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Archive for the ‘Movies and Their Music’ Category

Need (需要) by JS, from The Little Nyonya (小娘惹) Drama – By Request

Monday, March 9th, 2009

With regards to the overwhelming requests for this piano sheet, Ah Doe chose this song which is from The Little Nyonya drama again.

The Little Nyonya Title

After I’ve posted the piano sheet of Olivia Ong’s Ru Yan (如燕), there’s a significant increase of links that are directed to ahdoe.com from search engines. And the keywords are mostly “The Little Nyonya”, “Olivia Ong”, “Ru Yan” etc.

The same thing happened to the “Request Piano Sheet” tab in ahdoe.com, and most of them requested “Need” from JS. Those who have watched this drama would surely know that this is the theme song of Yueniang and Chenxi which represents their sad ending.

Yueniang and Chenxi resized

The structure of this song is very simple with few chords.

Xu Yao - The Little Nyonya Drama Theme Piano Sheet Preview
Xu Yao – The Little Nyonya Drama Theme Piano Sheet Preview

This piano sheet is:

1) In its original key, i.e. Ab Major
2) with chords and lyrics

Heard that The Little Nyonya will be aired in Malaysia, China and even Vietnam. Grab this piano sheet asap before the fever is over.


Download link for the piano sheet of Need (需要) by JS, from The Little Nyonya (小娘惹) Drama.


Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (花ざかりの君だちえ)

Thursday, February 12th, 2009

I haven’t get back to J dramas for some time. Sad to say, my last Japanese drama was Kindaichi (金田一少年事件簿), which was 5 years back during my university time.

And all this while, Korean dramas surpassed the Japanese dramas with their exceptional romantic stories.

My first J-drama after school time is: Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (花ざかりの君だちえ), or known as 花样少男少女 in Chinese.

Hanazakari no Kimitachi e Poster
Hanazakari no Kimitachi e: Starring Horikita Maki (堀北真希), Oguri Shun (小栗旬) and Ikuta Toma (生田斗真)

If you are stressed out from the recent economy turmoil and plans to stay at home doing nothing, you are recommended to watch Hanazakari no Kimitachi e because:

1) Watching Hanazakari no Kimitachi e does not require thinking
2) Watching Hanazakari no Kimitachi e makes you laugh
3) Watching Hanazakari no Kimitachi e reminds you of all the idiotic stuffs you did during school time
4) Watching Hanazakari no Kimitachi e reminds you of your first love in school

AND

Watching Hanazakari no Kimitachi e reminds you that you are far away from that young and worry free-age!

When Ah Doe got so obsessed with the handsome guys in the drama, piano sheets related to the drama will be available at ahdoe.com very soon.

Ikemen Boogie from Hanazakari no Kimitachi e Piano Sheet Preview
Ikemen Boogie from Hanazakari no Kimitachi e Piano Sheet Preview

I’m not so sure when Singaporeans can see this drama on TV but I guess it will be quite soon. If you like this drama, I’m sure my choice here is definitely your favourite song from the soundtrack. (Don’t ask me why this song is named Ikemen Boogie, it’s weird I know…)

Some information about this piano sheet:

1) It’s in original key, i.e. D Major, but transposes to F Major in a bridge connecting to the finale closing which is also in D Major.

2) Chords included

3) Instrumental = no lyrics

4) Rhythmic with significant bass on the left hand, tempo is allegro. To be more specific, the recommended speed is 130 bpm.

Here’s how it sounds like on piano



Download link for Hanazakari no Kimitachi e/ 花ざかりの君だちえ/ 日版花样少男少女 Complete Piano Sheet.

Wong Chia Chi’s theme – Lust Caution (色戒)

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

Remember the weird feeling that lingers in your mind after you finish this movie? Not only its plot, its soundtrack is depressing as well.

This is another beautiful written song by Alexandre Desplat. I should say that it sounds like Wong Chia Chi very much, as if something is always bothering her.

Lust Caution Poster

I personally like my transcription for this song very much. For the first time, I’ve added the pedalling signals in piano sheet to remind all players that echo is essential for this piece. But mind you, a dirty echo will screw the whole song up. So make sure you change pedal before transitting to another chord.

