A/N: Usual disclaimer.
Thanks to all of my reviews. I really like reading them. Also, thanks to my calculus teacher again for not caring about what I am doing in her class and letting me write this chapter. More is yet to come.... I promise you that.
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Chapter 6: Twenty Questions
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Ashley stood, waiting for her first class to begin. When the door opened and three students came walking in. "Ah...Right, Good morning and welcome to your first year of music. I like that yall are here early. So, five points to each of you." She said with a smile. She then recognized them at the three that she had met last night: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger.
"Professor when are we going to decide what we want to play?" Hermione asked.
"Well Miss Granger, we will be doing that today. Hopefully, I will go over some of the basics of music theory, plus I have a little tradition that I always do with new students."
About five minutes past, the rest of the class entered her classroom and sat down in the seats, which were already assembled in several arches.
"Welcome, I am Professor Hammock. Don't get comfortable, you will be changing your seats into a proper concert set according to which instrument you decide to play. The instruments you have to choose from are: flute, clarinet, oboe, alto saxophone, French horn, baritone, tuba, trumpet, tenor saxophone, trombone, baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, bassoon, contra bass clarinet, contra bassoon, violin, viola, cello, upright bass, mallet percussion which will be mixed in with some piano music as well, and percussion. You may also choose to sing.... But you had better have a good voice or don't even bother trying. Now, what I want you to do is pick what instrument you want to play and as soon as you are done, then stand up."
Ten minutes went by and everybody was standing. "Now that you have chosen, I will tell you where to sit. Now these first two rows on my left, I want the violin people to sit here. The row behind them I want violas. The first middle row is for flutes. The row behind them, clarinets first, then oboes. Behind them, I want alto saxophones on the right end, French horns in the middle, and baritones on the left. Behind them, I want the trumpets on the right, tubas, baritone saxophones, tenor saxophones, trombones, bassoons, bass clarinets, contra bassoon and contra bass clarinets on the left. Mallet percussion, piano, and percussion are in the very back. I want cellos on the far right in the front rows and the upright basses on the stools behind them. Those that want to sing, in the back on the right, away from the percussion. Now move. I don't care if you are not with your friends or even with people in your house, just get to your section now."
Everybody was seated in their section looking very displeased sitting next to people they didn't know. "Good, now what I like to do is do a round of twenty questions. I know that some of you might be curious about me so ask away. When you ask, tell me you name so I can learn your names." Much to Ashley's surprise, nearly everybody's hand shot in the air. She called on a blond haired boy sitting in the alto saxophone section.
"Draco Malfoy. Where exactly are you from?"
"Well...I am from Midlothian, Virginia. I know most of you are probably saying 'Where?', well Midlothian is a suburb of Richmond which is in the center of Virginia. It is about 120 miles south of Washington D.C. I haven't lived there forever, I am really originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, which is on the coast of Virginia. Great place, surf, sand, parties, everything to torment a vacationer's mind and make them spend money." She said with a laugh. "Next." She pointed to a red head in the trumpet section.
"Ron Weasley, what is your favourite quidditch team?"
"Quidditch... Hmmmm. Quidditch isn't that popular in America but I love it. My favorite English team is the Appleby Arrows. College Quidditch is popular in America though and my favorite team is University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels. Next." She pointed at a girl in the violin section.
"Pavarti Patil, Do you have a boyfriend?"
Ashley blushed slightly. "Well now.... Tad bit personal but I will answer it. My answer is yes, I do. I have been with him for about three years now. Next." Ashley pointed at a flute.
"Lavender Brown, Do you have any pets?"
"Yes I do, I have eight dogs. They're names are Newton, Magi, Shiloh, Jamie, Nina, Mars, Jazz, and Dolly. Newton, Magi, and Shiloh are Beagles. Jamie and Nina are Clumber Spaniels. Mars, Jazz, and Dolly are Great Danes. Next." Ashley decided to call on Harry Potter, who had his hand raise the entire time but it surprised her, he was standing in the back with the mallet percussion.
"Harry Potter, what instrument do you play?"
"Great question Mr. Potter. I play the piano; I have done that for about 25 years now. I play the clarinet, done that for about 14 years. I play mallet percussion, done that for 14 years. Percussion, for about 12 or 13 years. Baritone for about 10 years. Next." She picked a boy in the cello section.
"Seamus Finnegan, are you a pureblood?"
"Well I don't think that is important but I will answer it. I am a pureblood. Next."
