Ponyville Music Lessons (Open!)

[NeoExlucky]

Octavia sat in the middle of the music shop that a friend of hers had let her use. There were instruments lining the walls, and there was a few chairs that stood around a larger chair. Octavia paced the room, with a large grin on her face. Standing on another side of the room was a blue crystal pony with a flower on her flank. "Don't worry, Tavi, there's bound to be somepony here that wants to learn how to play music." Diamond Dust told her friend.

"Oh, I do hope your right, Dia, I would love to teach anypony here." She continued to pace. The pair of friends had known each other for a little while now, they met at the music convention and both spoke about opening a music tutor shop in ponyville, where Octavia would teach for a little while. She didn't know who she would meet. Maybe she'd tutor some foals, or perhaps some adult ponies who had a very bad musical talents. Either way, she wanted to teach somepony how to play something! The grey mare once again checked sign on the door to make sure it said open.

Open!

[Mojo]

Haywire

Walking down the street, a rust colored blank flank filly soon spotted the sign on the Music Shop. Haywire had trekked to Ponyville when she heard word about music tutoring. That and to get away from home, after pulling her lastest prank on her older brother and sister. The blonde filly's idea to use the old 'snake in the can' trick on her brother Hayseed got a laugh out of him. But when her older sister Haymaker opened her 'can', she got so scared she screamed and hid under the kitchen table. The look of furious anger on her sister's face sort of made Haywire decide to spend the rest of the day in Ponyville (no pony wants to be around Haymaker when she's angry). So, wanting to make constructive use of her time, the rust colored filly decided THIS was the perfect time for music lessons.

"Hay, maybe this here's what I need ta help out with mah family," Haywire said as the saddlebag laden filly walked through the door.

"Howdy! Y'all the ones given music lessons here? I could sure use'm!"

[NeoExlucky]

Both the crystal Pony and Octavia looked over with a large grin. "See? What did I tell you Tavi?" The crystal pony chuckled. Octavia was full of cheerful excitement. She trotted over to the small filly. "Indeed, my little friend. My name is Octavia. I would be your instructor. Do you already play an instrument or would you like to take one from our selection?" She gestured towards the wall of instruments. There were several kinds up there, including harps, Drums, woodwinds, very shiny brass instruments, and of course; a cello, which Octaiva insisted to be there.

[Mojo]

"That's really dandy!" the country filly neighed with delight. "Whar's mah manners, I best introduce mahself. Name's Haywire and I live on a farm with mah older sister and brother not far from town. Mah family and I sing and play in our own band, we jist call ourselves the Hay Family Band. I know it ain't much of a name fer a band, but we ain't no fancy kinda band. We play country music fer square dances and things like that. Mah sister Haymaker plays a fiddle while mah brother plays a washtub base. I play my harnomica and sometimes, mah juice harp, but I wanna learn ta play somethin' else. I figger if'n I kin learn another instrument, I could help out a lot more with songs in the band! Hay! Lookie at that thar king sized fiddle over yonder! That thing's bigger than I am! Betcha need ta find some musclebound pony ta hold THAT thing under their chin!"

[NeoExlucky]

"King sized fiddle...?" Octavia asked, slightly puzzled by the little filly's remark. She scanned the instruments and there was indeed a viola or as her family might have called it, a fiddle. However it was far from king sized, even Octavia thought it small, however it was when she turned to the cello that her eyes lit up with understanding. "By chance to mean that instrument?" Octavia asked in a very gentle voice. "My dear that is not a...er...king sized fiddle...that is a high quality, mahogany, recently tuned, highly polished Cello. I've actually earned my fame, and my cutie mark, for playing that." She said, reminiscing about her young days as a foal, oh how that felt like years. "It looks heavy but it isn't that hard to hold, I used to carry mine around for such a long time. If you'd like to at least inspect the instrument, I'm sure my friend will be able to find you a smaller one. One to match your...height." She said rather warmly.

[Pretzelparty]

Through the door of the shop a small dark brown filly came and waved silently to the three ponies inside. This was incredible, a music shop had finally come to Ponyville. Not just any music shop either, but shop run by the great Cellist Octavia Melody. Bebop positively adored music and she practiced quite a bit with her harmonica and she was an excellent guitarist but given how she loved the sound of every instrument (except the kazoo) she would love to see if she was able to play them all despite how far fetched it seemed.

taking a few steps inside she noticed that the proprietors of the shop were a bit preoccupied with a rust colored little filly so she decided she'd write down a message and lay her notepad on the floor in the hopes somepony would see it by her when they were done. The notepad read simply,"Hi there, I'm gonna be over here once you're done with her."

