Re: Of Course It Hurts (Judy/Saya)

[Ozu Saya]

[Estate]

I can do that, Kyo responded. I'll probably make myself a quick cup of tea as well.

Be back in a few minutes, he called over his shoulder as he disappeared inside.

Moving quickly, Kyo gathered Judy's coat and ukulele, and a warmer coat for himself, then went to the kitchen to make tea and coffee. Within a few minutes, he had both hot drinks in thermoses he'd found in a cabinet (much easier to carry) and was headed back upstairs.

*****

Saya wondered what was going on when the music stopped after only a couple of songs. She heard the footsteps above her now that she was listening for noise, and after the quiet continued for several more minutes, her curiosity drove her through the music room and out to the living area just in time to see Kyo disappearing back upstairs with an armload of items, including Judy's ukulele.

She returned to her room, thoughtfully, and waited for the music to start again.

*****
Kyo returned to the balcony as quickly as he was able to hand Judy her coat first, set the ukulele next to her rocking chair, and then open one of the thermoses to sort out which was which.

[Judith Eastman]

[Estate]

Kyo returned to the sound of Judy noodling around on a "saxophone." Specifically, the older woman was trying her hand at the Sax solo from Your Latest Trick.

Once Kyo came back, she set the guitar aside to put on her coat.
"Thanks, darling," she thanked him graciously.
"You know, one of my greatest regrets is never learning to play the Saxophone. I'd always wanted to, but I never really found the right moment to master it. As an instrument, it's so smooth and elegant, isn't it?"

Judy smiled, and then took up the uke. It was much smaller than the guitar, and a little lighter.

[Ozu Saya]

[Estate]

Nice, Kyo said as he resumed his own seat, tucking the strap of the bassoon under his leg as he did so. It's a good sound. I must confess to a general preference for the woodwinds over brass, though. He grinned teasingly.

So, Saya told me you like 20th century popular music, and I know a few as bassoon and ukulele duets. Retrieving his reed from its soaking, Kyo settled the long instrument across his leg and played a few scales to warm up again.

How about this one? He played the first few notes of the melody.

[Judith Eastman]

[Estate]

Judy reached into the jacket pocket where she'd clipped her readers, and retrieved those.
"I've heard this one before. I know another song with a very similar name, too, but I'm not sure if a bassoon would fit into it," Judy answered.

Promptly, she joined in. She didn't sing on this go-through, as she was focused on hitting the right notes. It went fairly well.

"Shall we try again?" she asked.

[Ozu Saya]

[Estate]

Pulling the reed away from his mouth, Kyo answered, Sure. That sounded pretty good. I haven't practiced that one in quite awhile. I hope you didn't notice the spots I messed up. He didn't want her to feel like she was alone in not playing the song perfectly.

Let's take another run at it. I like this one. It gives me a good feeling. Kyo grinned wickedly before raising his instrument and beginning the song again.

[Judith Eastman]

[Estate]

Judy imitated a little rimshot on the body of her uke in response to that pun, before launching into the song once again. This time, she felt that it was much, much better.

"That was better. I can live with that," she replied. "Now, if I'd brought my handbag up, I'd find something on my PADD, but I wasn't that wise, so I'm at your mercy."

She looked over to Kyo.
"Do you have one on you? The wireless network's password is "password," by the way, no caps."
Judy wasn't the one who set it!

[Ozu Saya]

[Estate]

Definitely better, on both our parts. Kyo said with an appreciative nod. It always took him a little time to get out of his classically trained habits to play other types of music.

I don...wait. Kyo reached for the bassoon case and opened one of the outside pockets and triumphantly fished out a slightly larger than standard size, generic PADD. Ha. I do. I forgot. Entering his own password, then the network's less than secure one, he handed it over to Judy.

Feel free to look through it all. It's mostly concert pieces, but there are other files with decades of popular music from a number of different worlds. And we can download anything else we want. Make a file for 'Judy Music,' he joked.

[Judith Eastman]

[Estate]

"Haha," Judy replied with a smile, even as she did just that. Well, she called it "great music", but the essence was the same. Besides, was she not great?

"Now, let's try this song. The original singer had a cold when he recorded it, so my aged vocal cords should measure up pretty well."
Judy joked, but her singing voice had aged very well. She'd lost a little bit at the top end of her range, but she was still as capable on vocals as on any of her instruments (provided she wasn't drunk as a skunk).

[Ozu Saya]

[Estate]

Oh, your voice is fine, Kyo scoffed. Let me see, then. He stood and awkwardly scooted his chair next to Judy's rocker so that he could look at the music.

If it's not too complicated I can sight read it without too much trouble. Like I said earlier, improvisation is not easy on the bassoon. This poor little thumb right here- He paused to waggle his left thumb at Judy from behind the instrument. Has to control nine different keys on its own. Bassoonery is not for the faint of heart.

[Judith Eastman]

[Estate]

"That is absolutely incredible. Astounding, truly," Judy replied. "I definitely could never handle it."

She adjusted in her chair, and prepared to return to playing.
"Let's just try it and see how it goes, shall we?" she suggested, before launching into the song.

[Ozu Saya]

[Estate]

Let's do it, then, Kyo said, glancing over the first page of the music quickly as Judy began. He stumbled a little over the first few quick notes, but once the song got going, he was able to pick it up as parts repeated. By the time they finished the song, he was quite satisfied with how he'd done for a cold read.

Not bad, he said, stretching his fingers. Reaching for the PADD, Kyo returned to the shopping page where it now showed new suggestions based on the last song downloaded. He flicked through them, taking a look at the sheet music for a couple. What about this? he finally said. I know it a little.

*****
In her room, Saya lay on the bed, blankets pulled over herself, curled on her side, hands tucked under her chin, listening to the faint sounds of the music from outside. Slowly her eyes drifted closed as the sounds soothed her to a half-sleep, her tumultuous emotions finally releasing their hold on her.

[Judith Eastman]

[Estate]

Judy peered at the song, recognizing it rather quickly.
"I know this one. It's the same songwriter as the last one," she said. "Songwriters, actually, two of them. John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the most successful songwriting duo in Earth's history."

Judy held off on starting the song, just in case Kyo wanted to talk music history.

[Ozu Saya]

[Estate]

Mmm-hmm, Kyo mumbled around the reed, but pulling it away to add, I'm a little familiar with them. I may not play much music from that era, but my bassoon instructor was a fan. The Beach Boys, right?

[Judith Eastman]

[Estate]

"Beatles," Judy corrected, raising a finger. "They were from Liverpool. The Beach Boys were another band, from California. Both were great, don't get me wrong, but the Beatles were better."

She then decided to excuse Kyo's mistake.
"The second half of the 20th century had a lot of prominent, inventive groups. Something about the era really seemed to motivate creativity and inventiveness in music. It can be hard to tell them all apart, unless you're a big fan, like me. I really couldn't expect you to tell the Beatles from the Beach Boys any more than you could expect me to tell Beethoven from Bach."

[Ozu Saya]

[Estate]

Kyo grinned cheekily then allowed his eyes to widen in exaggerated horror as Judy claimed to not know the difference between Beethoven and Bach. Woman! You kill me! You don't know the difference between this...

He played the familiar notes of the first movements of Beethoven's 5th Symphony.

And this...?

The opening notes of Bach's cello suite in G Major.

I am shocked, I tell you. Shocked! Kyo could barely keep the grin off his face as he teased.