Music in novels?

[Burst]

So I've scrapped everything I've been working on because it frustrated me to no end (Couldn't get anywhere because of writer's block.) and I've decided to work on something new. My new project is about a boy who absolute sucks at playing the violin...my problem is... how the hell do I put music into something that you read?! do I describe the sounds the instrument makes or something?

 

[CupofJoe]

Maybe - describe the feelings of getting something right. I played the violin in junior school and i remember hours of screeching and wailing and then a sweet sound when I got it right; and I knew when I got it right! I felt ten feet tall. It didn't happen very often but that feeling kept me going for hours more.
I loved playing the violin even though i was crap - i was the kid that got to carry a Tommy Gun in to school every day [okay it was just the violin in a case but I'd seen enough Warner Bros gangster movies to really know what was inside...:devil:]

 

[Caged Maiden]

First question, do you play the violin? Another instrument?

I play several, and they each evoke a different feeling. If you are not a musician, or not specifically a fiddler, you might consider interviewing one.

I'd try something like this: "His eyes shut tightly as his fingers danced over the strings, so sure in their movements from having played the piece a thousand times before. Low, then high, the notes groaned and sang from the hollow wood body, eerie but beautiful all at once. NAME'S perpetual frown faded, as he neared the end of the piece, the corners of his mouth twitching into a half-smile as he neared the final bars. Two lines left, a moment in time, but all that mattered in the world.

With nimble fingers, grasping the bow so light a stiff wind might jerk it from his hand, he sped through the stacatto, the dynamics so expertly executed, he could almost see the tears in his mother's eyes.

As the last haunting notes lingered in the air, he dropped his bow to his side and opened his eyes to bow. The room was silent, each heart standing still, before applause erupted.

Okay, you said he sucks, but the theory is the same:

Rosin puffed from the strings, coating his fingers in sticky powder while he plucked. They weren't perfectly in tune, but it would be close enough for practice. NAME gripped his bow with white knuckles and dragged the horsehair across the metal strings, "C", "D", "E". Old Yeller tilted his head back, at the foot of the bed and let loose a mournful howl.

NAME kicked at the dog and then brought his bow down on the traitor's rump, sending the old mongrel scurrying from the room. He tried again, focused on the scale he'd learned in class. Note after note, he drew shakily from the fiddle's worn body, scratched and marred like his mother's '92 Sentra.


There's a million ways to portray music, and what I think it's most important to remember,is that subtlety will accomplish a lot. Do research. I took a few violin lessons, but don't play. The first passage is an example of good technique (from my limited knowledge, you will want to interview someone), while the second, exemplifies poor technique and a limited understanding of musical theory. If it was me writing it, I'd focus on techniques, just like I do when I write sword fights, or someone learning magic, or anything else. The details will make your story.

Best wishes.

 

[Ireth]

Thank you for making this thread, Burst. I have a similar problem with my vampire novel, as both the hero and villain play the bagpipes. I have a practice chanter (i.e. the pipe you play the melody on, as opposed to the drones), but I haven't picked it up in ages. *hangs head guiltily* I really should, but those things are freaking hard to put together without cracking the reeds. Maybe when I go home for Thanksgiving I'll bring my chanter back with me and head into the Fine Arts wing to practice, professors willing.

 

[The Dark One]

Concentrate on how the player/listener feels and the context of the performance. My first published book featured a relationship between a non-musical MC 1st person narrator and his musicologist girlfriend. There are several passages where the MC describes the music and the way it makes him feel, but the set up was all-important. Putting the performance in context and having carefully established the MC's musical ignorance actually made the description/scene quite easy and (I think) the result was pretty powerful.

I also wrote and recorded some of the songs described in the novel and put them on my website.