JOHN: hm.....
JOHN: okay, what if this part of the space/time/alternate timeline continuum, where you are sitting around on a very pretty island thinking or whatever--
JOHN: maybe you are trying to psychoanalyze sburb's subconscious dream mind by counting how many tentacle dicks it made out of clouds?
ROSE: Yes. That's almost certainly what I was up to before you dropped by.
JOHN: hehehehe
JOHN: i thought it must have been something like that!
JOHN: all right.
JOHN: let's say this moment is like a string, and we are both in tune with the note that it plays, because we are standing on it.
JOHN: but my retcon powers let me change that.
JOHN: so i could decide to resonate with, for example, the note an octave higher instead of this one. and then i can step directly into that string.
JOHN: and even if i don't know for sure what note that would be, i know it will probably sound ok combined with whatever note we are playing right now, because octaves are like the most basic harmony ever.
JOHN: so i know i'm not going to mess up the entire song by accident.
JOHN: except maybe instead of an octave, i want to play a quick callback to the motif of my friends finally getting together in person after way too long.
ROSE: Or the sad Rose soundtrack?
JOHN: ...yeah. or that one.
JOHN: it might need to be in a different key, depending on what the song is doing, or maybe i should only echo the rhythm pattern into the current melody?
JOHN: but the "shapey-ness" of the motif is still right, and that's what's important.
JOHN: if i try to visit a specific note - like a high e flat, for one example - without knowing what part of the song i'm on exactly, i'll have to put in a lot of effort to search for the note.
JOHN: and then to play it without messing up the rhythm.
JOHN: and i'll have to be ready to improvise a whole bunch to tie it into the main theme, since it might be completely dissonant.....
JOHN: well you know what that's like, right?
ROSE: Do I?
JOHN: sure. because of the violin?
ROSE: Oh. I guess so.
ROSE: Although it's been a while, and I've never tried any improvisation like you're describing.
ROSE: And you're not talking about violin strings.
JOHN: no. i was thinking about piano strings, since that way every note has its own.
JOHN: but violin strings work too, if that ties in better with your own hobbies and interests?
JOHN: it's basically the same idea.
ROSE: Not really.
ROSE: The hands of the piano virtuoso may waltz together over a smooth corridor of ivory, finding each note conveniently pre-defined and merely waiting to be roused from restless slumber by the gentle yet insistent urging of his caress.
JOHN: hahahahaha! okay rose.
ROSE: But the violinist has just four strings to work with, and can only contribute to the ongoing melody by forcing her will onto the medium of vibration.
ROSE: Warping each string's original voice with a calloused fingertip.
JOHN: sure but... don't you actually need more than four strings to play a violin?
JOHN: like, waaaaaaaay more?
ROSE: What do you...
ROSE: Are you talking about the bow?
ROSE: That's horsehair.
ROSE: ...In fairness, the point's still arguable, depending on what your definition of "strings" is?
ROSE: What the hell, I'll allow it.
JOHN: there, see?!
JOHN: it IS the same!
ROSE: Uh huh.
ROSE: In that case, how does your String Theory interpret the eventual fate of most bowstrings?
ROSE: Where one brings the bow too roughly across the four lines of their intention, and the horsehairs fray and snap?
JOHN: okay well... i think that means...
JOHN: this is turning out to be a way better metaphor than i was expecting!
ROSE: It does fit neatly with the musical aesthetic touches on our planets.
ROSE: World spanning organs and my Quest and such.
JOHN: ...
ROSE: ...
JOHN: so, i would just like to say for the record...
JOHN: i could make a joke right now? about my world spanning organ?
JOHN: but i am choosing not to do that.
ROSE: Very mature.
ROSE: If slightly disappointing.
JOHN: you're welcome.