After about another 45 minutes of questions, they were done. "Now onto to actual work. So write this down. Music theory, if you don't have theory first, then you won't understand how to play. Music theory is, the study of how long you would hold out each individual note, what key you play in, scales, what a time signature is and how it relates to music, how fast or slow to play a certain piece, and most of all, how to read the notes on the page. Now I am going to show you a piece of sheet music and show you what is what." Ashley held up a piece of piano music titled, "Walking in Memphis".
"This is a famous piece of music. The piano part is legendary in the music world. You see the title up at the top, who it was written by on the upper right and the tempo, or speed it needs to be played at on the left. It says Rock and there should be 132 beats a minute at the quarter note value. Below that is the staff, which consists of the notes, the key signature, the time signature, and the clef. The clef is the first thing on the left that top one is called the treble clef and the bottom one is the bass clef. There is another one which only violas read and that is the alto clef. Next to the clef is where the key signature is, before you ask 'Professor, there isn't anything there.' there is, that tells you that is should be played in the key of 'C' which is no sharps or flats. Next to that is the time signature, the number on the top tells you how many beats are in one measure, the number on the bottom tells you which note gets the beat. Now that is all I am going to cover for today. Your homework is to turn to the front cover of your book and copy down the rest and note tree and have is memorized for next class. Class dismissed." Her students stood up and left, mumbling about it being harder than it seemed at first glance.
Ashley sat down at the piano and began playing "Walking in Memphis". Some of the students turned back and watched her play. After she finished there was some applause, she didn't even acknowledge it, and she began to play another song by memory. After she finished, only Harry, Ron, and Hermione were still there.
"Professor, what was that song you just played?" Harry asked.
"Oh, that was my arrangement of the main themes from the movie Sense and Sensibility."
"That was amazing, you memorized the whole thing, it was well over four minutes long?' Ron asked in amazement.
"Yeah, one thing that I have learned over the years is to memorize everything you play. The reasoning behind that is that I was involved in marching band for four years and you couldn't bring your music onto the field and I belonged to DCI which is a drum corps and you couldn't bring your music to performances there either. So I just memorized everything I played out of habit."
"Wow, see you later Professor. Bye" With that, they left. Ashley sat back down and began to play "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring".
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A/N: Well that was another chapter. Hopefully you liked it. A little bit of a side note, her class is seperated by year only, not by house and year. It is the only way to get enough people for a full sized symphonic orchestra and chorus.
Thanks to all of my reviews. I really like reading them. Also, thanks to my calculus teacher again for not caring about what I am doing in her class and letting me write this chapter. More is yet to come.... I promise you that.
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Chapter 6: Twenty Questions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ashley stood, waiting for her first class to begin. When the door opened and three students came walking in. "Ah...Right, Good morning and welcome to your first year of music. I like that yall are here early. So, five points to each of you." She said with a smile. She then recognized them at the three that she had met last night: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger.
"Professor when are we going to decide what we want to play?" Hermione asked.
"Well Miss Granger, we will be doing that today. Hopefully, I will go over some of the basics of music theory, plus I have a little tradition that I always do with new students."
About five minutes past, the rest of the class entered her classroom and sat down in the seats, which were already assembled in several arches.
"Welcome, I am Professor Hammock. Don't get comfortable, you will be changing your seats into a proper concert set according to which instrument you decide to play. The instruments you have to choose from are: flute, clarinet, oboe, alto saxophone, French horn, baritone, tuba, trumpet, tenor saxophone, trombone, baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, bassoon, contra bass clarinet, contra bassoon, violin, viola, cello, upright bass, mallet percussion which will be mixed in with some piano music as well, and percussion. You may also choose to sing.... But you had better have a good voice or don't even bother trying. Now, what I want you to do is pick what instrument you want to play and as soon as you are done, then stand up."
Ten minutes went by and everybody was standing. "Now that you have chosen, I will tell you where to sit. Now these first two rows on my left, I want the violin people to sit here. The row behind them I want violas. The first middle row is for flutes. The row behind them, clarinets first, then oboes. Behind them, I want alto saxophones on the right end, French horns in the middle, and baritones on the left. Behind them, I want the trumpets on the right, tubas, baritone saxophones, tenor saxophones, trombones, bassoons, bass clarinets, contra bassoon and contra bass clarinets on the left. Mallet percussion, piano, and percussion are in the very back. I want cellos on the far right in the front rows and the upright basses on the stools behind them. Those that want to sing, in the back on the right, away from the percussion. Now move. I don't care if you are not with your friends or even with people in your house, just get to your section now."
