Log: Jason and Fio
Who: Fio and Jason
When: Sunday, October 30, 2011
Where: A music room
What: Practice
Jason listened intently as Fio played her piece. His eyes narrowed and his lips twisted into a frown every time she made a mistake. He clenched the pen tightly in his hand and tried not to stop her from playing. He had promised to let her run through the piece once. She would let him criticize her after. He settled for making notes on the score. Having a visual guide would make it easier to tell her where she was making a mistake in her playing. Once she played the final note, he thrust the papers at her. “Tell me if you understand.”
Fio glanced over the paper and all of the notes and sighed. "yes, I understand it. I didn't really make that many mistakes, did I?" It wasn't one of the pieces she had been working on as much, but she thought that she was okay at it, better than this.
“Yes, you did. You had most trouble, here and here. And this passage? It definitely didn’t sound right,” he replied, pointing out the places on the score. “I made notes on how you may rectify your errors. Or at least, minimize them.”
Fio bit back the sigh of irritation. All she wanted was to just relax for a bit, but it was three, so here they were working once again. " alright. I can work on that.do you know what you want for dinner tomorrow?" she asked quickly, trying to get his mind off of her rehearsing.
“Whatever’s fine.” He tapped the score and looked pointedly at her flute. “Start from the top.”
Fio sighed and nodded as she put her flute back up to her lips to play. There were a few places that she improved from reading his notes. Her hands fumbled again in the same passage. It was a difficult set of notes and she knew that it was a problem' but she kept playing through it. "Is that better?" she said once done and rubbing her fingers.
He bit his lip. There was improvement, how little that maybe. He nodded yes but was quick to add, “not enough. Again.”
After another look at his notes to pick which parts to focus on this time, Fio started again. This play through, two more spots seemed better. The one section was still wrong though, her fingers fumbling to hit the notes at the right speed.
Jason shook his head, not impressed with this run as well. “One more time. Focus, Fio.”
“I am focusing Jason. If you think you can do so much better, then why don't you play it.” She snapped at him, a scowl setting itself on her face. “This is the hardest piece I’ve ever played so back off a little.”
“I don’t play the flute,” he retorted. “This is your hardest piece? No. You’ll encounter harder and harder pieces. This? This is nothing. Do you think your competition is backing off? No. They will be practicing and practicing until they get it perfectly. So no, I will not back off. And you? You will play. Focus.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Why do even care? I don't even know why you’re making me do this! I’m sure they’re not backing off, but I’m also sure that they’re a million times better probably! Let’s face it Jason I suck and I’m gonna make a fool out of myself!”
His hands slammed down on the piano keys as he whirled around to face her. “So you just give up? Funny, I never saw you as a quitter.”
Fio jumped at the sudden loud sound of the piano. “Yeah, well I quit before! These people have years ahead of me. I stopped playing two years ago and just started up again now! I did it to have fun with music again. Why cant I just play for fun?”
“When is competition fun?”
“This was why I didn't want to compete!” She placed her flute down and took a deep breath. “I’m onna go take a break.” She got up and walked up and started outside to calm herself down.
Jason ignored her, turning his attention back to the piano. He had no doubt that she’d come back. He’ll grant her this break before pushing her to work harder. He gently ran his fingers along the keys before pressing down. He began playing a short piano piece to kill time while waiting for Fio’s return.
Mrs. Hodge sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose in her office down the end of the hall. She was finishing grading the latest test for her AP students when she heard the piano. It was a Sunday. Usually her students were as far from the music rooms as they could get. The playing was quite good. Curious, the tall, slender woman made her way through the hall until she reached the door and raised an eyebrow. That was a rarity. Jason almost never willingly played the piano. Silently she stepped into the door and waited for him to finish playing before clapping a little. “Very good, a little slow on the third measure though.”
“Maybe that was deliberate,” Jason commented as he launched into another song.
The teacher smiled at Jason’s comment. He was always so very serious into his music. Now and again she did worry a little he was too serious and involved in it. She listened as he played the next piece before speaking. “What are you doing in here? It’s a Sunday. You should be out and having some fun.”
“This is fun.” Granted, he was the only one to think that. He shrugged and kept playing.
She shook her head and smiled. “So I heard you’ve taken on a student of your own.” Mrs. Hodge was a sweet teacher, playful in her own way when she spoke to her students. They were her children and she fostered them throughout their time here at AWM.
“You can say that.” Although, he knew Fio would protest at being called his student. “I’m helping someone prepare for competition.”
