“This is a grand piano. Come sit with me,” she told Allara, having a seat on the bench.
Uncertain of what was going to happen next, Allara sat beside her.
“Look.” Selena opened a piece of white paper covered in lots of black lines and dots. At the top were alien-looking letters but after Allara stared at them for a moment she found she could understand them.
“Twinkle, twinkle, Little Star,” she read aloud, delighted to be able to read in an alien tongue. But no matter how hard she stared at the black lines and dots, they refused to resolve themselves into any kind of words she could understand.
“This is what we call ‘sheet music’,” Selena told her. “It’s music that has been written down so that everyone who sees it can play it the same.”
“The same? Every time? You would make everyone’s Song the same as everyone else’s?” Allara was horrified. “But everyone’s Song should be different—the Gods of All Creation have decreed it,” she protested.
“Maybe on your world,” Selena said firmly. “But on Earth, we like to write down a piece of music so that more than one person can enjoy playing or singing it.”
This put things into a rather different light, though Allara was still disturbed at the idea of trapping music on a page.
“So I take it these notes—those are the black dot things—don’t mean anything to you?” Selena asked, pointing to the paper.
Allara shook her head.
“I am sorry—no, they do not. I was able to read the name of this music, but the dots won’t make words, no matter how hard I stare at them.”
“They do make words though—or at least, phrases,” Selena said. “Watch.”
Placing one hand on the row of white and black rectangles, she began to play a simple tune. It was pretty and sparkly and left a sweet taste on Allara’s tongue. It was also over quickly.
When Selena finished, she smiled at Allara.
“See? That was Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. If you learn how to read music, you can play the exact same song that I just did.”
This idea—the idea that a person’s Song could be repeated exactly by many other people—was perhaps the strangest thing Allara had run across yet aboard the Mother Ship. One person might sing a variation of another’s Song, but they did not copy it exactly—nor did they need it to be written down in order to remember it. Music lived in one’s heart and sang in one’s soul—how could a person forget the sound of their own soul?
“And…I must learn to read these dots if I am going to play an instrument?” she asked.
Selena nodded firmly.
“Unless you’re some kind of prodigy and you can play without reading music.”
Allara frowned.
“Show me the twinkling star again, please,” she said politely. “But more slowly this time.”
“All right.” Shrugging, Selena put her hand on the piano again and played once more—slowly.
“May I try?” Allara found that she liked the tones of this instrument almost as much as the vio-lin and she was eager to try it out.
“Certainly. Place your hands—oh, I see you’ve already got it.”
Selena sounded surprised but Allara was only doing what she had seen the teacher do. Quickly and without effort, she also played the twinkling star song.
“Wow—pretty good for a first try.” Her teacher nodded in approval.
“Can you play more elaborate music, so that I can copy your Song?” Allara asked.
“All right. Try this one.” This time the music teacher used both hands. As she began to play, the Song of the piano flowed out, washing over Allara just as the sound of the string quartet had at her wedding ceremony the day before.
“Oh!” she gasped, putting a hand to her heart. “Oh, Gods of all Creation!”
“Are you all right?” Selena stopped playing at once and looked at her in alarm.
“Forgive me.” Allara shook her head. “It…this instrument, it speaks so powerfully. The feelings its Song gives me are nearly overwhelming!”
Selena frowned uncertainly.
“Wow, you certainly are, uh, extremely sensitive to music.”
“Music is life,” Allara said seriously. “Please tell me, what was the name of that beautiful music you were playing?”
“That was Fur Elise,” Selena told her. “It’s by a very famous Earth composer who lived centuries ago.”
“He is dead and yet his Song lives on?” Allara was amazed.
“Well, yes. That’s one benefit of writing music down,” Selena pointed out. “Even after you die, your compositions live on after you.”
“I had never thought of such things—I do not think any of the Q’ess have,” Allara murmured. “For us, when a person dies or is taken away, their Song is lost forever. How beautiful to keep it alive in this way!”
“Well, that is the point of writing things down—so you can keep them forever.” Selena smiled. “Maybe we should go back to teaching you to read music now.”
“But please, would you play that Furry Lease again?” Allara pleaded. “I promise I will not allow the feelings to overwhelm me this time—I was simply unprepared for the power of the grand piano’s Song.”
Selena smiled. “Sure, why not? It is a beautiful piece. That’s why it’s endured for so many years.”
She put her hands on the keys again and began to play.
Once more the music washed over her, but this time Allara forced herself to be still, despite the intense waves of pleasure. She watched the teacher’s fingers carefully, noting where they moved and how long they lingered on the shiny white and black rectangles. The music did some surprising things—getting faster and louder at different points, but in the end it returned to the same, swooning melody that made Allara feel shivers down her spine.
“So beautiful,” she murmured when Selena had finished. “I have never heard anything like it.”
“Well, thank you.” The other woman smiled. “I’m not much of a pianist—the violin is really my favorite instrument but—”
“May I try it now?” Allara interrupted her.
“You want to try playing Fur Elise?” Selena raised her eyebrows in apparent surprise. “But you’ve only heard it all the way through once.”
“I have captured this music in my heart,” Allara assured her. “Never will I let it go.”
“Uh, well—okay. I guess there’s no harm in trying.” Shrugging, Selena scooted over some, giving Allara more room.
“Thank you.” Setting her fingers exactly where her teacher had, Allara began to play.
She didn’t do too badly, she thought, though her reach was not as great as Selena’s, since she had small hands. But the notes rang true for her, just as they had for the teacher and the act of making the piano sing its Song was better than almost anything she had ever felt before.
When she finished, she turned to Selena who was staring at her with an open mouth. Oh dear—was her teacher upset with her? Had she done something wrong?
“Was…was that all right?” she faltered uncertainly. “I thought that every note was true—”