the program. This actually took a few minutes, since she had to go back to her notes on how to do it properly.
Once she had the file, Sayo located the online dropbox. She uploaded the file to it, decided not to write anything in the comment box, and then submitted it.
The webpage said, "Thank you for your submission!" in big, bolded letters. Sayo stared at it for a moment, before closing the window. She shut her laptop, leaving it to put her guitar away.
She was certain that her composition would be sufficient for the assignment.
Sayo glanced up periodically as she took notes, making sure to write everything down.
The professor, a shorter elderly man, stood at the front of the classroom. He was introducing the next component of compositions, the next piece of the puzzle. He was writing on the whiteboard, demonstrating how to do it.
There were about 30 other students in the room, all taking notes just like Sayo was. The sun beamed in through the windows, high in the afternoon sky.
Sayo needed to make sure she had it recorded exactly right, so she could use it later. She needed every tool at her disposal if she was going to get better at composing, if the pieces were going to work together.
"We have one last task today." The professor transitioned out of lecturing, erasing the board as he spoke. "Open the assignment dropbox from last week." He waited after speaking.
Sayo followed the directions, retrieving the laptop from her bag and opening it on her desk. She logged in to it and opened the online dropbox. The dropbox looked slightly different than when she submitted the file. Next to her submission, there was blue text that said "feedback".
At the front of the room, the professor continued. "Click on the feedback and download the attached file. You'll notice that you do not have a grade for the assignment."
Sayo complied, clicking the link and then downloading the file. Indeed, she hadn't been assigned a grade on the dropbox. It still said grade pending.
She located the file in her downloads. It had the same name as her composition and appeared to be the same file type. She also opened the composition program, since she figured she would need it.
"Next, open Compositor. On the top bar, find file, import, then select the downloaded file." The professor walked around the room, checking to make sure they were doing it right.
Sayo followed the designated path, importing the new file into the program. Her composition appeared on the screen. It was slightly different though, there were a handful of what looked like yellow highlights spread throughout the measures.
She moved her mouse over one, to see if it would do anything. When she clicked it, a window popped with a few lines of text in it.
The professor, after making his way around the classroom, had made it back to the front. "Once it's loaded, you'll see yellow marks where I've left feedback. You can click to read them. Use my feedback to revise your work and resubmit by Friday." He wrote that date on the board, told them to use the rest of their class time to get started on it, and let them get to work.
Sayo jotted down the new due date, before reading through the notes one by one. The first one was placed near the start and was positive, complementing her chord progression. The second criticized her technique in the middle, suggesting a specific change. The third, near the end of the piece, also recommended a specific tweak.
The fourth was at the end, after the last measure of the piece. This was longer than the previous notes, giving the professor's overall impressions of the piece.
This was what the last note said:
"Sayo, this is a solid first attempt! Your technique is sound and you have utilized the strategies from class well. For the second submission, work on the melody. I'm having trouble identifying the tone of the piece. What emotions are you trying to convey? Integrate them into the melody of your composition."
Sayo read the message twice, absorbing its content slowly.
What kind of emotion was she trying to convey with this song? Had she done that at all?
No, she hadn't. Sayo composed the piece with technique, not with emotion. They hadn't learned how to do that in class.
A wave of anger rose under the surface, as Sayo frowned at the screen. She'd been instructed to use the techniques from the course, not to create with emotion. Now here she was, receiving criticism for something that wasn't part of the assignment.
She scowled, reading the comment for the third time. Sayo glanced up at the professor, who was helping a student on the other side of the room. He hadn't so much as glanced at her during class today.
For a moment, Sayo thought about calling him over. She had done exactly what she was supposed to for the assignment, with only small changes needed.
As she thought about it though, as she continued to process the information, Sayo realized that would be a mistake. She didn't want to make a bad impression on this professor, especially since she would be in the program for the foreseeable future.
Sayo sighed and read the comment one last time. Her anger was fading, being replaced with resignation.
What technique would help her put emotion into this piece? She didn't know.
She had a lot of work to do.
As usual, Sayo went early to Roselia practice. She had been working nonstop on fixing her composition assignment, and she really needed a break from it.
She had already rewritten the melody twice, changing it out for a new one. Each time she finished she played it on her guitar, listening to how it sounded and flowed.
Each time it still felt wrong. Each new version felt worse than the last. There wasn't any emotion to it.
Sayo tried again. She sat at her computer, placing and deleting notes until she was sick at looking at the piece. It was barely the same piece as her original submission. She tried to give it emotion, but didn't know how to do it.
Roselia practice would be a great chance to get away from the dreaded task, to put it out of her mind for a while. Only four members were coming today, since Yukina couldn't make it, but it was still going to be a good practice.
