Find the Music in You

by SterlingC

Chapter 7: Lesson 1b: Scales and Arpeggios!

Author's Note:

Have some Aristocats.

Time flies whenever one’s having fun. That’s certainly what happened between Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle. The two ponies were covering warmup exercise after warmup exercise. Fluttershy first made Sweetie Belle sing out her vowels in ascending and descending fashion, moving up by half a tone each time they completed their phrase. Then Sweetie Belle pitter-pattered through all the fast syllables when she sang of red and yellow leather! She hated that exercise very much since her tongue easily got twisted when she mixed up the colours!

Then came the single tone vowels. As Sweetie Belle sang through the vowels, she could hear Fluttershy graciously asking her to stretch her mouth to enunciate the vowels as much as she could! Sweetie Belle liked this exercise more, but found herself feeling silly after making all sorts of wacky faces as she progressed through the exercise.

After their exercise with the vowels was completed, Sweetie Belle was panting for her breath like an athlete who lost their breath. Her mouth also felt stretched to the limit, like bubble gum expanding to the point it was ready to burst wide open!

“Wow Fluttershy… I had to keep my breath going for so long there…” wheezed Sweetie Belle. “How can you hold your breath through that exercise so long?!” asked the stunned filly.

“It will take much practice Sweetie Belle! I’m giving you the exercises you need so you can hold your breath longer through each phrase!” explained Fluttershy. She waved her hooves about and took out a piece of brown sheet music. Sweetie Belle grabbed the piece of paper and held it on her right hoof. The parcel of paper was filled with wrinkles like folded skin, and contained staff lines and notes that soared up to the sky and sunk downward into the depths. The notes were attached together by what looked like a curvy line from the start of one line to the end.

Sweetie Belle glanced through this pattern of notes on the wrinkled sheet, her eyes glazing intently at the direction of each of the filled circles attached to lines that were drawn downward. Noticing Sweetie Belle’s careful and scrutinizing look, Fluttershy was quick to introduce to her the writing on the music,

“On this sheet of paper I have for you our next exercise!” exclaimed the yellow Pegasus. Sweetie Belle looked up from the piece of paper, now scratching her head.

“There’s just lots of notes that fly up and sink down! I have to sing up and down that fast?!” Sweetie Belle remarked, her eyes still staring at the piece of sheet music on her right hoof.

“Why yes Sweetie Belle! Such movement of notes up and down like this makes what we call an arpeggio!” Sweetie Belle then began imagining the notes on her head and mouthing them. Sweetie Belle had already learned her share of music theory thanks to her sister Rarity. She didn’t know as much as her elder sister, but she knew enough to read notes and to change dynamics when prompted by the bold italicized symbols.

“I remember Rarity talking about arpeggios and the like. When you put all the notes together, you end up making a really nice sounding chord right?” recalled the filly.

“Yes that’s right! Rarity must have taught you a lot about music theory!” Fluttershy remarked, her wings fluttering about and her grin growing into an all-out smile!

“Yeah! She taught me to read notes and sing in tune, but other than that, I had to learn a lot with my ears! Like the song I sang for you earlier!” exclaimed Sweetie Belle’s, squeeing as she let out a beaming smile. Her fears of this first lesson were all but dispelled into thin air. Fluttershy was an even better teacher than even her friends imagined!

“It’s really weird too. Sometimes, when I listen to ponies talking or trains whistling by, I… I can hear the note coming out of the train! It’s like the things I’m hearing are singing songs of their own, even if they’re not actually making a song!” Sweetie Belle struggled to explain. It’s as if… there were musical notes coming out of the train’s funnel with the smoke! As if Pinkie Pie had eighth and quarter notes whenever she screams about her parties! Even the sound of your critters chit-chatting and growling sound like B-flats and Ds!” elaborated the excited filly.

Fluttershy scratched her chin as Sweetie Belle explained in detail what she underwent with her ears. The more she heard, the more suspicious she became. There was a rare phenomenon she had heard of which was directly related to the ability to listen musical notes in everything!

“Oh wow! That’s so wonderful! I’ve heard of ponies being able to remember songs really well, but I can’t think of any pony who can hear pitches from sound effects like you do! That would explain why you’re so in-tune when you sang today!” Fluttershy clapped her hooves. “What you have is probably perfect pitch! I can test your ability to hear pitches on another day; we already have a lot to do. Just know that the skill you have is especially important when singing with others!” Fluttershy giggled. It was easy for her to remember songs she heard frequently, but she couldn’t hear pitch from inanimate objects and sound effects either!

“Oooh, oooh!” Sweetie Belle flailed her right hoof about! “With such a skill, I guess I could use it if I were to sing with The Pony Tones right?!” Squeaked Sweetie Belle.

“Why yes! Those ponies have to keep listening to each other; if one singer were just a teensy-weensy off, then the singers won’t sound as good together!” Fluttershy beamed. Fluttershy then turned towards her cuckoo clock and gave a loud gasp, for the larger clock hand was already pointed at the 6 mark!