“I heard.” Fio had spoken quite a bit about him, both good and bad. “I’m surprised. You don't usually take an interest in other students like that.” Despite her trying to foster that in him a little more than once.
“It happened.” That was all he could say about it, really. “Fio’s my friend,” he offered, hoping that would answer her question.
“Ah, I see.” Mrs Hodge smiled at that and looked the boy over. “She’s a strange one. Shows up out of the blue one day, asking for a flute teacher. It honestly surprised me when she said she hadn't played in two years after playing for me.” She laughed a little and shook her head. “Surprised me even more when she started talking about you helping her. I’m glad. It’s good for the two of you.”
Jason merely hummed in response. Was he even supposed to respond to that? He looked up from the piano, frowning. “She’s not back yet.”
“She? Oh is Fio here? I didn't see her when I came in.” That was surprising. “You got her practicing?”
“We’ve been practicing regularly. It took some convincing to get her to come today.” Everyday, after school, and then again after clubs, that was their schedule. Sometimes, he might even get her to practice through lunch.
There was a very surprised look on the teacher’s face. “Really? That’s amazing. No wonder she’s been improving so much since I placed her into the competition. That’s amazing you managed to convince her to do all of that. You’re making sure to give positive reinforcement, right?” Mrs Hodge smirked. This would be a perfect opportunity to help him work on teaching and leading others.
“No. Not...really.”
“Really? Hmmm.” She turned to face him more firmly. “Do you think that has been giving you the results that you want from her?”
“Not...really.” She had improved, yes, but that came at a cost. She had been storming out more frequently now that he thought about it.
Mrs. Hodge nodded at the boy. It was always easy to teach him, all she really needed was to lead him to the proper answers. “Fiona is an interesting case. She has quite a bit of promise actually, but her drive isn't there more than for her own entertainment. I wonder why....”
Jason shrugged. He didn’t know why that was the case either. “Perhaps, entering her in this competition wasn’t the wisest of moves.” He didn’t see what benefit it could bring to Fio and her playing if she wasn’t willing to put in extra work. Playing an instrument wasn’t as simple as anyone would think. It takes talent patience, hard work, and dedication, mostly talent. But talent won’t be enough.
“Really? Why do you say that Jason?” She smiled, trying to see where his mind was working. “Do you think I made the wrong choice suggesting it?”
“Competition...it’s to test your abilities against your peers. Fio...desires no such thing. She just wants to play. A recital would’ve been a better option.”
“Hmm, perhaps, but competition as you said pushes you to test yourself amongst peers, see how good you are compared to how good you can be.” She shook her head and raised an eyebrow. “You say she just wants to play, but deep down so do you and so do all of us. What’s the reason you started playing? Compare it to hers and see what differences are between you two and how it changes how you should teach. I teach you differently than I teach any of my other students, the same goes for her.”
“But I’m not teaching her. I’m helping her out. That’s what friends do.” He didn’t know where this conversation was leading to and he wasn’t sure if he liked it. Also, Fio has been gone for quite awhile now. Time was ticking.
“But in a way you are.” She moved to stand. and start towards the door. “I’ll see you in class on Monday, Jason.” She nodded her head to him and started out of the door just as Fio slipped back in.
“I’m back.’ Fio offered as she moved to sit back down. Taking the small break helped her calm down, but she still didn't want to be here at the moment. Gently, she took up the instrument. “From the beginning?”
Jason watched Mrs. Hodge go, offering a small wave as goodbye before turning to Fio. He wondered if he should chastise her for leaving. She looked like she was in a better mood and he decided to let the matter go. “Yes, from the beginning.”
She nodded and played through again, trying to think of the parts she was doing wrong, but the same part halted her up. This time she stopped immediately and glared at the sheet music. Vaguely she’s waiting for him to chastise her for it. “My fingers aren’t moving fast enough....”
Taking Mrs. Hodge’s advice to mind, Jason eased up on the criticism. Obviously, it wasn’t helping her all that much and he couldn’t really handle a failure on his part. He figured changing his approach would be worth a shot. “No, they aren’t. Stop thinking too much. You’ve played this piece how many times? Your fingers should know where to go.”
She glanced up at him and after a moment, Fio nodded and took a deep breath Jason was right. She should be able to do it. She glanced at him for a moment before running through that part at much slower tempo first before running through it again and full tempo, trying not to think of everything else, but just the music. It was almost right, only the last note, which she switched and brought the song into an octive higher by accident.
