AhDoe – Music as an International Language

Besides writing piano musical scores, Ah Doe volunteered to “expand” the musical instruments list for this famous Chinese New Year song.

A Preview of Gong Xi Gong Xi, an orchestral version

Due to the fact that this song is re-arranged for Chinese traditional orchestras, the musical instruments chosen are mainly and exclusively for them. Some notable instruments are Yangqin (Introduced in one of my posts earlier), Zhong Ruan, Pipa, Liu Qin, Er Hu and etc. I will blog about these instruments in the future.

I have reserved the full version of this piece of musical score for some orchestras so that they can perform it during this Chinese New Year season. However, if you are still interested in it, whether for individual or group (Orchestra I supposed) purpose, you can always contact me at callme@ahdoe.com .

For the second time, Ah Doe wishes you a happy and blessed year ahead!

You better watch out…

You better not cry…

To cut in short, Ah Doe is going to tell you why…

Chinese New Year is coming to town! Hip Hip Hurray!

When Chinese New Year is around the corner, red lanterns are everywhere, ang pows are also everywhere (Difference is whether it is empty…), people are dwelling into markets to buy mandarin oranges and nice food for this festive season and New Year songs are in the air.

Greetings from Happy Mandarin Orange 

Girls are considering to slim down in order to accomodate more calories, they gave themselves a brand new new year objective and put it in the first priority – to give their best shot to be pretty so that they have the courage to show up in front of their friends and relatives during Chinese new year. (Yaya, I am one of them)

So, if you can’t see me during this period, that will mean that my I missed my target or deadline… 🙁

Well, a happy contribution from Ah Doe for this 2008 Chinese New Year, a famous lunar new year song sung by Yao Min (姚敏）and Yao Li (姚莉). The Yao-s are famous with their musical talent. They are in fact real brother and sister, featuring Yao Min as the composer and Yao Li as the singer.

Guess what, the famous “Wishing You Happiness and Prosperity” or best known as “Gong Xi Gong Xi” is one of their masterpieces. If you want to heat up the Chinese New Year atmosphere, you can always play this song when you party at your friends’ house.

  

Gong Xi Gong Xi Piano Sheet Preview

Where else you can download this Gong Xi Gong Xi Piano Sheet for free?

Yes, please help yourselves @ AhDoe.com ….

I have been listening to their songs all this while but not even once, I took the initiative to find out who they are. Their songs are great, but on top of that, their piano is outstanding! This is why they have been honoured with the “The Piano Band” title and constantly compared with Coldplay.

Anyway, Coldplay fans…don’t get offended, I like both of Keane and Coldplay…(Phew~)

I just knew that there are 3 person in this team, namely Tim Rice-Oxley (Piano), Tom Chaplin (Lead Vocals) and Richard Hughes (Drums). Oh yes, they had a former member, Dominic Scott several years ago.

Members in the band

These guys are talented people, I don’t know how they cross-fertilized the skills and knowledge but they actually switch roles on certain occasions. That means, Tom and Richard can play keyboard as well, while Tim can carry out with other functions. (Go toilet maybe? Hehe..)

Apart from “Everyone’s Changing“, I like their “Nothing in My Way” very very much! I don’t know what’s the reason, but I would say this song is like a spell casted on me because I could never forget its melody since the first time I heard it.

Nothing in My Way is from this album

Beware, Keane likes to hammer piano keyboards non-stop. It’s obvious in their songs…So, if you want to play their songs, take a deep breath and relax, hammer your piano keyboards steadily but not hurriedly.

Oh ya, watch out for your wrists!

Nothing in My Way Piano Sheet Preview

Download and practise Keane’s Nothing in My Way Piano Sheet for free.

This post is dedicated to those who are getting married soon…

Chinese Traditional Bridal Costume

I don’t know much about other’s wedding, but from what I observed, Chinese’s wedding ceremonies usually cost a lot!

They have to pay for wedding photos and albums, wedding banquet, Ang Pows (Red Packets), wedding rings and a lot of traditional items (differs by dialects). I really don’t know how a young, newly-wed couple can fork out more to buy a house and go for honeymoon.

Sometimes, they even pay for live performances in their wedding dinner!

I have been invited to play piano several times, with certain amount of “Ang Pow” as well…(Please don’t ask how much…shy~). Besides my pay, the couples have to consider piano rental, wedding hosts and PA system as well. Sometimes, they will just go for an event organizer to sort these things for them. This is where I came into the picture: The organizer called me to schedule for the performance.

Due to my past experience, I can fully understand what songs should not be played and what songs are suitable during the auspicious day. Come on, I have seen people making mistake by singing “Turning Back Again” (再回首) when the couple is busy toasting with their friends! That’s rude, isn’t it?

Normally, I’ll try to understand whether there is any special request from the couple and whether they preferred Chinese or English songs, just to please them and make their big day more memorable.

This is a short song list that I normally prepare for wedding dinners, which appears to be acceptable by majorities:

1) The Moon represents my Heart (月亮代表我的心)
2）Endless Love
3) Your Name, My Surname (你的名字我的姓氏)
4) First Love
5) I am going to marry you tomorrow (明天我要嫁给你啦)
6) Along with Love (爱相随)

Etc…

Notice that some are older songs? Some are English Pops and even Japanese? Just to make sure everyone gets entertained.

Too bad, sometimes, they can manage to entertain themselves, leaving me entertaining myself…

I think it might be meaningful to post the real, original and genuine wedding songs here, as a form of sharing. You certainly know these songs!

Maybe a short preview on the video before you decide which piano sheet to view?

Free download of Bridal Chorus by Richard Wagner piano sheet here. It’s actually from the Opera Lohengrin, for your information.

Free download of Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn piano sheet here. This song is also an incidental music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Hmm…any other songs that ought to be in the list?