Wu Fei's Music Daily

Hi everyone, This three-voice guzheng piece was composed and recorded yesterday. I used all opening string harmonics in this song. On Monday, I saw a small smooth green snake in the forest (photo below). I nearly stepped on it when I jumped over a tree trunk. The snake was angry and turned its head to be ready to defend itself, which you can see in the photo. That night, a little snow fell on Nash...

Happy Monday everyone, I hope you all had a restful weekend. This four-voice counterpoint guzheng piece was composed and recorded yesterday, inspired by the ancient Hurrian Hymn No. 6 , from the area that is now Syria and Turkey (where there is currently a terrible war happening). The final notes of the piece are from a chirping bird outside my window. It is the earliest known song to be recorded...

Good morning everyone, Yesterday, I woke up to a bright pink sky. The sky was lit up. I rushed out to the balcony and stood in the chilly air not wanting to miss any second of this moment. As I looked up higher, the moon was shining quietly above the forest (photo below). Hope this piece brings you peace into your Monday. Wu Fei 吴非 You can buy my album Yuan from Tzadik records or from Amazon . M...

Hi everyone, I have returned home from Louisville. Thank you for being patient with me again while I was on tour! In Louisville, I saw some dear old friends and made many new friends during the Festival of Faiths. It was an inspiring experience for me to meet festival goers who came to Louisville to connect and share their life stories in the most vulnerable way. Music helped everyone to become co...

Good morning everyone, Hope you all had a restful weekend. Two days ago, I was woken up by a touch of warm air on my face in the morning. I slowly opened my eyes to seek where the warmth came from. I saw the sky full of colors outside of my window (photo below). I was overjoyed. This three-track guzheng composition is my memory of this breathtaking experience. It reminded me a poem from the Weijin...

Hi everyone, I recorded this solo guzheng night song yesterday thinking about my children. I used to put them to bed every night singing lullabies to them when they were babies. And then, I started to play Chopin’s piano nocturnes from a music player for their bedtime. Lately, I started singing lullabies to them again. Today, I realized that I have composed and recorded many guzheng night songs fo...

Hi everyone, This three-track guzheng étude was composed and recorded yesterday. An étude or study is an instrumental musical composition, usually short, designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular musical skill. Yesterday, my music studio was cold because I forgot to turn the heater on the night before. I needed to quickly warm my fingers up. Therefore, I came up with this p...

Hi everyone, I have returned home from London. Thank you for your patience while I was absent from my daily music newsletter. However, each trip I make, I always come back with full of new energy and inspiration. The concerts I gave at the British Library and SOAS University of London were both mesmerizing. I met a musician / composer name Shohret Nur (photo below). He is a master on the dutar and...

Hi everyone, Hope you are all enjoying a beautiful autumn if it is the season for you right now. The colors in middle Tennessee are glorious. Hiking on the top of the west Nashville hill has given me immense joy to appreciate the fall colors in all settings. It reminds me of one of the Autumn Poems by one of my favorite Tang poets - Liu Yuxi 刘禹锡 (772 - 842 AD): 自古逢秋悲寂寥，我言秋日胜春朝。...

Hi everyone, If you are in London, hope you can join me at my performance on October 28 at the British Library Pigott Theatre at 7:15pm. The concert will be opened by two amazing Ngawang Lodup (mandolin & dranyen), Shohret Nur (dutar & rawap). There will be a grand jamming finale by the three of us, and it will be my first time playing with them. I am utterly psyched! Tickets & detail are availabl...

Happy Monday everyone, I composed this two-track guzheng night song yesterday. Hope it helps you to have a good night’s sleep tonight. As I’m getting ready to head to London in a week, I would like to tell you about an exciting concert residency I’ll be doing in Louisville, Kentucky in November . If you are in and near in Louisville, I would love to see you at my performances below: * November 13,...

Hi everyone, I composed and recorded this three-track guzheng piece yesterday. Experimenting with tone colors and timbres is one of my favorite things to do when I create music. I make a sound bath for my ear drums to enjoy all the mysterious “bubbles.” Hope this piece brings you the same experience. If you are in London, I hope to see you at my solo performance on October 28th at the British Libr...