His head dropped to his palm, frown marring his features. That was better, at least. There was progress and he could consider it a victory. But the perfectionist in him wouldn’t let that mistake slide. He lifted his head and gestured for her to play it again. They won’t stop until she got this right.
She nodded, knowing the mistake quickly and moved to play through it again. This time, there were still smaller mistakes, but she finally managed to get through the section without problems and finish it well. “How was that?”
“Much better,” he acquiesced. The mistakes were still there but they were tiny, almost inconsequential.
The compliment made her smile a little at least. “Sorry about taking so long out there...” Fio knew that he gave up his own rehearsal time for her, so she shouldn't be wasting it like that, but it was better to go out and take a deep breath before throwing up her hands and quitting. He was right, she didn't want to be a quitter.
“I was wondering if I had to go out and look for you.”
“I went to grab a drink in the vending machines and calm down. I didn't want to come back and fight with you over playing.”
“I see.”
“I don't even know why you care so much sometimes. You get mad if I’m not good and I don't know if I’ll ever be. I don't even know why you wanted me to compete.” She gave a sort of helpless shrug.
“You have talent. You just need to hone it. Otherwise, it’ll go to waste and that’ll be a pity.”
“I don't have talent. It’s the reason I quit before.”
“Nonsense. You have talent. You quit because no one appreciated it.” Jason replied, scoffing.
“Uh....” Fio blinked at that. “You really think I have talent? I mean that I’m not just wasting my time with this?”
“If I thought you didn’t have talent, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Will you come with me to the competition?” The words blurt out of her mouth in a sudden rush, as if she thought that if she said them too slowly that he wouldn't agree, or she was quite sure that he wouldn't anyways.
“When will this be?” He’d have to check his schedule but he figured he’d be free.
“It’s January, so it’ll be after your recital. It’s the week after we get back to school.” Fio offered, her hand tapping nervously against the music stand while she chewed at her bottom lip.
“I see.” January. He was free by then, having already finished his recital. “I’ll accompany you then.”
The smile on her face was brilliant as she moved to hug him quickly before pulling him away. “Thanks... I didn't want to have to go alone.”
Jason nodded. “You’re welcome. Now, practice.”
Fio nodded “Sure, I have you there so I better be impressive I guess.” She offered with a small smirk. “ Should we work on this one still or start the next?”
When: Sunday, October 30, 2011
Where: A music room
What: Practice
Jason listened intently as Fio played her piece. His eyes narrowed and his lips twisted into a frown every time she made a mistake. He clenched the pen tightly in his hand and tried not to stop her from playing. He had promised to let her run through the piece once. She would let him criticize her after. He settled for making notes on the score. Having a visual guide would make it easier to tell her where she was making a mistake in her playing. Once she played the final note, he thrust the papers at her. “Tell me if you understand.”
Fio glanced over the paper and all of the notes and sighed. "yes, I understand it. I didn't really make that many mistakes, did I?" It wasn't one of the pieces she had been working on as much, but she thought that she was okay at it, better than this.
“Yes, you did. You had most trouble, here and here. And this passage? It definitely didn’t sound right,” he replied, pointing out the places on the score. “I made notes on how you may rectify your errors. Or at least, minimize them.”
Fio bit back the sigh of irritation. All she wanted was to just relax for a bit, but it was three, so here they were working once again. " alright. I can work on that.do you know what you want for dinner tomorrow?" she asked quickly, trying to get his mind off of her rehearsing.
“Whatever’s fine.” He tapped the score and looked pointedly at her flute. “Start from the top.”
Fio sighed and nodded as she put her flute back up to her lips to play. There were a few places that she improved from reading his notes. Her hands fumbled again in the same passage. It was a difficult set of notes and she knew that it was a problem' but she kept playing through it. "Is that better?" she said once done and rubbing her fingers.
He bit his lip. There was improvement, how little that maybe. He nodded yes but was quick to add, “not enough. Again.”
After another look at his notes to pick which parts to focus on this time, Fio started again. This play through, two more spots seemed better. The one section was still wrong though, her fingers fumbling to hit the notes at the right speed.
Jason shook his head, not impressed with this run as well. “One more time. Focus, Fio.”
“I am focusing Jason. If you think you can do so much better, then why don't you play it.” She snapped at him, a scowl setting itself on her face. “This is the hardest piece I’ve ever played so back off a little.”
