Wu Fei's Music Daily

This spring has been cold in Nashville compared to last year. It is the first year we’ve lived here that our crabapple tree did not blossom. There were probably no more than 80 flowers that came out, and then there was a cold snap. Last year there must have been more than a thousand blossoms. The whole forest is not as colorful as usual. That makes the white azalea (photo below) extra precious as...

The first hummingbird of 2022 has arrived! I was taking photos of the flowers. A minutes later, I heard a loud buzz sound next to my ear. I thought it was a wasp at first. Then I realized it was a hummingbird. It was not scared of me being next it. And then, I wrote this piece. Wishing you all a Happy Passover, Easter, Ramadan, and a beautiful spring weekend! Wu Fei 吴非 Wufeimusic.comTwitter @wuf...

Yesterday, I looked up into the sky and saw this view (photo below). Look how many planes! “The pandemic is over”, I thought. Nashville’s sky have always been busy. I especially started noticing the frequent flights when I started this recording project at home because I could hear every plane when it flew on top of my house. I have to pause the recording every time to wait for the noise to be gon...

This multitrack guzheng composition was created yesterday, in spired by the dancer-like wooden stick waving in the wind (photo below). The sun was warm, the air was crisp, the wind was chilly. The shape of the stick reminded me a Peking Ppera performer when s/he paused with the gongs together. Hope this piece brings you a moment of joy into the weekend. I am also very excited and honored to share...

Today is the Qingming Festival also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day in English, a traditional Chinese festival. During Qingming, Chinese families visit the tombs of their ancestors to clean the gravesites, pray to their ancestors and make ritual offerings. The Qingming Festival has been observed by the Chinese for over 2,500 years. I wrote this composition yesterday to dedicate to my family members who...

This solo guzheng improvisation was recorded yesterday on a beautiful sunny day in Nashville, Tennessee. After a week in London spending time with family, I was inspired by every minute in the magical home of uncle Gren and aunt Juliet in London. There were endless fun old collections in their house to look at, like these meerkats (photo below). I had my eyes closed in my studio in Nashville and t...

This composition was created nine days ago on multitrack guzheng, performed by me. I have been learning more about how to lay tracks down to prepare for a solo section all done by myself. It takes a very different structural planning in terms of timing, phrasing, accenting so that the overall result can flow naturally. Our brain can usually work in linear path. However, with training, it can fores...

I recorded this nocturne five days ago. It helped me to do deep breathing and swim in my imaginations. Hope it brings you a moment of peace at the beginning of your week. If you want a different way to receive and listen to my daily tracks, Substack now has an iPhone app (Substack Reader) that includes an audio player that makes it very easy to find and listen to my music here. Wu Fei 吴非 Wufeimu...

This fun solo guzheng piece was recorded four days ago. I have started playing more without picks lately. It gives warmer tone than plucking with the picks on. However, it is harder to play without picks. Picks do deliver more accuracy, speed and volume. Hope this piece brings a moment of playfulness into your weekend! If you want a different way to receive and listen to my daily tracks, Substack...

This waltz was composed and recorded on guzheng yesterday, performed by me. Yesterday, I learned about a friend who had been going through a cancer recovery. He has been one of my very first substack supporters since I launched this music daily project in May 2020. His name is Richard. We occasionally exchange thoughts on music and history topics that we both have a lot of passions for. I hope thi...

This solo guzheng and vocal improvisation was recorded yesterday. The melody I sang was inspired by a song that I’ve loved since I was a child. It is from the TV series — Dream of the Red Chamber 红楼梦 (1987), composed by Wang Liping 王立平 (1941), based on the classic novel. Prof. Wang spent more than a year to finish composing and orchestrating all the music for the 36-episode TV dram series. T...

Hi everyone, Thank you for subscribing to Wu Fei’s Music Daily. This is episode #534 — Leaps and trills 润物无声. This piece was composed and recorded yesterday on multitrack guzheng, performed by me. Acorn is bright red when it sprouts in the spring. It happens quietly, yet powerfully. It falls from the tree to the ground, grows into the soil. It breaks the brown shell, and splits in half for the...

Hi everyone, Thank you for subscribing to Wu Fei’s Music Daily. This is episode #533 — Bluet’s blues 蓝号子. This piece was created and recorded on vocal and guzheng yesterday, performed by me. The tiny bluets (photo below) are coming out of the ground. There will be a lot of them very soon, although I only saw these three yesterday. They are the pioneers of their pack for the year! Wishing you a...