Hi everyone, I composed this three-track guzheng waltz yesterday wondering about a mushroom that I saw in Nashville, Tennessee (photo below). I am not sure if it is a Caesar’s mushroom. I would appreciate your help identifying it. Thank you in advance! Wu Fei 吴非 My albums A Distant Youth and Pluck are available for purchase on Bandcamp: https://wufeimusic.bandcamp.com/ Wufeimusic.com | hellogold...

Good morning everyone, Time is an interesting concept. When did we start using Monday to mark the beginning of another stressful cycle in human society? I would imagine it hasn’t been long compared to the existence of human civilization. Will this way of shaping our natural system last? I don’t think so even if I won’t see its end during my life time. As I embrace this artificial time, I am glad a...

Happy Friday everyone, I composed and recorded this multi-track guzheng étude yesterday. I did not intend to write such an intense piece. It just came out of my chest as I was warming up my fingers more. While I was creating the music, my mind jumped back to the experience when I was on a cable car coming down from the Monserrate mountain in Bogotá, Colombia in August this year. It was above 10,00...

Hi everyone, This solo guzheng composition was recorded yesterday. I was thinking about the gorgeous fall in the southeast of U.S. where my state of Tennessee is. It has been a heavy time for eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida because of the destruction of hurricane Helene. In the next 24 hours, Hurricane Milton will land on Florida. I have many friends who live...

Hi everyone, I recorded this two-track guzheng night song yesterday. It is in the middle of the Jewish Rosh Hashanah new year celebration. I was moved and enlightened by my dear friend Rabba Daniella’s writing: “ The word love comes with pain. It comes with disappointment and loss but it also comes with a deep sense of purpose and a desire to continue to bravely choose life, to continue to bring g...

Shana Tova and happy Friday! This week has been so busy that my recording schedule was interrupted a little bit. Thank you for your patience! My fingers were craving to play this morning. I just recorded this piece and hope it will take you into a calm weekend. On October 28 at 7:15pm, I am debuting my solo performance in the UK in the British Library (photo below). I’m excited to have my composit...

Happy Monday everyone, It took a few takes for me to power through this song, singing and playing. It is inspired by a Sani people’s folk song from Yunnan province in China. And then my original song Ping Tan jumped in my head. Hope this song gives you energy to start the week! For friends in London: Hope to see you at one of my upcoming performances in October: * October 28 The British Library Pi...

Hi everyone, I composed and recorded this four-track guzheng piece yesterday. I used a bandanna in the lower register of my guzheng to half mute the strings to have less sustained effect. No finger picks were used in this piece to have a softer sound. I was thinking of the hike I had on the Simatai Great Wall three weeks ago in Beijing, and the nearby Mandarin Duck Lake (photo below). The fog made...

Hi everyone, I am very excited to share with you about my upcoming two performances in London. It will be my solo debut in the U.K.. I know some of my subscribers are in London. Hope to see you at one of the performances below: * October 28, Monday 2024 The British Library Pigott Theatre Join us for an enchanting evening as three renowned artists present a repertoire inspired by the ancient tradit...

Hi everyone, How have you all been? I have missed you. Thank you for being so patient with me. A special thank to the new paid subscribers while I was on leave from Substack. It meant a lot to me when I received your support when I was away! It has been an amazing trip back in China with my family though it is good to be back home in Nashville! While I was in Beijing, I got to climb the Simatai Gr...

Hi everyone, This solo guzheng improvisation was recorded yesterday, inspired by the amazing clouds above mountain Monserrate. I was on my way to Valledupar from Bogotá on August 7 this year. My plane was climbing through the thick clouds on top of Bogotá. I was stunned by the view from my window - the sun, the sky, the clouds and the mountain (photo below). How much I cherish these magnificent mo...

Hi everyone, I recorded this guzheng night song reconnecting to the night I played a concert in Riohacha two weeks ago. Riohacha is a city in northern Colombia, where the Ranchería River meets the Caribbean Sea. It’s known for its native Wayúu people and for the colorful birds in the Flamingo Sanctuary southwest of the city. Central Padilla Square is home to 19th-century Cathedral of Our Lady of t...

Hi everyone, This three-track guzheng composition was created and recorded yesterday, inspired by my visit earlier this month in the historical city of Cartagena in Colombia. Strolling in the colorful and narrow streets of Cartagena on a steamy lady afternoon felt like being in an old movie (photo below). Every site I looked at was a song, a story, a book to me. May this piece bring an old or a ne...