“I don’t play the flute,” he retorted. “This is your hardest piece? No. You’ll encounter harder and harder pieces. This? This is nothing. Do you think your competition is backing off? No. They will be practicing and practicing until they get it perfectly. So no, I will not back off. And you? You will play. Focus.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Why do even care? I don't even know why you’re making me do this! I’m sure they’re not backing off, but I’m also sure that they’re a million times better probably! Let’s face it Jason I suck and I’m gonna make a fool out of myself!”
His hands slammed down on the piano keys as he whirled around to face her. “So you just give up? Funny, I never saw you as a quitter.”
Fio jumped at the sudden loud sound of the piano. “Yeah, well I quit before! These people have years ahead of me. I stopped playing two years ago and just started up again now! I did it to have fun with music again. Why cant I just play for fun?”
“When is competition fun?”
“This was why I didn't want to compete!” She placed her flute down and took a deep breath. “I’m onna go take a break.” She got up and walked up and started outside to calm herself down.
Jason ignored her, turning his attention back to the piano. He had no doubt that she’d come back. He’ll grant her this break before pushing her to work harder. He gently ran his fingers along the keys before pressing down. He began playing a short piano piece to kill time while waiting for Fio’s return.
Mrs. Hodge sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose in her office down the end of the hall. She was finishing grading the latest test for her AP students when she heard the piano. It was a Sunday. Usually her students were as far from the music rooms as they could get. The playing was quite good. Curious, the tall, slender woman made her way through the hall until she reached the door and raised an eyebrow. That was a rarity. Jason almost never willingly played the piano. Silently she stepped into the door and waited for him to finish playing before clapping a little. “Very good, a little slow on the third measure though.”
“Maybe that was deliberate,” Jason commented as he launched into another song.
The teacher smiled at Jason’s comment. He was always so very serious into his music. Now and again she did worry a little he was too serious and involved in it. She listened as he played the next piece before speaking. “What are you doing in here? It’s a Sunday. You should be out and having some fun.”
“This is fun.” Granted, he was the only one to think that. He shrugged and kept playing.
She shook her head and smiled. “So I heard you’ve taken on a student of your own.” Mrs. Hodge was a sweet teacher, playful in her own way when she spoke to her students. They were her children and she fostered them throughout their time here at AWM.
“You can say that.” Although, he knew Fio would protest at being called his student. “I’m helping someone prepare for competition.”
“I heard.” Fio had spoken quite a bit about him, both good and bad. “I’m surprised. You don't usually take an interest in other students like that.” Despite her trying to foster that in him a little more than once.
“It happened.” That was all he could say about it, really. “Fio’s my friend,” he offered, hoping that would answer her question.
“Ah, I see.” Mrs Hodge smiled at that and looked the boy over. “She’s a strange one. Shows up out of the blue one day, asking for a flute teacher. It honestly surprised me when she said she hadn't played in two years after playing for me.” She laughed a little and shook her head. “Surprised me even more when she started talking about you helping her. I’m glad. It’s good for the two of you.”
Jason merely hummed in response. Was he even supposed to respond to that? He looked up from the piano, frowning. “She’s not back yet.”
“She? Oh is Fio here? I didn't see her when I came in.” That was surprising. “You got her practicing?”
“We’ve been practicing regularly. It took some convincing to get her to come today.” Everyday, after school, and then again after clubs, that was their schedule. Sometimes, he might even get her to practice through lunch.
There was a very surprised look on the teacher’s face. “Really? That’s amazing. No wonder she’s been improving so much since I placed her into the competition. That’s amazing you managed to convince her to do all of that. You’re making sure to give positive reinforcement, right?” Mrs Hodge smirked. This would be a perfect opportunity to help him work on teaching and leading others.
“No. Not...really.”
“Really? Hmmm.” She turned to face him more firmly. “Do you think that has been giving you the results that you want from her?”
“Not...really.” She had improved, yes, but that came at a cost. She had been storming out more frequently now that he thought about it.
Mrs. Hodge nodded at the boy. It was always easy to teach him, all she really needed was to lead him to the proper answers. “Fiona is an interesting case. She has quite a bit of promise actually, but her drive isn't there more than for her own entertainment. I wonder why....”
Jason shrugged. He didn’t know why that was the case either. “Perhaps, entering her in this competition wasn’t the wisest of moves.” He didn’t see what benefit it could bring to Fio and her playing if she wasn’t willing to put in extra work. Playing an instrument wasn’t as simple as anyone would think. It takes talent patience, hard work, and dedication, mostly talent. But talent won’t be enough.
“Really? Why do you say that Jason?” She smiled, trying to see where his mind was working. “Do you think I made the wrong choice suggesting it?”