Happy International Women’s Day! Thank you for subscribing to Wu Fei’s Music Daily. This is episode #530 — The silver sandals 银色趿拉板儿. It is a free newsletter to all my subscribers to celebrate International Women’s Day. This fun composition was created and recorded yesterday on percussion and vocals, performed by me. I hit the wooden body of my guzheng with my fingers that made the percussiv...

Hi everyone, Thank you for subscribing to Wu Fei’s Music Daily. This is episode #529 — A belated waltz 迟到的华尔兹. This composition was created and recorded yesterday on multitrack and partly prepared guzheng, performed by me. I put two key chain rings on two strings to prepare the bell-like sound from the strings. The difference of the timbres create a sensation of an off-beat delay in the 3/4...

Hi everyone, Thank you for subscribing to Wu Fei’s Music Daily. This is episode #528 — Six echoes 六声轮. This piece was created and recorded yesterday on guzheng and vocal, performed by me. I felt like singing again to welcome the fresh breathe, the hot sun, the bright flowers. The shift from freezing night to sweaty noon happened just like that. To nature, that is normal. To modern humans who ha...

Hi everyone, Thank you for subscribing to Wu Fei’s Music Daily. This is episode #524 — Guzheng night song 18 古筝夜曲十八号. This guzheng improvisation was recorded yesterday. The world has been shockingly disturbing in the last week, especially the last twenty four hours in Europe. I have to be honest that I struggled to stay calm and positive about the future at this very moment. I feel very for...

Hi everyone, Thank you for subscribing to Wu Fei’s Music Daily. This is episode #523 — Charging the silk 蚕丝阵. This guzheng etude was composed and recorded yesterday, performed by me. I read about how silk was made in China more than 5000 years ago. Silkworms are the larvae of Bombyx mori moths. The caterpillars eat only mulberry leaves. When they get big, they spin two threads of silk from the...

Happy Monday everyone, Thank you for subscribing to Wu Fei’s Music Daily. This is episode #519 — The apple farmer’s secret 苹果秘笈. This solo guzheng improvisation was recorded yesterday. There was an article in Ask magazine about grafting — an old trick the ancient Greeks came up with in 400 BCE for growing sweeter apples. That was around the same time when the guzheng appeared in China. This ne...

Happy Friday everyone, Thank you for subscribing to Wu Fei’s Music Daily. This is episode #518 — A bumpy telegram 颠簸的电报. This composition was created and recorded yesterday, performed by me. My daughter made her own U.S. postal letter to her father yesterday. She shared an interesting story with him in the letter. As she was reading it to us, my brain was instantly taken to a world where I st...

Happy Lantern Festival and Valentine’s Day! Thank you for subscribing to Wu Fei’s Music Daily. This is episode #514 — Slicing the wind 风片儿. This guzheng composition was created yesterday, performed by me. It got much colder in Nashville all of a sudden. I saw ice shaped like this on the ground (photo below). After searching on the internet, many similar patterns came up that were from rocks, tr...

Happy Friday everyone, Thank you for subscribing to Wu Fei’s Music Daily. This is episode #513 — Snapping the burning man 火人镖. This composition was created yesterday on multitrack guzheng and vocals, performed by me. I saw this modern-art looking wood in the woods yesterday (photo below). Who knows how many times it had been struck by lightening. It looks like it’s running away from me. Hope yo...

Happy Monday everyone, Thank you for subscribing to Wu Fei’s Music Daily. This is episode #509 — Giggling sorghum 高粱咯咯. This piece was composed and recorded three days ago, performed by me on multitrack guzheng. It was a cold day when I wrote this piece. My fingers needed a lot of warm up. So I decided to record this whole process of how I got to the “warm” and “relaxed” stage at the end. Hope...

Happy Friday everyone, Thank you for subscribing to Wu Fei’s Music Daily. This is episode #508 — Six gourds on a boat 六条葫芦船. This piece was composed and recorded yesterday, performed by me on multitrack guzheng. One of my family traditions during lunar new year is my mother making a sweet sticky rice / dates dessert. This year, she made a 吉 dessert (photo below). The character means “luckine...

Happy Monday everyone, Thank you for subscribing to Wu Fei’s Music Daily. This is episode #504 — Tiger prelude 水虎序. This piece was created yesterday on multitrack guzheng, performed by me. In two days, we will enter the year of the Water Tiger. I am utterly excited about this lunar new year, so I wrote this piece to welcome the big spring festival! Speaking of big spring, I want to reach out to...