Music of the After Chapter 11, a coco fanfic

Back at Héctor's shack, Becca was keeping busy messing around with her new gift. This was her first time ever playing a guitar before. She had seen other people playing them, of course, so she knew how to hold it, but that was it. She experimented with different sounds, holding down several combinations of strings and strumming with her thumb. However, for some reason, every strum was sounding pretty much the same. Becca frowned in confusion. She didn't understand what she was doing wrong.

Meanwhile, Héctor was secretly listening while doing his best at pretending not to pay attention. He wasn't going to tell Becca that she couldn't learn how to play, but at the same time he didn't really feel like getting personally involved. He heard her sigh in frustration from the other room. He tried to tell himself that she'd be okay, but it didn't really work. Eventually, his fatherly instincts were too strong for him to fight, and he found himself suddenly standing in the doorway.

"You need to press down harder," he told her flatly.

"What?" Becca asked, not understanding what he was referring to.

"You need to press the strings down harder, chiquita. Or else your chords are going to keep sounding all the same," he repeated with more clarification.

"Oh, you mean like this?"

Becca pushed the strings until she had them up against the neck of the guitar, and then tried strumming again. This time, the guitar let out a different sound. Becca grinned up at him.

"So, what do the strings mean? Is each one a different note, like the different keys on a piano?" she wondered.

"Not exactly. You play chords on a guitar, not notes," he explained.

"Can you – show me?" Becca ventured carefully, offering the instrument towards him.

He responded by putting his hands up and taking a step back.

"I don't play anymore, remember? Why don't you go ask Chicharron? He's been playing guitar for longer than I have," he suggested, trying to sound casual.

"But, you know how to play. Why can't you just teach me?" she asked with a pout.

"I – can't teach you to play like those guys," Héctor told her stubbornly, crossing his arms and looking away from her.

"I didn't ask you to teach me to play like them. I want you to teach me how you play," she clarified more forcefully, giving him a hard look.

Héctor turned back for a moment to flash her a skeptical look, but then Becca's expression softened, looking up at him longingly, almost pleading.

"Please?" she asked earnestly, gazing up at him with big, round eyes.

Héctor could feel his convictions rapidly slipping away. Damn! Had he been this much of a push-over with Coco? He couldn't remember. Probably, though! He let out a long sigh. "Alright, I guess it wouldn't hurt to give you a few lessons," he consented wearily.

Becca's expression brightened as he took the guitar from her and sat down in his chair. He strummed it a few times before twisting one of the pegs on the end, listening carefully to the tune. Becca scooted the stool over, and he handed it back to her.

"Okay, how do I start?" she asked eagerly.

"Well, you put this hand here, and this hand like this," he said, positioning her hands so they were holding the guitar properly.

"Then you need to hold down certain strings to play different chords. This is to play the basic 'C' chord." He then moved her fingers so they were over the proper strings. Becca pressed them down and strummed with her other hand. It sounded kinda wonky.

"Remember, you have to push down hard, and flick the strings with more force," he strummed the bottom to show her what he meant. Becca nodded and tried again. "Okay – better. Now this is how to play the 'E' minor chord." He repositioned her fingers again, which turned out to be a little trickier.

"No, like this. No, no – you need to hold this finger here. No, not there – there!" The positioning was awkward, and Becca could feel herself getting frustrated already.

She huffed a sigh. "Ugh! This isn't working!" she whined.

"Well, what would you suggest?" Héctor asked, eying her.

Becca studied him for a moment. Then thought of something. She stood up from the stool, and without warning, turned around and plopped herself down right on his lap!

Héctor was – surprised, to say the least. He hadn't been expecting that! But as she settled herself on him, he felt a happy, warm sensation glowing in his bones. He couldn't believe she was comfortable enough with him to be willing to be this close. However, he supposed they had already been through a lot together, and he suddenly noticed the presence of a growing affection – one that he hadn't felt in a long time – not sense Coco. . .

"Kay, so, show me again," she told him, eagerly awaiting instruction, but when he didn't move Becca frowned and looked up at him in confusion, making sure everything was okay.

He coughed and cleared his throat when he saw her gazing up at him. "Oh, right. So – like this," he wrapped his arms around her and the guitar, putting his much larger fingers over her smaller ones.

He moved her fingers so they were resting on the right strings and pressed down with her, helping her strum the strings with the other hand. After he'd shown her the most basic chords, he moved onto combining them and syncing them to make a melody.

This went on for several hours, Becca picking things up pretty quickly until she could play a very simple song. Her previous music lessons were greatly helping her along. Héctor had not felt the desire to play music in so long, but this – this felt right, like he was passing his skills onto the next generation. He'd always wanted to be able to teach like this, but he'd never gotten the chance. It was like, she inspired something in him – something he didn't think he had anymore, making him feel like he wanted to create again.

Becca felt enthusiastic about the way things were going. Feels like I'm getting the hang of this! She thought excitedly. She was starting to really understand the feel of the instrument and the way the sounds were formed. She thought she could maybe pick out the notes on her own now. Héctor had leaned back to let her play on her own for a while, so she thought she'd try something out.

She wanted to try a folk song her dad used to sing to her and her little brother as a lullaby. Usually he just sang it acapella to them, but she though she might be able to piece out the notes – if she played slowly. So she began to sing, throwing in a note from the guitar every so often.

If I had another penny
I would have another gill
I would make the piper play
The bonny lass of Byker Hill