Frederique Fugue

Frederique Fugue
Age	Possibly 30's
Gender	Male
Animal	Poodle
Eye color	Light brown
Hair color	Blond
Residence	Frederique Fugue's House, Elwood City
Job	Concert pianist, piano teacher, musicologist

Dr. Frederique Fugue (also spelled Frederick Fugue) is a concert pianist, private tutor, and musicologist.

Biography

Early life

A young Frederique in a children's choir

As a child, Frederique had been part of a children's choir who performed at least once at Bartleby Hall in Crown City.

He came under the instruction of Mrs. Cardigan, who would teach him in piano until he became her star pupil.

Dr. Fugue went to Yale University, where he spent some time as a member of The Whiffenpoofs. While unclear whether he transferred or remained in Yale, he once had a dueling pianos match with Liberace at an unnamed music school.

Career

Dr. Fugue acquired a grand piano, which he named Giselle. As a concert pianist, he played on his personal piano in places ranging from Vienna to Carnegie Hall, returning many times to some locations. He became friends with other famous musicians such as Yo-Yo Ma.

Tutoring

Sometime in the past, Fugue tutored a child named Mikey, who supposedly lost his grip strength due to the excessive number of scales he had practiced. However, Mikey may have been a story entirely made up by Binky.

When Fugue's old teacher Mrs. Cardigan decided to retire, she made phone calls with him and he accepted Arthur Read to be his student. However, when Arthur appeared to lack interest in learning piano, Dr. Fugue "fired" him. He briefly tutored Kenny afterward, but ended up "firing" him as well, for unknown reasons. Finding motivation to be now present in Arthur, he "re-hired" him.

Teaching at Lakewood

With Ms. Krasny unable to take the Lakewood Elementary Choir to Bartleby Hall in Crown City, Dr. Fugue was hired as her substitute teacher. Ignoring Binky's attempt to avoid singing and temporarily overruling Ms. Krasny's preexisting promise of the solo role to Francine, he pushed the class into singing in harmony. He chose the song In the Good Old Summer Time for the choir, to relieve the feeling of winter. Once the choir had perfected their singing, Dr. Fugue wished for them to have fun. Though a closed road prevented the school bus from reaching Crown City, Dr. Fugue improvised and had the kids perform at a roadside diner.

Fugue owns a cat named Fur Elise. Once when she went missing, he looked for her, eventually finding her at Arthur's house.

He met Arthur again at The Yarn Yurt, where he bought yarn for knitting more gloves. When the Tough Customers teased Arthur for knitting a scarf, he invited them all to his knitting club.

Personality

Dr. Fugue likes to knit, often making fingerless gloves for his students. He hosts a knitting club at his home with Oliver Frensky, Mrs. MacGrady, and Rattles.

Dr. Fugue tends to be very strict and no-nonsense, and is deeply methodical and analytical when teaching his students. He doesn't tolerate laziness and will ask his students to leave if he feels they aren't dedicated. However, he does have a softer side and genuinely wants his students to find enjoyment in the music they create, and tries to instill this in them even as he tutors them.

He enjoys keeping pets, though often teaching them musical skills as well. His bird Tosca can change the tempo of its chirping and his cat Fur Elise is naturally attracted to music.

He is also a fan of musical variety television program Soul Train.

Skills

Dr. Fugue has gained several skills beyond actually playing the piano. By looking at a person's hands, he is able to estimate how long the subject has been playing piano, within an accuracy of a half year. He is able to memorize the exact number of notes in the collection of Bach's two-part inventions. Not only the number, but he is able to recall which notes are to be played throughout an entire piece, while simultaneously counting the number of mistakes made by the player.

Appearances

Arthur

• 602a. "Arthur Plays the Blues"
• 901b. "Tipping the Scales"
• 1210b. "D.W.'s Furry Freak-out"
• 1408a. "Arthur Unravels"

Books

• Arthur Plays the Blues

Trivia

• His name is most likely based on the musical term "fugue", a composition with two or more voices or parts.
• His first name might be a reference to Frédéric Chopin, because a bust of Chopin is shown in Mrs. Cardigan's house, just a few seconds before she tells Arthur about Dr. Fugue.
  • The name Frederique (spelled Frédérique in French) is actually a feminine name in French, translating to Frederica in English. Frédéric is the proper French form of Frederick..