[NeoExlucky]

The blue crystal pony noticed the small filly in the corner. With her notepad on the ground. She trotted over to the pony, with a warm grin on her face. She read the notepad, gave a bit of a frown, then spun it right side up so she could read it properly. She looked up at the filly with her grin again. "Octavia, think you have room for one more?" She called. The musical earth pony turned her head so that she could see the brown filly. "Of course, send her over will you? We were just discussing what instruments to experiment with." She sang. ​Come on over, dear." The crystal pony beckoned and moved back towards Octavia.

[Mojo]

As Haywire listened to Octavia's answer, she then heard the new filly enter. The young rust colored Earth filly was always very eager to make new friends so she turned towards her to see where she would go. When she saw the new filly enter and heard the conversation, Haywire motioned for her to join them.

"Hay thar! C'mon over! Like mah brother says, the more the merrier," the blonde filly neighed. "Maybe y'all kin teach us together! Well Miss Octavia, I don't know if'n I wanna play one of them thar, Cello thingies. Kinda looks like a fancy verson of mah brother's washtub base. And since mah sister plays a fiddle already, I was thinkin' I could learn ta play a guitar or maybe a banjo if'n ya got one."

[Pretzelparty]

The little filly turned around and smiled at the blue crystal pony and then and Haywire the notepad before Diamond Dust was engulfed in her light orange magical aura and liftedt into the air along with a pencil that wrote down the word "Thanks" upon it before she eagerly galloped over to the pair and started swiftly righting down something in her book. She tore out on page and hoofed it to Haywire, on the page it said,"Nice to meet you! I'm Bebop, what's your name?"

The second page she hoofed to the grey earth pony. The little filly while she couldn't speak seemed definitely excited to be here as it looked like she could hardly sit still. If Octavia took the time to read the not it would say...

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Octavia. I'm Bebop and I know how to play both the guitar and the harmonica. I'd like to learn how to play more instruments though!"

[NeoExlucky]

"A guitar or Banjo hm? Well it is a good thing I'm proficient in both, though not as well as some of the other instruments here..." Octavia said, trying to sound very cheerful. She was a bit upset about Haywire's decision on instrument choices. She was glad that the young filly took an interest in music, but Rock and roll wasn't all that appealing to Octavia, and country music...well it wasn't exactly something a mare of her status would play outright. She did know how to use both, through an old friend of hers, however Octavia wasn't sure if she could teach them everything.

She turned towards the other filly, and noticed a notepad being raised above the foal. She read and looked down at the filly with a welcoming smile. "It's nice to meet you. You can just call me Octavia, dear, I think our options are set here." She looked at the two fillies. "We can play the banjo, since after all, neither of you two know how to play. That is all right with you, isn't it dear?" She asked Bebop. Octavia couldn't help but wonder about the notepad. Why did she use it? Was she just too shy to speak with her? Maybe she had a sore throat today, perhaps from singing too much or yelping in delight from a game of some sort. Her mind wandered around what it could be.

[Mojo]

Haywire listened with interest to Octavia and the words from Bebop that she read outloud. Though the rust colored filly really didn't understand why the newcomer filly was writing everything down instead of speaking, Haywire wanted to be polite and not ask about that. After all, the blonde filly realized that the worst way to make friends is to ask them too many questions that could make them feel uncomfortable. Instead, she smiles at Bebop and offers a hoof to shake.

"Nice ta meetcha, Bebop! I'm Haywire! I'm here fer musical lessons too! I'm hopin' ta learh how ta play banjo, how about you?"

While she waited for an answer, she turned to Octavia.

"If'n ya don't mind mah askin', how much do yur music lessons cost? I got some bits here I made from sellin' stuff I made, so I kin pay."

[NeoExlucky]

Octavia felt another warm feeling that started in the pit of her stomach, and traveled around her entire body. She turned to Haywire and with a twinkle in her eye said, "No no, I do not take Bits. The lessons I teach are free of charge, I have plenty of money already." She had another thing on her agenda though. She hoped that her acts of kindness would help rub off on these foals. After seeing some ponies be very greedy before, she wanted to make sure that the adults of the next generation would be less greedy, and focus more on experiences rather than money. She already had plenty of bits from playing concerts, not to mention her family which was already very wealthy, Octavia found no reason to charge for the lessons, though she would charge for buying instruments but they would be at a discounted price. 'Kindness by pony kindness' was what she hoped to accomplish.