Sayo was the first to arrive, so she checked in at the front desk. The studio was ready for her and she headed inside.
A few minutes later and she had her music stand and guitar ready to go. She played some of Roselia's newer songs, working to master the harder parts so they would be ready for practice.
Playing Roselia's music like this, she could almost forget the work waiting for her at home.
Unfortunately, almost forgetting wasn't the same as forgetting. Even as she played Song I Am, Sayo remembered the piece she had left unfinished.
Before she was even fully conscious of it, Sayo's fingers played the chord progression she'd developed for the piece. That was the one part of the song she wasn't redoing, the only part that seemed to work. She just couldn't figure out what should come before and after it.
Sayo played the most recent melody she worked on, wondering how it could be changed to convey emotion.
"T-that's not… a Roselia song." Rinko's familiar voice came from the entrance to the studio, barely audible above the amplified guitar. Sayo stopped playing abruptly as she looked over. Rinko approached slowly, her piano strapped to her back.
"It's for class." Sayo admitted with a frown.
Rinko set her piano down, unzipping the case. "You wrote it?" She sounded genuinely interested.
Sayo wasn't one to lie, but in moments like these she wished she was. "I did, yes. It's the first full composition assignment." It was embarrassing, being heard playing something that needed so much more work.
The conversation dwindled as Rinko set up her keyboard. She then set up a music stand, where she placed a handwritten piece of music. Sayo couldn't see it too well, but it appeared to be a new Roselia song.
She knew Rinko did most of the compositions for their music, but they hadn't created a new song since before graduation. Rinko certainly knew how to convey emotion through music; Roselia's music was full of it.
Sayo watched as Rinko started playing the new piece, slowly playing a few measures before leaning forward and erasing something.
What was in the way of asking for help? Just her pride, really. But Rinko had already heard the song; asking for help wouldn't be a bigger blow than that.
Besides, this was Rinko, this was Roselia. If there was one thing Sayo had learned over the years, and there were many, it was that she could count on her bandmates.
"Shirokane-san," Sayo got her attention, pulling her eyes away from the sheet music. "Can I ask you something?"
Rinko set her pencil down on the stand. "O-of course."
"What techniques do you use to convey emotion in compositions?" Sayo asked about the gear she was missing, the part that would make the whole composition work.
Rinko's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but quickly returned to normal. "I-I'm not sure… that there are techniques… for that." Sayo's heart sank; she was afraid of that answer. She must've looked upset, since Rinko quickly continued. "It's more about… the heart."
Sayo wasn't sure what to make of that. "The heart…" She repeated the words, turning them over a few times.
"To put emotion in your music…you have to feel it first." Rinko explained. She lifted her hands to the keyboard, and played for a few moments. The melody was unfamiliar to Sayo, but it was slow and soft. It was comforting to listen to.
Sayo frowned, thinking about all of her attempts so far. Mostly she had felt frustration while composing. "How though?" That was what she didn't understand.
Rinko stepped around her keyboard, approaching where Sayo stood. She stopped in front of her, lifting one hand to the neck of Sayo's guitar. Her eyes were down on the instrument as she replied.
"Compose with the guitar… rather than the sheet music." Rinko always spoke softly, but at this distance her voice seemed even quieter. "D-don't worry about technique and… put yourself… into the song." Her eyes came up, locking onto Sayo's. "It takes practice… but you can do it." Rinko's voice was encouraging.
The two stayed like that for a moment, as Sayo processed Rinko's words. It was completely different than what she'd been learning in class, a whole different approach to composing music.
"Thank you." Sayo finally replied, "I appreciate your help."
This brought a smile to Rinko's face, which was a welcome sight. "A-anytime." She stuttered as she backed away, returning to her keyboard.
Sayo flipped open her bag to grab her notes. She jotted down Rinko's advice, so she would be sure not to forget it. She committed to trying it later.
It wasn't the same as the techniques she'd been learning, but it would certainly be just as helpful.
Sayo sat on her bed, guitar in hand. Her bedroom door was shut.
She took a deep breath, and began to play.
She thought about Rinko's advice.
How did she feel today? She felt frustrated, but also hopeful. She had enjoyed Roselia practice, but messing up notes during it was irritating. Which of those emotions did she want to channel into her composition?
Sayo played her guitar, searching for the melody to match. She put aside the strategies she had learned, at least for now, and listened carefully to her own playing.
She looked for not just a gear or part of the composition, but for its heart.
After a while, after strumming and playing and searching, she found it.
End Note: I've been adding things to the outline and the project is slowly growing.