Chapter 25 A Glimpse

Early on Saturday morning, Wang Yuanchao went to his music teacher Cao Yuanxiang's home to learn guitar.

In his previous life, he wanted to play a musical instrument in college, but he was born in a rural area, and the fashion design major in a second-tier university had already bankrupted his parents, so he studied his major honestly and worked part-time. By his junior year, with scholarships, he no longer had to ask his family for a penny.

He was a great singer, but he couldn't play any musical instrument. Even after he got a job and started earning money, he didn't have the heart or time to do it.

It's a pity.

But in this time and space, he not only plays the trumpet, but also the large and small cymbals (commonly known as cymbals, the kind that make a clanging sound), large and small drums, which are all the formal instruments of the school military band. In addition, he can also play traditional instruments such as flute and Xiao.

What’s even more regrettable is that none of these instruments can be used to accompany singing at the same time.

Trumpet, flute and Xiao can provide accompaniment, but one cannot move the mouth to sing.

Cymbals and drums, those things can only be used to beat the beat, can they be used for accompaniment? At least he is not good at that.

If I can’t play and sing by myself, how can I express my feelings in the future?

With such a huge library of songs, can you tell others that your talent is gifted by nature? Or is it a gift from a dream?
String instruments can perfectly solve this problem.

So he particularly liked the guitar in Teacher Cao's home.

He has finished the exam for the art troupe. If it is really fair, he feels that there will be no big problem; if he still cannot join the art troupe, he can only hang around at home for two years and continue to look for other opportunities.

Anyway, I have my mother's retired class to help me. As for my younger sister, with so many people in the family, it should be no problem to raise a little girl, right? Apart from anything else, my younger sister is so smart, so training her to be a red soldier is also a way.

With so much confidence in his body, Wang Yuanchao was not panicked at all.

I bought five sesame seed cakes from a roadside vendor for 5 cents and half a pound of food coupons.

"Teacher Cao, I smelled delicious sesame cakes on the way here, so I bought a few to satisfy your and your wife's cravings."

Wang Yuanchao was not polite at all. He first stuffed one into each of Teacher Cao's two sons' hands, took one in his own mouth, and pushed the rest directly to the teacher's wife.

Teacher Cao's family is not wealthy, otherwise, how could he have filled his entire summer vacation with classes at the Children's Palace?

Wang Yuanchao had already taken such a step, so how could Cao Yuanxiang still be so hypocritical? He said directly to the two boys:
"Go play somewhere else, don't disturb me while I'm giving a lecture to your brother who aided North Korea!"

The two children excitedly took the sesame cakes and ran out to play. There were sesame seeds on them, which were so delicious.

Wang Yuanchao was not afraid of spending money to invest in his own body. If conditions allowed, he would definitely get some milk to replenish his body.

Teacher Cao waved to his wife, and she left the room with two pancakes.

Teacher Cao didn't waste any words. He didn't talk to Wang Yuanchao in a long and eloquent way about the historical origins of the guitar. He also knew Wang Yuanchao's musical foundation, so he got straight to the point!
The first thing to introduce is the six strings of the guitar, namely EADGBE, and the fingering of how to play the seven notes Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si, as well as the middle, low and high notes.

He demonstrated it several times personally, then gave Wang Yuanchao a hand-drawn fingering chart and asked him to practice the chord fingering first.

The learning plan is to first familiarize yourself with the chord fingering; then practice scales (middle, high and low notes); the advanced skill is chord conversion (no longer individual notes one by one, but playing them continuously and changing fingerings); finally, practice playing according to the music score, as well as various playing techniques.

Cao Yuanxiang himself is still in the stage of researching techniques.

In the words of Teacher Cao, it is very easy to get started. It can be done in a day or two at the fastest, or a week or two at the slowest. If you have eyes and hands, you can do it.

But it is difficult to improve. There are no masters giving lectures or video teaching these days. Although there are some records (which can be studied in school), more of it depends on listening and exploring.

Teacher Cao went to class and Wang Yuanchao followed him. At the beginning, he couldn't dial for too long because his fingers hurt.

