Feedback: it's like oxygen.........
Part Four
Dawn looked up briefly as Buffy dashed out the front door, before returning her surprised look to her tutor.
"What was that all about?"
Giles' equally intrigued expression answered her even before his voice caught up.
"I have absolutely no idea."
Her eyes widened. "Really? I thought you and Buffy always knew everything about each other."
He took great care not to look her in the eye as he replied, more to himself than she. "It's been quite a while since she's confided in me about anything, actually. But then, I suppose I deserve that."
"Hmm." Dawn watched as various emotions played across his face and chose not to press the matter, opting instead to revert to their previous discussion. "So... anyway... you were saying?"
"Pardon? Oh. Yes. Now, where was I?"
"You told me the notes and then started saying about these... bar thingies... under the strings."
"Frets, Dawn. Those 'bar thingies', as you so eloquently put it, are called frets. Hence the name, fret board."
She giggled as he grinned at her, each enjoying their teasing banter.
"Okay, so... what do I do with them? What are they for? Am I meant to fret about them?"
"Ha, ha." He responded with an expression that clearly told her how awful her pun was. "I'll show you." After thinking for a second, he rested his guitar back on its stand and put his hand in his pocket, fishing around until he found what he'd hoped to find. Retrieving a roll of papers, he proceeded to pull the elastic band off them, chuckling a little as he became aware of Dawn's inquisitive look.
"What-?"
"It's to... prove... for lack of a better word, what those frets are for, while proving that the reasoning is not limited only to guitars." As he spoke, he pulled the band tightly between both hands and rested them on the arm of the chair. "If you'll come over here, Dawn, I want you to do something for me."
Obediently, she raised herself onto her knees and shuffled over to him.
"Strum the band. Just rest a finger on it and pull it toward you slightly." Without question, she did as asked, flashing him a confused smile as the rubber quivered under her touch, its resonance producing a soft, strange note that soon died. Before she could question him, he instructed her again. "Now, with your left hand, Dawn, I want you to depress the band anywhere you like. That's it. Now, try strumming it again."
Again, she obeyed, smiling again in confusion as the elastic hummed at a higher pitch. "I don't get it. Why-?"
Giles ignored her half-spoken question. "Let's try that again. Try depressing the band in a different place." She moved the pad of her finger left, closer to his fist. "There. Now, try-"
Anticipating his instruction, she pulled lightly on the band again, this time beaming at him in dawning realisation as a lower note sounded.
"-Again." Giles found himself chuckling as he realised the belated nature of his words.
He watched as she scrambled back to her guitar, picking it up and testing her theory on the strings. She grinned triumphantly up at him as her left hand slid closer to the body of the guitar, while the pitch of the thin string she was strumming increased.
He smiled back at her, his gaze full of affection and pride. "I always knew you were brighter than you let on, Dawn Summers."
"You did? I am?" She looked up at him in surprise at the compliment, trying - unsuccessfully - not to blush with delight.
"Mm-hmm." Still smiling tenderly, Giles nodded, allowing himself to bask for a moment in the simple pleasure a few words could bring a person. For too long - in his mind - Dawn had been unintentionally cast aside as all attention focused on her Slayer sister. Since moving to Cleveland, things had changed for the better, but still Giles knew that there was room for greater improvement when it came to appreciating the younger Summers for who she was and what she could offer.
"Thank you." Her voice was soft as she carried on fiddling for a minute, before fixing a questioning gaze upon him once more. "What I don't get is why you used that rubber band. Wouldn't it have made more sense just to pick up your guitar and show me what you meant?"
"In some ways it would... and I expect any other teacher would have done so. But you know me, Dawnie. I like to do things my own way."
She gave a sweet smile at his unexpected endearment, before it widened into a cheeky grin. "Like Buffy."
Giles grinned along with her. "Yes, I suppose so, in some ways."
"So, why-?"
"I thought I'd try out the reverse of how I learnt to play." In response to her suddenly fascinated expression, he explained. "You see, when I was a boy, it was quite fashionable for a child to excel in the arts - particularly musically. Everybody wanted to have a prodigy for a son - or daughter - and my parents were no exception. Dad wanted me to play the piano - he thought it would bring in some serious money in the future, I suppose - but it proved too expensive, so Mum talked him into a compromise... the violin. I got about as far as grade four in the space of just five years; the tutor I had pushed me as hard as possible and as a result I hated it with a passion. Not the music... just the constant pressure I was under. When I left home, I vowed I would never pick up an instrument again." He chuckled mildly, mid-explanation as a memory passed fleetingly through his mind. "Of course, when I saw how crazy the girls went for musicians - guitarists in particular, I re-thought my opinion and well, the rest - as they say - is history."
"Wow." The word came out on a single breath of amazement as Dawn looked up at an old friend through new eyes. In sharing those memories, she felt like he'd allowed her to see a part of his soul. "So... how...?"
"Oh, learning was relatively easy. There are only two extra strings and all the semitones are marked clearly out for you. So, that's why I had you 'play' the band. I simply thought that should you find that music comes naturally to you, it would be useful for you to realise that there are no limits on what is musically achievable. Like I said, the guitar has frets, which define the semitones. However, if you wanted to take your musical interest further and maybe play something like the violin, the markings are not there and it can be very confusing unless you are aware of how the pitch should change."
"Huh. How about that? Semitones, huh?" She again returned her attentions to her guitar. "I knew there was a fancy word for it." She slid her thumbpad along the thick bass string, pausing to rest it on the second fret. "So, this 'E' string on this fret, means it's plus two semitones, which makes it a...?" She looked to him for an answer.
"An 'F'-Sharp. And it's a tone."
She blinked in bewilderment. "Who's a what?"
He chuckled at her expression. "Semi means half, so a semitone is half a tone. Therefore,-"
"Two semitones equal a tone. Okay, I think I'm beginning to understand this. Now all I need to do is learn these notes."
His chuckle grew as her expression told of her sudden realisation of the daunting task ahead of her.
"Well..." Feeling somewhat sympathetic for her, he leaned over to his guitar case, withdrew a folded sheet of paper from the storage compartment and handed it to her. "It's a good thing I came prepared then, isn't it?"
"What's this?"
"That, Dawn, is to be treated if though it's gold-dust. Everything you need to know about notes, tones, semitones and octaves is right there. Once you've learnt that, we'll progress to chords."
She glanced at the chart before her, raised her eyes briefly to meet his twinkling ones and looked back down at the paper with a frown.
"I'm beginning to think that this was a big mistake."