Midnight Aire

(6 Jastatos 5114:  Wehnimer’s Landing)

She gazed at the garden visible through the window. The nights were growing chill, but she still kept a window partly open. She could hear a new song in her soul tonight, and reached for her mandolin.

D minor. She’d try it first in D minor. Testing the chord progression against the same three notes of each phrase, she knew the notes rang out clearly against the moving strings. First she laid down the arpeggios simply under the melody, giving a base for what would follow. It established the pattern, and underscored the melody that hung in the air.

She built up the second verse with an inversion, double picking the chords this time. The layering went smoothly and she poured her heart into the chorus. Moving surprisingly into a major key, the lyrical chorus was light, romantic, and full of the promise of the song. It seemed natural, and as she concluded the hook, her voice sustained a crescendoing note that became the lynchpin of the key change back to the original minor key.

As she revisited the minor chord progressions in the verse, she pulled up the intensity with some tremolo. This brought a dramatic mood to the song, and her voice floated over in turning notes while the mandolin never broke tempo.

She could sense there was an elusive, and all important part of the song she could not quite catch. As she built for the climax, she let her voice wander delightfully in nuances of music she had never tried before. The effect was intoxicating. Her fingers flew on the strings, readying for the final build into the chorus. The transitional chord was laid down, her voice rolled the note into the bright refrain again holding it as her hand swept gracefully down the strings.

With a jarring THWANG! and a painful sting, a string broke. She dropped her pick, and the note in her throat was cut off with a confused exclamation.

Blood was beginning to gather on a finger where the string had snapped.

 

Author: GSBardess

A young bardess named Luxelle is currently learning her trade and hoping to one day make a name for her songs in GemStone IV. Follow along with her adventures in life and song.

Share This Post On