“Oh my! How far we’ve strayed off track! We need to get back to your scales and arpeggios Sweetie Belle!” Fluttershy declared, pointing to the sheet music in front of the student and teacher. “So on that piece of paper is a song my singing teacher gave me when I was a filly in Cloudsdale! It’s the first song she taught me! It’s not only a great help for warming up your singing voice, but also reminds you of how important scales and arpeggios are to any singer!” Fluttershy giggled.

The two ponies cleared their breaths and opened their mouths wide. The two ponies then let their voices out like birds singing during the sunrise. Sweetie Belle was given the melody to sing, while Fluttershy harmonized with her student. The song was structured so that their voices would prance up and down a ladder throughout. Sweetie Belle glanced at her teacher as she happily sang. The filly observed with awe as she sang; her quarter notes synchronically danced with hers like a young couple dancing in the ballroom.

It was such a simple song, but it was also very catchy at the same time. Sweetie Belle opined that the composer of this simple tune was a genius! The song went by so quickly that they already reached the last verse of the piece, where the words spoke of their abilities budding like a tree, even if the results weren’t obvious.

At that point, some of the smaller creatures, the squirrels and Angel Bunny, snuck into the room from the wooden stairs behind them and from the window in front of them. The critters bopped up and down as the two ponies sang together. When Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle reached the high D-flat at the end of the tune, the critters squeaked and clapped in place! Fluttershy looked warmly towards the critters and giggled. Sweetie Belle too giggled alongside Fluttershy and took a bow. Fluttershy right after followed suit as well.

“Thank you dear critters! I’m very glad you all enjoyed our performance!” said Fluttershy with a smile.

“Yeah! Thanks!” Sweetie Belle sheepishly giggled, a light blush developing on her face. She wasn’t aware of the critters who sang along and clapped. Even the usually grumpy Angel thumped with a light grin, barely hiding her frown.

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Fluttershy softly and gently dispersed the critters after their warmup performance. Once the critters left their presence, Sweetie Belle and her teacher were left alone again. The room turning silent, Sweetie Belle promptly asked Fluttershy,

“What does the song mean when they talk about breathing from your chest and not your nose? It felt like I was singing from my throat more than anything!” Fluttershy nodded.

“That’s a wonderful question to ask Sweetie Belle!” Fluttershy flailed her hooves gleefully. “The key to singing well is singing from your lungs and diaphragm, not your throat or nose!” Fluttershy motioned the upward and downward movement of her lungs with her front hooves. “If you sing from your nose and throat, a number of things can happen, like having a more piercing tone, getting short of breath more easily, and a greater tendency to feel dry from your throat,” Fluttershy lifted her right hoof upward like Twilight always would when she listed off facts.

Sweetie Belle scratched her hooves with a confused look. The amount of facts Fluttershy was firing at her became overwhelming.

“That’s a lot to know Fluttershy… You make it seem so easy to remember!” Sweetie Belle remarked, raising her hooves upward to express the amount of information Fluttershy was dumping on her!

“Yes, it’s quite a lot to know, and it can be overwhelming! But I’ll help you through it! We’ll take teensy-weensy steps, and by the end it all, you’ll find that you’ve learned a lot more than you could ever imagine!” Fluttershy encouraged her student. Sweetie Belle gave a weak smile and a gentle nod.

“Now, let’s start your breathing exercises! In addition to your warmups, I’ll show you some ways you can improve your breathing!” Fluttershy cheered as the large hand on her cuckoo clock reached the 9 symbol.

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The cuckoo clock resounded a loud hoot eleven times. Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle were still in the middle of an exercise where Sweetie Belle lied down on the floor, with books placed on top of her. The weight of the books was beginning to make her stomach feel weak. For the five minutes before the cuckoo clock resounded, Sweetie Belle was heaving her books up and down with stomach. Fluttershy said that it was good for her breathing, but all it was doing was make her stomach feel numb!

“Oh, it’s already time to end your first lesson! You can get those books off you now!” Fluttershy clapped her front hooves. Sweetie Belle shoved the hard-covered books off her stomach with her left hoof and slowly got up from her lying position. She got up with an even bigger pant than the one she gave after losing her breath from her singing!

“Whew… that was so tiring! I never knew singing could be so tiring!” Sweetie Belle gasped as she composed herself.

“Well, singing is hard work Sweetie Belle! Especially if you want to project a beautiful voice to everypony around you!” Fluttershy reminded. She and Sweetie Belle then trotted to the front door, with Fluttershy gently opening it for her student.

“Now, I hope you remember to do your exercises and warmups for next week! They’re going to be vital for you to develop your singing talent!” Fluttershy waved, with Sweetie Belle gently trotting out the door.

“I will Fluttershy! I will!” Sweetie Belle smiled as she trotted away.

“I’ll see you same time next week!” Fluttershy waved her student goodbye. She gently closed her door once Sweetie Belle was safely away, trotting down the dirt path to Ponyville. Fluttershy giggled. That first lesson went by pretty well.