Jam Session

Writers: Anika, Chelle, Leigh M-F., Len, Suzee
Date Posted: 11th February 2015

Characters: Nokala, G'wen, D'ale, A'kua, B'erk
Description: Melody, harmony, rhythm, verse and instruments. It all comes together.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 11, day 2 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: C'lua

D'ale

Nokala had never asked him to bring snacks to a lesson before, or to
meet her in a different room from her office. Aluka suspected
something was up, but he had fetched a plate of sugar cookies anyway.
His gitar was in one hand, and his composition book was tucked against
his hip, under the waistband of his pants. That meant so far, things
were okay. He leaned his gitar against the wall and knocked on the
appropriate door. "Nokala?"

"Come on in." Her voice was light and there was a bit of noise. At the
moment, she was tuning her small lap harp. There was one other person
in the room at that point besides her, but she didn't make
introductions just yet, waiting to see how Aluka adjusted to the
situation. Relaxed, the tall harper took her time, looking forward to
the candlemarks ahead.

An older man with wild red hair and a carefully groomed mustache ran a
practice scale on his flute, trilling like a firelizard. B'erk gave
Aluka a friendly nod before returning to tuning his instrument.

Aluka shot Nokala a frown. "What's goin' on?" he asked, sounding more
confused than hostile.

"Every now and again we get together and play. Sometimes we write
together and play together, other times we just play and improvise."
She nodded to her colleague. "I thought it might be good for you to
learn how to improvise as well as see how you fare against others with
different skills. Plus it's fun." Nokala smiled as others entered and
she greeted them. She'd allow them to introduce themselves as they
settled.

Having set his flute down, B'erk limped over to introduce himself as
Nokala greeted the others. He'd lost a good portion of his left leg
to Thread which slowed the man considerably. "Always good to see a
new face at one of our improvs," the red haired man stated. "I'm
B'erk, rider to blue Zverth, and sometime musician."

"Sorry I'm late," D'ale said as he came in with his gitar in it's
case. He smiled at the assembled group and some of the newer faces.
"I'm D'ale," he said and sat to open up his case.

The tiny figure of G'wen ducked in behind D'ale, as though his tutor
could hide him from the others. Like Aluka, this was a new situation
for the young man. He sat down as close to the brown rider as was
polite and mumbled his greetings to the others, before catching Aluka's
eye. He was that boy Neath had been so horrible to, one day out
gathering herbs. G'wen's face flushed even redder as he remembered
that day. If only he could hide behind his gitar.

Aluka clasped the bluerider's wrist in the usual greeting, not put off
by the missing leg. It wasn't as bad as C'lua's misfortune. "Aluka,
Candidate." He also nodded to D'ale and G'wen, recognizing the
greenrider, but he was distracted. It was flattering Nokala thought he
was ready for this new challenge, but improv wasn't his strong suit.
Neither were social situations. But surely Nokala knew what she was
doing. Right?

Once everyone had arrived and tuned up, they all sat down and
stretched. "Aluka, just join in when you feel comfortable, okay?" And
then she nodded to the other journeyman who began with a drum beat,
steady and lively. When the others could pick up the time, one-by-one
they joined in. Nokala picked up her harp and plucked at the strings
with the metal claws she wore on her fingers. A smile lit up her face,
but she didn't sing, preferring to listen to the notes first.

D'ale was a frequent performer at parties and such in the Weyr and
even at times at the tavern at Vintner Hall. It was a time like that
when he'd first met Yanley. Just thinking of her brought a smile to
his lips. "Everyone know G'wen?" He pointed a thumb at the young man
next to him. The little greenrider was a bit shy at times like this
when he was out of his depth. "What song are we starting with?"

B'erk offered G'wen a warm smile and a nod, he knew the young man's
father. Then following the beat of the drum and Nokala's strumming, he
answered D'ale's question by meeting the other man's eyes, his own
twinkling merrily, and bringing his flute to his lips. The descant
started as a familiar one, something the younger musicians might
recognize and be able to follow, but modulated as he progressed.

Aluka, who had been setting his fingertips to the strings, faltered
and looked at Nokala uncertainly as D'ale asked his questions,
disrupting the beat, and B'erk started playing something he thought he
recognized, but wasn't entirely sure. Was he still supposed to just
follow along? That didn't seem like improvising.

G'wen felt as confused as Aluka. He caught the young man's eye and
shrugged his shoulders. Maybe the two of them should sit this one out?
He didn't know.

She didn't know the greenrider, but Nokala nodded to him just the
same. Then again, she was still new to the Weyr so the harper hadn't
met everyone just yet. "Good choice B'erk." Smiling to herself, her
long fingers danced across the harp's strings and the tone began to
carry with the drum's beat as well as the flute. The tune was familiar
and yet different because they were using a slightly faster beat.

Aluka bit his lip, then bit the crossbow quarrel. He _was_ going to do
this, damn it. He nodded to G'wen encouragingly, mentally counted off,
and joined in, appreciating the faster sound. His fingers flew over
the strings with growing confidence.

Pleased to see the younger musician taking initiative, B'erk changed
the flute's trilling to harmonize with the new addition. He hoped
that G'wen would soon feel comfortable jumping in as well.

Okay, if Aluka could do it, then G'wen could do it as well. And he
knew this song. Swallowing hard, he bent over his gitar and softly
began picking out the rhythm.

Pleased, Nokala continued to play seeing the young ones join in. This
was shaping up nicely. They finished out the tune and then she just
started strumming quickly. The drummer picked up on her mood and
started a more lively beat that could be danced to. Her melody was
rolicking.

Taking a bit of a breather, B'erk closed his eyes to enjoy the music
for a few moment's before bringing his flute back to his lips to join
in the more vigorous tune. He tightened his embouchure so that he
could hit the higher reaches of his instrument's octave range,
sounding very much like a pipe adding to the sprightly nature of the
song.

D'ale strummed rhythmically along with the changes and some fingers
pounded out a tattoo on the soundbox of his gitar. He grinned around
the room at the others joining in. "That's it," he encouraged the
younger ones.

Nokala's new tune wasn't familiar, but Aluka sped up to match it as
best he could. This was -dare he say it?- a good challenge. It was
almost even.... well, fun. He started smiling a little as he played
on.

G'wen blushed a bit when D'ale said those words but it did help. It
also helped that he knew this song well.

Playing up through an exciting crescendo, B'erk then brought his flute
down to catch his breath, smiling as he listened to the playing of his
fellow musicians. He was particularly impressed with the young
newcomers and hoped they found as much pleasure in this as he did.

D'ale enjoyed the obbligato of the flute over the top and began to hum
the tune in counterpoint.

When the composition wound to a close, Aluka looked over at Nokala,
actually grinning. "What next?"

Last updated on the February 20th 2015

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