Everybody was seated in their section looking very displeased sitting next to people they didn't know. "Good, now what I like to do is do a round of twenty questions. I know that some of you might be curious about me so ask away. When you ask, tell me you name so I can learn your names." Much to Ashley's surprise, nearly everybody's hand shot in the air. She called on a blond haired boy sitting in the alto saxophone section.
"Draco Malfoy. Where exactly are you from?"
"Well...I am from Midlothian, Virginia. I know most of you are probably saying 'Where?', well Midlothian is a suburb of Richmond which is in the center of Virginia. It is about 120 miles south of Washington D.C. I haven't lived there forever, I am really originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, which is on the coast of Virginia. Great place, surf, sand, parties, everything to torment a vacationer's mind and make them spend money." She said with a laugh. "Next." She pointed to a red head in the trumpet section.
"Ron Weasley, what is your favourite quidditch team?"
"Quidditch... Hmmmm. Quidditch isn't that popular in America but I love it. My favorite English team is the Appleby Arrows. College Quidditch is popular in America though and my favorite team is University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels. Next." She pointed at a girl in the violin section.
"Pavarti Patil, Do you have a boyfriend?"
Ashley blushed slightly. "Well now.... Tad bit personal but I will answer it. My answer is yes, I do. I have been with him for about three years now. Next." Ashley pointed at a flute.
"Lavender Brown, Do you have any pets?"
"Yes I do, I have eight dogs. They're names are Newton, Magi, Shiloh, Jamie, Nina, Mars, Jazz, and Dolly. Newton, Magi, and Shiloh are Beagles. Jamie and Nina are Clumber Spaniels. Mars, Jazz, and Dolly are Great Danes. Next." Ashley decided to call on Harry Potter, who had his hand raise the entire time but it surprised her, he was standing in the back with the mallet percussion.
"Harry Potter, what instrument do you play?"
"Great question Mr. Potter. I play the piano; I have done that for about 25 years now. I play the clarinet, done that for about 14 years. I play mallet percussion, done that for 14 years. Percussion, for about 12 or 13 years. Baritone for about 10 years. Next." She picked a boy in the cello section.
"Seamus Finnegan, are you a pureblood?"
"Well I don't think that is important but I will answer it. I am a pureblood. Next."
After about another 45 minutes of questions, they were done. "Now onto to actual work. So write this down. Music theory, if you don't have theory first, then you won't understand how to play. Music theory is, the study of how long you would hold out each individual note, what key you play in, scales, what a time signature is and how it relates to music, how fast or slow to play a certain piece, and most of all, how to read the notes on the page. Now I am going to show you a piece of sheet music and show you what is what." Ashley held up a piece of piano music titled, "Walking in Memphis".
"This is a famous piece of music. The piano part is legendary in the music world. You see the title up at the top, who it was written by on the upper right and the tempo, or speed it needs to be played at on the left. It says Rock and there should be 132 beats a minute at the quarter note value. Below that is the staff, which consists of the notes, the key signature, the time signature, and the clef. The clef is the first thing on the left that top one is called the treble clef and the bottom one is the bass clef. There is another one which only violas read and that is the alto clef. Next to the clef is where the key signature is, before you ask 'Professor, there isn't anything there.' there is, that tells you that is should be played in the key of 'C' which is no sharps or flats. Next to that is the time signature, the number on the top tells you how many beats are in one measure, the number on the bottom tells you which note gets the beat. Now that is all I am going to cover for today. Your homework is to turn to the front cover of your book and copy down the rest and note tree and have is memorized for next class. Class dismissed." Her students stood up and left, mumbling about it being harder than it seemed at first glance.
Ashley sat down at the piano and began playing "Walking in Memphis". Some of the students turned back and watched her play. After she finished there was some applause, she didn't even acknowledge it, and she began to play another song by memory. After she finished, only Harry, Ron, and Hermione were still there.
"Professor, what was that song you just played?" Harry asked.
"Oh, that was my arrangement of the main themes from the movie Sense and Sensibility."
"That was amazing, you memorized the whole thing, it was well over four minutes long?' Ron asked in amazement.
"Yeah, one thing that I have learned over the years is to memorize everything you play. The reasoning behind that is that I was involved in marching band for four years and you couldn't bring your music onto the field and I belonged to DCI which is a drum corps and you couldn't bring your music to performances there either. So I just memorized everything I played out of habit."
"Wow, see you later Professor. Bye" With that, they left. Ashley sat back down and began to play "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Well that was another chapter. Hopefully you liked it. A little bit of a side note, her class is seperated by year only, not by house and year. It is the only way to get enough people for a full sized symphonic orchestra and chorus.
