I am so happy to see that you are following the Oud technique series videos and articles. This one is about a basic and fundamental Oud technique called…
Accented Tremolo
This is a technique that can be used in pretty much any situation. It is used Oud styles as it is fundamental to creating music on the Oud. Accented tremolo is also very important in Persian music. I remember learning this as a young boy and found that it didn’t matter what instrument you played, eventually you needed to learn how to accent a note and follow through and hold the note as long as it needed to be held.
Watch the video below to see how it is done!
Accented Tremolo – Basic Right Hand Oud Technique
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Why?
Accented tremolo is fundamental to Oud playing because sometimes notes need to be filled up and held for long periods of time. That’s where tremolo comes in. But at the same time, the melody needs to be emphasized or else tremolo will make everything too muddy. So accented tremolo allows the melody to come through as well as allow the note to be held for as long as it needs to be.
How?
Obviously, you need to be able to play tremolo on the Oud as a prerequisite, but don’t let that stop you from practicing this technique, because it is the next logical thing to learn after learning tremolo.
Tremolo is very fast down, up, down, up, down, up strokes… so the very first down stroke has to be stronger than the rest. Practice hitting the first stroke very strongly and then follow with the tremolo on the upstroke.
Tips For Success:
Separate the accented note from the tremolo. Slow down the activity, play a nice strong down stroke, and then follow through with an up stroke without forcing it. Put a very brief pause in between the accented stroke and the tremolo, and eventually stick these motions together as you practice.
What’s Next?
Don’t give up. All these techniques require is practice, nothing more. You can give yourself plenty of opportunities to practice this technique. Take some songs you already know and try to apply accented tremolo to notes that can be held for at least a beat each.
If you haven’t mastered tremolo yet, don’t worry, you’re not alone. I will make a video about practicing and mastering tremolo soon. But if you can’t wait, you can also learn tremolo in detail and other cool techniques in the Oud for Guitarists Foundation Packages.