“Competition...it’s to test your abilities against your peers. Fio...desires no such thing. She just wants to play. A recital would’ve been a better option.”
“Hmm, perhaps, but competition as you said pushes you to test yourself amongst peers, see how good you are compared to how good you can be.” She shook her head and raised an eyebrow. “You say she just wants to play, but deep down so do you and so do all of us. What’s the reason you started playing? Compare it to hers and see what differences are between you two and how it changes how you should teach. I teach you differently than I teach any of my other students, the same goes for her.”
“But I’m not teaching her. I’m helping her out. That’s what friends do.” He didn’t know where this conversation was leading to and he wasn’t sure if he liked it. Also, Fio has been gone for quite awhile now. Time was ticking.
“But in a way you are.” She moved to stand. and start towards the door. “I’ll see you in class on Monday, Jason.” She nodded her head to him and started out of the door just as Fio slipped back in.
“I’m back.’ Fio offered as she moved to sit back down. Taking the small break helped her calm down, but she still didn't want to be here at the moment. Gently, she took up the instrument. “From the beginning?”
Jason watched Mrs. Hodge go, offering a small wave as goodbye before turning to Fio. He wondered if he should chastise her for leaving. She looked like she was in a better mood and he decided to let the matter go. “Yes, from the beginning.”
She nodded and played through again, trying to think of the parts she was doing wrong, but the same part halted her up. This time she stopped immediately and glared at the sheet music. Vaguely she’s waiting for him to chastise her for it. “My fingers aren’t moving fast enough....”
Taking Mrs. Hodge’s advice to mind, Jason eased up on the criticism. Obviously, it wasn’t helping her all that much and he couldn’t really handle a failure on his part. He figured changing his approach would be worth a shot. “No, they aren’t. Stop thinking too much. You’ve played this piece how many times? Your fingers should know where to go.”
She glanced up at him and after a moment, Fio nodded and took a deep breath Jason was right. She should be able to do it. She glanced at him for a moment before running through that part at much slower tempo first before running through it again and full tempo, trying not to think of everything else, but just the music. It was almost right, only the last note, which she switched and brought the song into an octive higher by accident.
His head dropped to his palm, frown marring his features. That was better, at least. There was progress and he could consider it a victory. But the perfectionist in him wouldn’t let that mistake slide. He lifted his head and gestured for her to play it again. They won’t stop until she got this right.
She nodded, knowing the mistake quickly and moved to play through it again. This time, there were still smaller mistakes, but she finally managed to get through the section without problems and finish it well. “How was that?”
“Much better,” he acquiesced. The mistakes were still there but they were tiny, almost inconsequential.
The compliment made her smile a little at least. “Sorry about taking so long out there...” Fio knew that he gave up his own rehearsal time for her, so she shouldn't be wasting it like that, but it was better to go out and take a deep breath before throwing up her hands and quitting. He was right, she didn't want to be a quitter.
“I was wondering if I had to go out and look for you.”
“I went to grab a drink in the vending machines and calm down. I didn't want to come back and fight with you over playing.”
“I see.”
“I don't even know why you care so much sometimes. You get mad if I’m not good and I don't know if I’ll ever be. I don't even know why you wanted me to compete.” She gave a sort of helpless shrug.
“You have talent. You just need to hone it. Otherwise, it’ll go to waste and that’ll be a pity.”
“I don't have talent. It’s the reason I quit before.”
“Nonsense. You have talent. You quit because no one appreciated it.” Jason replied, scoffing.
“Uh....” Fio blinked at that. “You really think I have talent? I mean that I’m not just wasting my time with this?”
“If I thought you didn’t have talent, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Will you come with me to the competition?” The words blurt out of her mouth in a sudden rush, as if she thought that if she said them too slowly that he wouldn't agree, or she was quite sure that he wouldn't anyways.
“When will this be?” He’d have to check his schedule but he figured he’d be free.
“It’s January, so it’ll be after your recital. It’s the week after we get back to school.” Fio offered, her hand tapping nervously against the music stand while she chewed at her bottom lip.
“I see.” January. He was free by then, having already finished his recital. “I’ll accompany you then.”
The smile on her face was brilliant as she moved to hug him quickly before pulling him away. “Thanks... I didn't want to have to go alone.”
Jason nodded. “You’re welcome. Now, practice.”
Fio nodded “Sure, I have you there so I better be impressive I guess.” She offered with a small smirk. “ Should we work on this one still or start the next?”