[Pretzelparty]

Bebop smiled at Haywire and shook the offered hoof, her horn still glowing the pencil looked like it was going to write something but took a pause as bebop took a second to think. Soon enough the pencil wrote down,"Hm... I guess I could try and learn the Saxophone. I always loved the smooth sound it makes."

Bebop turned to Octavia as the rust colored filly asked about how much this would cost them and upon hearing that the lesson were free she practically jump in the air with glee, her mouth moving as if she was shouting for joy although it was utterly silent, luckily her notepad and pencil conveyed her thoughts on it simply enough,"Yippee! Free lessons! When do we start again?"

[Mojo]

Haywire smiled as she shook Bebop's hoof. Then she smiled even wider as the rust colored filly read Bebop's written note.

"You're gonna learn the saxophone? That's great! I do love sax music, but it wouldn't do me no good ta learn it cause mah family band plays country and bluegrass. Whereabouts do ya hail from? I live on a hay farm outside of town."

Then she turned towards Octavia.

"Miss Octavia, I think I heard of ya before! Didn't ya dressed up all blue like an' wear a straw hat an' play in the band durin' the Nightmare Night a few years ago? If that wasn't you, sure looked a lot like you!"

[NeoExlucky]

Octavia nodded. ​"The saxophone then? I think we can do that. Dia, two saxaphones and two banjo's please." As Diamond Dust went into the back, Octavia turned to Haywire and said, "Indeed. I make it a habit to come to Ponyville for nightmare night every year. That year I was asked to play with the band. It was quite a fun night." She remembered back to that day. There certainly had been quite a bit of commotion, or so she was told. Octavia never really witnessed all of what happened since she had left a bit early due to a stomach pain. She guessed it was from eating one too many sweets, which she sometimes had a weakness towards as it happened almost every nightmare night.

[Pretzelparty]

"You're gonna learn the saxophone? That's great! I do love sax music, but it wouldn't do me no good ta learn it cause mah family band plays country and bluegrass. Whereabouts do ya hail from? I live on a hay farm outside of town."

Bebop thought for a moment as haywire spoke, she had passed a hay farm on her way to her grandparent's house when her parent's dropped her off before they went on tour. Could that be the farm Haywire was talking about? Bebop quickly began to write something down.

"I think I may have passed your farm when I first came here! Anyway, I was born in Dodge Junction but my folks are always traveling since they're on tour. If you like jazz music at all you might have heard of them!" she wrote down as her expression gave off an implication on the topic of her parents.

[Mojo]

Haywire quickly read Bebop's latest written note.

"Wow! Dodge Junction! I heard a lot about Dodge Junction, sounds like a great town! Ever been ta Appleoosa? Me and mah family went thar once ta play fer a square dance. It was great, but I kinda got inta a little bit of trouble fer takin' a pie, but that's another story. Ya passed by a farm, ya say? If'n it was mah farm, you'd probably seen mah older brother and sister out in the field! Mah brother was supposed ta be harvestin' today, he's a big ol' brown stallion with a cowboy hat on and he'd be pullin a big wheeled contraption behind him! An' mah sister? Can't miss her! She's tall, red maned and probably the only pony in all of Equestria with a boxing glove cutie mark! Can't miss it! And yur parents play jazz? I like jazz mahself, but when I try ta play a jazz record at home, mah sister yells at me. Course, I like listenin' to it really loud, but I crack up the volume cause all I want all the barnyard critters ta hear it too!"

When Haywire saw that two sax and two banjos were requested by Octavia, the eyes of the rust colored filly lit up.

"Hay Miss Octavia, are ya gonna be give'n Bebop an' me music lessons on BOTH of them instruments? That'd be GREAT!"

[NeoExlucky]

"Of course I am, my little pony. Though you will have to be a bit patient with me. I cannot possibly dream of playing a saxophone and a banjo at the same time." Octavia told Haywire with a bit of a giggle. It was a bit of a joke, but Octavia is very bad at making jokes. She actually had played a banjo and a saxophone at the same time once, though she had a little help with the saxophone part. Diamond Dust soon returned from the stairs, carrying several objects in her mouth and laid them on the ground. There was 2 banjos, two saxophone, two standing holders, two neck piece holders, and a few books. Octavia rearranged everything into neat little piles, handing a banjo to Haywire and place the saxophones around the neck holders, they were similar in appearance to holders that held cameras. Octavia handed it to Bebop and then began setting up the stands so they could hold the music books. Once it was done she turned to the fillies. "Alright then, who wants to go first?"

[Pretzelparty]

"Alright then, who wants to go first?"

