What does "under" mean in the context below?

Question

Yes, I do,’ she said, but he had already struck up another chorus. She

loved him. They loved each other. They were friends. They lived in a

sparsely furnished house near the Merri Creek: its walls were cracking, its

floors sloped and its doors hung loosely in their frames. There was a piano

in the kitchen and during the day Athena would shut herself in there under

the portrait of Dexter’s father and pick away at Bartok’s Mikrokosmos or

the easiest of Bach’s Small Preludes. Preludes to what? Even under her

ignorant fingers those simple chords rang like a shout of triumph, and she

would run to stick her hot face out the window.

Does "under" in the sentence "Even under herignorant fingers those simple chords rang like a shout of triumph" mean "below"? Or does it mean "under the power of" ?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

It means "below." She's playing the piano, so the piano keys are under her fingers, the piano keys on which her ignorant fingers are picking away at simple chords.

? · Answer

Look at a person playing a piano. The keys are under the player's fingers.

busterwasmycat · Answer

pretty literal, her hands are above the keys, and even with her doing the playing (even with the keys under her fingers rather than the fingers of an expert) the music was good.

What does "under" mean in the context below?

3 Answers