My parents’ 40th anniversary is next month, and I want to surprise them

[John]

Hello. My parents’ 40th anniversary is next month, and I want to surprise them by playing their wedding song on piano at the party. I’m self-taught, maybe intermediate level at best. The problem is every version I find is either way too hard or clearly transcribed badly. Is there anywhere I can get a proper arrangement at my level, maybe even ordered custom? I’ve got about four weeks to practice, maybe an hour a day. They have no idea I’ve been practicing, so it’s a full surprise.

[Konstantin]

What a great gift, they’ll remember it forever. I did something similar for my sister’s wedding. Check out Notes Store https://note-store.com/ – popular songs often come in several arrangements at different difficulty levels, and you can listen to each one before buying, so you can make sure the simplified version still sounds nice. If your song isn’t there, they have a custom order option: you tell them the instrument and your level, and a professional musician writes the arrangement. They quote about three days, and mine actually came a bit earlier. A month is plenty of time to learn it. One tip: record yourself on your phone while practicing, you’ll hear the rough spots much faster than while you’re playing.