Bebop leapt up and waved her hoof in the air, sloppily but swiftly writing out ,"ME! I'd love to go first!" the dark brown filly jotted down with a grin. Settign the notebook down and taking a seat where she was she levitated the saxophone to her lips and made her first attempt at playing.

In her excitement to try and mimic one of her grandparent's records she blew as hard as she could... although she was used to playing a harmonica. A saxophone needless to say requires a lot stronger lungs than that of a little filly who only played a small instrument she carried around in her saddlebag. Instead of a loud and passionate sounding solo she was treated to weak and pitiful sounding,"Toot!" followed by a blush and nervous smile from bebop.

[Mojo]

"Sure, go right ahead Bebop!" Haywire neighed as her new unicorn filly friend went first. When Bebop played a very sour note, Haywire resisted the urge to laugh, not wanting to embarrass her.

:"Well, that ain't bad fer a first try," the blank flank filly said, trying to be supportive. "Ya done a whole lot better than I wouldda with that sax. I think maybe I best tone this here banjo up first."

Haywire began to strum each string on the banjo, listening carefully for the proper sounds. She'd watched her big sister Haymaker tune her fiddle from time to time and the blonde filly already had some understanding of musical scales from all her years playing harmonica.

"Looks like this here banjo's already in perfect tune, Miss Octavia, want me ta try a few chords fer ya?"

[NeoExlucky]

Octavia's eyes crossed for a second, as she jolted from the loud sound that bebop made. "Okay, that was a...interesting start. I believe your lips aren't in the right position. See, you need to keep your cheeks in and your lips out, kind of like you have a beak. Then blow, but don't use all of your air. You need to change your air based on what note your playing. Try a G note...er...press the top valve when your blowing this time."

The cellist turned to country bumpkin foal that was behind her. Remembering that she was going to play a banjo, and grabbed one near her. "Yes, let's see you copying me." She gave a few strums of the first two chords, then moved down towards the bottom, and thinnest chords, pulling on them twice and then finishing by playing the center chord and putting the banjo down. "There, try that."

[Pretzelparty]

"Well, that ain't bad fer a first try," the blank flank filly said, trying to be supportive. "Ya done a whole lot better than I wouldda with that sax. I think maybe I best tone this here banjo up first."

The little filly blushed deeply but gave Haywire a smile. The rust colored filly's comfort was more than welcome given the embarrassing display. Levitating her pencil over to the notepad on the floor she wrote down the words,"Thanks Haywire!" upon it. She'd listened to a lot of saxophone music in preparation for this and it seemed almost like a wast given the pathetic performance, but then she looked up to Octavia to hear her two bits on how she did.

"Okay, that was a...interesting start. I believe your lips aren't in the right position. See, you need to keep your cheeks in and your lips out, kind of like you have a beak. Then blow, but don't use all of your air. You need to change your air based on what note your playing. Try a G note...er...press the top valve when your blowing this time."

Bebop smiled a bit at Octavia, at least she was gentle with her criticism. The filly listened intently and hung on the the grey earth mare's every word. Taking a deep breath she moved her lips into the correct position and blew softly, using her magic she pressed down the top valve and she produced a soft and steady G note.

[Mojo]

As she patiently watched Octavia work with Bebop, Haywire began to pluck some of the strings on the banjo, listening to the unique sound each cord made. What the rust colored filly had failed to tell her teacher was the fact that she could learn musical instruments 'by ear.' It's the way she played with her family in the band, not using sheet music to play her harmonica or juice harp. So, using just her musical 'ear', Haywire began to play the banjo, trying to play to the tune of "Raise this barn" but missing several notes badly.

"Reckon this here's gonna be harder than I thought," Haywire admitted as she picked up a piece of sheet music. "Whoa! This here paper sure looks funny! Is all this here some kinda code?"

[NeoExlucky]

Octavia clapped her front hooves on the ground for bebop. "Very good! You'll be a master of it in no time!" She was actaully quite impressed with the little filly. It took Octavia two months before she could produce an actual note from a saxophone. Mostly because she never got her mouth position quite right, and she had burned her tongue on some delicious hay fries that had just come out from the kitchen.

She turned to the other filly and giggled at her question. "No...well...I mean...kind of." She said between laughs. "This is a music sheet. The characters on the sheet help tell someone what note to play, how to play, how long to hold, and when to not play. This sheet is really meant for a higher level of experience. We'll get to those soon enough. For now Haywire, why don't you try to play the top string, the one below that one, and keep going till you get to the end. Once you hit the last string, play them back to the top string. That's called a scale."