"This guitar is school property, so you can't take it home to practice.

However, you can come here every morning to familiarize yourself with the chords and practice scales. If your fingers can handle it, you can also practice chord changes in the evening. You can practice twice a week for one or two hours each time.

With your talent, I estimate that you will be able to play simple music in about a week!"

After just one hour of practice in the morning, Wang Yuanchao's fingers were indeed burning. He remembered that those who played guitar in school used to use picks. He said:
"Teacher Cao, I see people playing the guzheng and other things all have fingernails. Can't we also put on fingernails when we play the guitar?"

Cao Yuanxiang tried hard to recall a guitar performance he had seen in Shenghai, and said:
"Maybe it's possible, but the teacher has a lot of calluses on his fingers, you can give it a try."

The two walked and talked, and before they knew it, they arrived at Jingshan Children's Palace.

"Hey, why did you follow me?"

Wang Yuanchao made up a story:

"It's a good time to go to the park to relax and find some inspiration." Cao Yuanxiang said nothing more and went straight to class.

Jingshan Park is a royal garden from the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.

There are many gardens, pavilions and palaces, among which the Shouhuang Palace is the Children's Palace.

In addition, there is another famous crooked tree, which is the crooked tree where Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself.

Wang Yuanchao looked at the tree path and it was definitely not the same tree from hundreds of years ago.

There are quite a lot of people playing in the park. The weather has turned cooler in the past few days, and people who have been cooped up all summer seem to have come out.

There are many people singing and dancing under the shade of the trees.

Today is Saturday, don't you have to go to work?!

A woman among them was holding an accordion and playing and singing "Let's Row the Boat" in the crowd.

The people around him sang along in unison, some holding hands, some shaking their heads, some holding music discs, and some gathering in groups of three or two to look at the music discs. Wang Yuanchao's eyes were full of envy - he had envied those music masters in his previous life.

[Song sheets are cards with lyrics and music from film]

Wang Yuanchao waited silently for a long time, but the woman did not turn around.

Okay, if the mountain doesn’t come to me, I will go to it!

He turned to the other side with pretended nonchalance.

As expected, he turned around.

Wang Yuanchao is getting excited:
Hey, you won't let me see you, right? I have to see who it is! I'll wait here, and you won't turn around!

The crowd sang "Singing the Motherland" again, and when he heard the rhythm, there was nothing he could do. His soul and body would not allow him not to hum along.

When the song ended, he didn't even turn around, but started to bend down to put away his accordion.

Some of the crowd gathered around, while others left on their own.

Wang Yuanchao didn't even know the woman's age or figure, nor did he hear her voice clearly (and there was no microphone). He just surrounded her out of curiosity and stood opposite her. As long as she stood up, he would have to take a closer look, humph.

After the woman packed her things, she stood up and carried the big bag on her back.

This is a girl who is too young. You could even say that her face still has a hint of childishness. Although her clothes are simple and she is not dressed up, she gives people a bright and fashionable beauty.

Is Chen Xueru mature and charming enough? I don’t feel that way, regardless of age.

A glimpse is unforgettable.

The girl waved to the crowd and left. Wang Yuanchao said quickly:
“Hey, hey—”

The little girl seemed to know that she was being called. She stopped, turned around, and said with a smile on her face:

"Comrade, are you calling me?"

The voice is as clear as the melodious song of an oriole.

The other person's generosity made Wang Yuanchao, an old soul, feel embarrassed. He pretended to be shy and said:
"I heard you sing very well, and I'm also interested in music. Can we get to know each other?"

The girl said:
"Tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock, I will go to the Working People's Cultural Palace to participate in 'Everyone Sings'. If you are interested, you can come and we can exchange, learn and grow together!

Well, comrade, see you tomorrow!"

Then the girl waved goodbye.

A tourist came up and said with a smile:

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, young man, this girl has been here for over a month and has been approached too many times."

Wang Yuanchao asked:
"It's so hot during the summer vacation, are you here too?"

"It's okay. We all come here early in the morning. Won't it be over when the sun comes up?"

(End of this chapter)