Wong Chia Chi Theme Piano Sheet Preview
Wong Chia Chi Theme Piano Sheet Preview

Some information about this song:

1) It’s in original key, i.e. D Minor
2) Chords included, so are the pedalling signs
3) Purely instrumental

I’ve done a piano sheet for Lust Caution theme song around one year ago right after its trailer was out, but that was not really enough. After watching the movie, I found out Wong Chia Chi theme song should be representating the whole movie instead of the previous one. If you like this movie, you will definitely like this piano sheet.


Download link for Lust Caution’s Wong Chia Chi Theme Song Complete Piano Sheet.

Red Cliff 2 (赤壁2) and its Theme Song

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

After watching Red Cliff 1 (赤壁1), I am ready for the sense of humour from Red Cliff 2 (赤壁2) and I should say: John Woo has gone too far this time.

First of all, those who have read Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三国演义) will find it ridiculous to see Sun Shang Xiang having an extra boyfriend from the enemy’s camp. Moreover, he’s too dumb for her.

In fact, the show turned out to be a comedy instead of a faithful historical adaption from the book. How disappointing!

chibi_poster_resized

If you are interested in its CG and special effects, you can still go for this movie. If you are into something hilarious, this would be a good choice too. But sorry, this movie is not really up to my taste.

I wonder if you’d notice, a lot of Chinese soundtracks nowadays had been outsourced to Japanese musicians. Ip Man (叶问), The Painted Skin (画皮) and both Red Cliff 1 and 2. Wow, I just realized that I’ve actually composed and posted all of their piano sheets online. An applause for myself!

Taro Iwashiro (岩代太郎) composed the theme song of Red Cliff 2. The song itself gave away information about the composer. From my observation, Japanese songs normally apply lots of Major – Minor transitions and combinations of inconclusive inharmonics to conclusive harmonics. This is exactly inside Red Cliff’s theme song. Khampa Tibetan Alan (阿兰) is the angel with that heavenly voice who sings “The river flows eastward” (大江东去) from Red Cliff 2.

You can even play it on your piano now:

Red Cliff 2 Theme Song Piano Sheet Preview
Red Cliff 2 (赤壁2) Theme Song Piano Sheet Preview

Too bad, there are some important scale progressions in between that you have to overcome. You can choose to ignore it but it will greatly reduce its vigor.

Other than this, this piano sheet:

1) Is in its original key, Bb Major
2) includes both lyrics and chords

Help yourselves with the piano sheet by clicking the link below:


Download link for “The river flows eastward” (大江东去) from Red Cliff 2 Complete piano sheet.

Ip Man (叶问) rocks!

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009

Ip Man rocks!!! Donnie Yen rocks!!! Weng Chun fist (咏春拳) rocks!!!

Ip Man Poster

I first fell in love with Donnie Yen 16 years ago when I saw him in the Iron Monkey (少年黄飞鸿之铁马骝). He’s not only good-looking and good in martial arts, I bet not many people know that he is also a good pianist. Yeah, trust what you’ve just read in the previous line – pianist!


Donnie Yen plays Chopin’s Fantasie Impromptu Op.66

Although there were some obvious stumbles in his playing, he is still a genius!

Ip Man (Pronounced as Yeep Mun, should not be mistakenly misread as eye-p-Man) is a story about this invincible but low profile guy who is good in Weng Chun fist who eventually survived the 2nd world war and established Hong Kong Ving Tsun Athletic Association (香港詠春拳體育會).

Good movies usually come together with good soundtracks. Ip Man’s theme song brings out the grandeur of the whole image of Ip Man at a moderate tempo but firm beats.

Ip Man Theme Song Piano Sheet Preview

Yeap, Ah Doe’ve done the piano sheet for Ip Man’s theme song. A very short one, just something that I do to pass time while getting over Ip Man.

Information about this piano sheet:

1) It’s in original key, Ab Major
2) Chords included, no lyrics because it’s instrumental

Maybe I should briefly elaborate on the composer as well. Kenji Kawai -san (川井 憲次) is famous for his contributions to anime soundtracks. Ooops, too bad I don’t watch any of them now. All I know is that Kenji Kawai’s work can be found in some Hong Kong movies such as Seven Sword (七剑) and A Battle of Wits (墨攻) .

If you’ve watched Ip Man, I’m sure you will find this song familiar.

Download link for Ip Man’s theme song complete piano sheet.


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