Chapter 7.2 - Lightly 2 (2/2)
[Lee Suh-ah: (An angry cat emoji)]
Looking at the messages on my phone, I tilted my head.
What was this; did I do something wrong to Lee Suh-ah?
No matter how much I thought, I couldn’t think of anything. Besides, it seemed more like that Lee Suh-ah was the one avoiding me these days and the practices we had without a problem became fewer recently.
I tried asking what this meant but she didn’t reply as the case became shrouded in mystery.
“Mhmm…”
What did this emoji mean?
Inside the head that returned no replies no matter how I thought, a thought suddenly flashed past. The fact that I can’t understand this… is it perhaps due to the generation difference?
“…!”
While I was frozen solid in surprise, the door of the practice room was pushed open as teacher Ku Mingi appeared from behind wearing a clean sweater and grey cotton pants. Thinking about it, it seemed like it had been a while since I had seen teacher Ku Mingi because last week, he had an urgent task and had cancelled the lesson.
A lesson after 2 weeks.
I lowered my head in greeting and the teacher replied with a smile.
“Hello. Student Yunjae.”
“Yes, hello.”
Then, he took out a bunch of papers from the files he brought and handed them over to me. Curious, I glanced at it and found out that it was a music sheet. On the five lines that had been drawn, there were countless beansprouts hanging as well as some French words written beneath…
“…La Fille du Régiment?”
“Hoh you could tell even though it doesn’t even have a title.”
Seeing him smiling, I dropped my chin in disbelief.
…Is he sane? Why’s he giving this to me?
Teacher Ku Mingi gave a grin before opening his mouth.
“Student Yunjae, are you doing well on the cooperation with the composing department?”
“…I am doing fine…”
“Hahat. Don’t look at me like that, because that song… I had my own reasons for bringing that here.”
After another round of laughter, he sat down on the piano chair with a somewhat serious atmosphere.
“I’ve heard from student Yu Minji. That you were having trouble learning the light sword… I mean the new vocalisation method.”
Did she say all that? Seeing me in thought, teacher Ku Mingi slowly opened the lid of the piano keys as he opened his mouth.
“Student Yunjae. In opera, the position held by ‘tenors’ is special. Do you know why?”
“…Because they make high notes?”
“You’re right.”
Flicking his head towards me, he continued with an expressionless look.
“High notes. Most people like high notes. There might be several reasons; perhaps they like it because it’s nice to hear while there are even people that are in admiration that male voices could go that high. Whatever the reason, ‘tenors’ are acknowledged by their ability to sing high notes.”
“…”
When I made an expression asking what connection there was between that and the light sword style, he continued.
“It’s the same. That light vocalisation method I taught you – the objective is to easily and lightly make high notes because the main goal of tenors, is to sing high notes. If you could express high notes properly, it could be seen as you having mastered the ‘light sword style’.”
Blinking my eyes, I thought.
That was right.
Since the light vocalisation method did not put much pressure on the throat, it was more comfortable to make high notes. I had been able to force out a high C as well thanks to that…
In the midst of my thoughts, teacher Ku Mingi opened his mouth.
“High notes, and from those, high C is special.”
Ding–
After pressing the 3 Octave C on the piano, he released his hand from the keys.
“High C. In most operas, it is hard to find a pitch higher than a high C but there are lots of famous songs that have high Cs in them. In other words, the generally perceived highest note of a tenor is high C.”
Turning over from the seat, teacher Ku Mingi smiled.
“So in order to conquer this highest note… let’s sing this song.”
He gave a smile as he held the music sheet up.
“‘Pour mon âme’ which has 9 high Cs inside.”
The score with a mix of beansprouts could be seen. It was the tenor aria which appeared in La Fille du Régiment, Pour mon âme, which was infamous for being one of the hardest arias in the world.
A high C which would usually mark the highlight of normal songs had to be sung 9 times so would that be easy? On top of that, it was an aria, not a lied so it required the singer to have loud volume as well. At this point, it was pretty much a song made to torture tenors.
And… he was telling me to sing that?
“Me? Can I sing this?”
“Student Yunjae.”
After talking solemnly, he stood up from the seat and started walking towards me.
“If I’m not wrong, student Yunjae had made a high C in front of me right?”
“…Yes. I squeezed it out though, and cannot make that sound now.”
“No. The fact that you can make a high note, means that it is possible for you to sing in that note. The things student Jo Yunjae is lacking are tricks and confidence.”
“Sorry?”
My expression crumpled unknowingly. Not the physical aspect but the confidence? What nonsense was that? At least when I was singing, I was filled with confidence.
It’s just that I can’t reach that high no matter how much I practise… while I was in thought, teacher Ku Mingi approached suddenly and grabbed my shoulder.
“…!”
His pressure made my shoulder scream in pain. With a start I raised my head, and as my eyes met his, the cold yet blazing gaze of his was etched deeply into my brain.
“What are you so afraid of?”
“I’m not af…”
“No. I’ve felt it throughout the lessons. Student Yunjae is afraid, of making a high C. As if…”
He scanned through my eyes before opening his mouth.
“You firmly believe that you won’t be able to make a high C.”
“…”
I couldn’t say a single word back.
After staring at me for a while, he let go of my shoulder and sat back down on the piano seat. He then asked.
“Are you ready?”
Ready…
Was I? I had no idea, and just felt dizzy. Suddenly I remembered the lesson I had received before which felt like a distant memory despite only being around a few weeks ago. I, who had been forcibly singing in teacher Kwak Jungsoo’s style; the advice from the teachers and the new vocalisation method.
I definitely thought back then,
That the current me was different from the me before.
“…”
I thought I understood, that it would change soon. But somewhere deep inside… maybe I couldn’t believe in it myself.
A wall that had stayed there for 20 years, how could I breach that and how could I ever make that high note?
Maybe those were the thoughts I had been having. Just like how a flea that had been inside a glass bottle for a long time cannot jump high after leaving it.
I vowed to myself in silence.
“…I am ready.”
In fact, I had no idea, whether I was ready or not, and whether I would be able to make a high C or not.
However, I had to at least try.
To go outside the glass bottle,
…I had to surpass my past self.
“…”
The accompaniment began.