Chapter 515
“Teacher...” Aivina felt a bit embarrassed, taking a small step back to evade Keluola’s grasp. She spoke up, “It’s not me who wants to take extra lessons... It’s a friend of mine who’s very interested in the piano, so I wanted to bring her to see if she’s suitable for learning.”
“Oh?” Keluola looked up, glancing at the group of girls behind Aivina, and smiled. “Which lovely young lady wishes to learn the piano?”
“Hello, I’m Xia’er. I’m the one who wants to try playing the piano,” Xia’er stepped forward, bowing her head slightly.
“Oh?” Keluola observed the polite and courteous girl before her, nodding. “Miss Xia’er, have you played any instruments before?”
“No,” Xia’er shook her head, answering honestly, “I just listen to music quite often.”
“Have you studied music theory?” Keluola’s brow furrowed slightly as she continued her inquiry.
“No,” Xia’er replied, still honest.
Someone who can’t even read sheet music and has never touched an instrument... wants to learn from me?
Keluola took a shallow breath, but out of respect for Aivina, she didn’t dismiss them outright. Instead, she politely said, “I see. Then follow me.”
Keluola led Xia’er and the others to the practice room, then retrieved three books from a nearby shelf, smiling as she handed them to Xia’er. “You can read these two books first. If you have any questions, you can ask Aivina; she should still remember…”
At this point, Keluola shot Aivina a glance and asked, “You haven’t forgotten, have you?”
“Of course not…” Aivina quickly nodded, but Keluola’s gaze reminded her of the tough days she spent learning the piano.
Keluola was clearly just handing over the books, indicating she wasn’t keen on teaching and simply wanted to pass the time with this “noble young lady” who seemed to have a fleeting interest in learning the piano.
Xia’er didn’t say much; she just thanked Keluola and took the three books, glancing at their titles.
“The Piano School,” “A Beginner’s Guide to Piano for Young Ladies,” “Music Grammar.”
Xia’er let out a small sigh of relief.
So, I can learn piano by reading books?
That makes it simple.
Xia’er quickly flipped through the pages, using her remarkable memory to absorb the content.
Her rapid page-turning caught Keluola’s attention, who had initially planned to practice. After glancing at the red-haired girl, Keluola’s impression of her worsened.
As expected, just a passing fancy.
No real passion for the piano...
Keluola shook her head and sat down at the piano, slowly lifting the lid. She took a deep breath, placing her hands lightly on the keys, preparing to channel her emotions.
But before she could press down, Xia’er, sitting on the sofa, looked up and said, “Ms. Wei Ke, I’m done.”
Keluola: “???”
It’s only been a few minutes?
Not even pretending?
Even Aimi, sitting nearby, felt nervous. She didn’t believe Xia’er could have genuinely finished reading so quickly, thinking Xia’er was just trying to appease the seemingly irritable piano master.
“Done?” Keluola confirmed.
“Done,” Xia’er replied honestly.
“Alright…” Keluola took a deep breath, suppressing her emotions, and continued, “Then let me quiz you on some content from the book... ‘A triad is like a three-layer cake,’ what does that refer to?”
“Unbreakable,” Xia’er answered.
Memorization is still quite simple.
Don’t ask if she understands; just ask how quickly she can recite it.
Keluola paused for a moment at Xia’er’s response.
She seemed a bit skeptical and continued to ask a few more questions, but Xia’er answered them all correctly, even correcting Keluola on one of her questions.
“Have you read these books before?” Keluola couldn’t sit still anymore. She stood up from the piano and walked toward Xia’er, questioning her with a hint of doubt, “Are you lying to me?”
“No, you misunderstood, Teacher Keluola,” Aivina interjected, coming to Xia’er’s defense. “Xia’er just has a strong learning ability and reads quickly. She definitely hasn’t seen these books before.”
“Is that so?” Keluola shot Aivina a glance, then looked back at Xia’er with renewed skepticism. After a long pause, she finally said, “Come here.”
This time, Keluola was serious. She wanted to see what this girl named Xia’er was really capable of.
Xia’er was brought to sit at the piano, and she looked at the black and white keys, taking a deep breath.
From the introductory books, she had learned quite a bit about music in this world.
Although there were no masters like Beethoven, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, or Debussy, the existence of “performer” potions meant there were other excellent classical piano pieces here.
However, Xia’er couldn’t match the symbols she remembered in her mind with the music, making it difficult for her to compare these piano pieces with the ones she was familiar with.
As if sensing Xia’er’s current predicament, Keluola, sitting beside her, began explaining the notes corresponding to the keys one by one, even demonstrating a few simple chords.
“Can you remember?” After her demonstration, Keluola looked at Xia’er with curiosity, genuinely wondering if this girl really had a photographic memory.
After Keluola demonstrated, Xia’er was finally able to connect the sounds with the content from the books she had just read. Thanks to her enhanced dexterity, she could easily replicate Keluola’s movements with her nimble fingers.
Though her mechanical actions lacked emotion and nuance, her posture was already quite standard.
“Hmm…” Keluola nodded slightly, and at that moment, she truly believed that the girl before her might be a genius.
For most people starting to learn the piano, it’s already impressive if their fingers don’t get tangled or cramp. This red-haired girl managed to learn the movements after just one demonstration, and her fingers were both flexible and long... perhaps she really is a piano prodigy.
“Why do you want to learn the piano?” Keluola asked Xia’er, intrigued.
With a photographic memory, she could probably learn anything else quickly. Money and fame were certainly not an issue; studying law would be the most suitable choice. Compared to that, piano didn’t seem like a good option.
Most importantly, Keluola couldn’t sense much passion from the red-haired girl’s approach to playing the piano; it felt more like she was trying to complete a task.
“There are some melodies in my mind that I want to play,” Xia’er looked at Keluola and replied.
Aivina had once mentioned that for a “performer,” original compositions seemed to be a very important “indicator.”
But she wasn’t sure if the pieces she “borrowed” from the masters of another world counted as original.
“Melodies?” Keluola blinked, her interest piqued. “What melodies? Can you try playing one?”
“I’ll give it a try.”
Xia’er nodded, reaching out to the piano keys.
Each different black and white key seemed to hold a record; as soon as Xia’er glanced at them, the sounds would resonate in her mind, helping her find the corresponding notes.
At that moment, a suitable, simple song came to Xia’er’s mind.
“Für Elise.”
Xia’er’s right hand slowly descended, the first four measures unfolding in gentle A minor arpeggios, allowing soft notes to flow from her fingertips.
However, each time she needed to play the next segment, Xia’er would pause slightly, searching for the notes that matched her memory before pressing down slowly. This caused the entire piano piece to sound quite disjointed.
Moreover, Xia’er didn’t use the pedal, played no embellishments, and had no techniques; the force with which she pressed the keys was even and lacked any sense of beauty.
The only advantage was that Xia’er hit every note correctly, but if one were to call this a song, no one would recognize it.
Aivina began to feel a bit worried.
What if Xia’er really got scolded?
“That sounds nice~” Only Adele, who completely lacked musical knowledge, clapped her hands in encouragement after Xia’er finished.
But from the moment Xia’er started playing the first segment, Keluola’s brow had been slowly furrowing.
It wasn’t until Xia’er stumbled through the piece that should have taken only three minutes, taking nearly seven or eight minutes, that Keluola sat down beside her, reached out, and placed her hand on the keys, murmuring, “You should lightly press the sustain pedal…”
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