[Music] A Fingerstyle Melody that Moves the Sea and Sky

Wu Chao Hui (JEFFI CHAO HUI WU)

Article Date: July 23, 2025, Wednesday, 5:57 AM

I have played this piece more than a thousand times. Not to show off my skills, nor to go viral, but because it flows out of me naturally like air. I am practicing "Exodus," but not in a traditional arrangement; I have arranged it into a complete fingerstyle piece that incorporates melody, percussion, strumming, rhythm, and maracas all performed by one person. From start to finish, it requires multitasking and a complete structure; any looseness will cause it to collapse like a Tai Chi move losing its silk reeling energy.

Every performance is like a complete practice. When I reach the climax in the middle of the piece, my heart rate often spikes, my breathing deepens, and my chest vibrates. It's not because my hands are tired, but because the energy is flowing, emotions are surging, and my whole being is colliding with an invisible exit. Every early morning, I practice by the sea, standing in horse stance and practicing Tai Chi with sword, then sitting in the car to play the piano. At this point, I no longer need to think about the melody, because the entire piece has already merged with the rhythm of my vital energy. I am not playing with my hands, but breathing with my whole structure.

Many people do not understand how a guitar can produce such a strong momentum. I say this guitar is an extension of my standing meditation. The main melody is the breath, the tapping is the heartbeat, and the shaker is the flow rate of the blood. When this piece is played in its entirety, it creates the aura of a small band, and the conductor of this "band" is the flow of energy within myself.

I am not religious, nor am I particularly enamored with religious symbols, but what moves me about the Book of Exodus is that it represents a journey, a release after struggle. I added an epilogue to it, not to show off my skills, but to bring closure. The original piece ends abruptly, while I gently incorporated a soft melody at the end, like the concluding movements of Tai Chi after practice, like the calm of the sea after a storm. It is not victory, but relaxation in exhaustion, a deep breath after breaking free from a cage.

The most shocking moment was after a morning exercise. I had just finished playing the climax section for the second time when suddenly the rising sun broke through the thick clouds, casting golden rays that filled the sea. The sound of the piano still echoed at my fingertips, and the morning glow surged in my eyes. I felt as if I were not sitting in a car, but rising together with the entire universe. I had never felt like I was "playing a piece"; I knew that at that moment I was "being propelled by the airflow to express myself." I became the outlet of the energy field and the resonance point of that sea and sky.

It should be particularly noted that this piece "Exodus" is my own adaptation, and I actually do not understand music theory, nor do I recognize simplified notation or staff notation; I am completely musically illiterate. All my creations rely not on music theory, but on the feeling of energy after standing meditation, the rhythm of the body, and the cadence of life. This piece is not something I "composed"; it is something I "felt out" bit by bit with my body.

I have never seen a similar performance style online. It's not that others can't do it, but this arrangement requires a foundation of physical structure and breath; otherwise, it cannot support that aura. Just like someone without the horse stance cannot perform low stance Tai Chi, without a structure that is "as stable as standing still," it is difficult to synchronize rhythm, melody, accompaniment, and percussion within a single piece.

Many times, after I finish playing this piece, I feel not tired at all; instead, I feel more transparent. It's like standing in a horse stance without feeling fatigued, but rather with the energy flowing throughout my body, and my internal structure being "rearranged." Music is no longer an external technique, but another manifestation of internal skill. In Tai Chi, it is said, "Qi sinks to the dantian, and the mind holds the center." When I play this piece, it is precisely the Qi sinking to my fingertips, and the mind holding the melody. I am not playing the piano; I am "circulating Qi."

I know that in this world, many people spend their entire lives practicing the piano, simply aiming to play a "standard answer" proficiently. But my "Exodus" is a "natural product" born from the long-term honing of my body and breath. Playing it is like writing my own breath log. I have cultivated this piece through my practice; I have forged the "spirit" of this composition.

This feeling can wait, this melody is tender for miles, carrying thoughts to the distant horizon.

This piece indeed comes from my life. It is not meant to please anyone, nor to showcase anything, but rather a release of myself standing between heaven and earth. I don’t need special effects, I don’t need background music, just a guitar, a complete body, a heart that has practiced, and, additionally, a rising sun.

I don't need you to believe in anything, but if you are willing, I invite you—to my video channel, to listen to this piece. What you hear is not just the sound of the piano, but the breath, the bones, the rhythmic structure of my life.

A fingerstyle melody moves the heavens and the sea!