Atwood grimaced when the first note was struck.

Though Atwood wasn't versed in traditional instruments such as the

Ancient Zither, his experience as a pianist gave him the insight to detect the disarray in Clare's melody.

Because of that initial wrong note, Atwood couldn't bring himself to enjoy Clare's performance.

He turned to Cara, who stood beside him, and whispered, “What's your impression of Clare's performance?"