Farid al-Atrash has written many catchy tunes during his lifetime. But the first time I was exposed to Farid’s music was his Oud Taqasim. At first, I didn’t really get it. I thought it sounded a bit out of tune, a little messy; sometimes he appeared to be showing off. As a Persian musician and an outsider to Arabic music, it took me many years of getting used to the…
Read MoreTaqasim Breakdown: Simon Shaheen Taqsim Kurd
Simon Shaheen taqsim are one of a kind; intense. This one of Simon Shaheen’s epic taqasim generously brought to you by Ameer Armaly’s YouTube channel. Make sure you subscribe as he regularly releases very rare and beautiful recordings from the Shaheen family. I make reference to this YouTube video in my Step-by-Step Taqasim Program as reference material for Maqam Kurd. One of my students asked for some assistance in analyzing…
Read MoreSufi music vs “Classical” music?
It’s actually difficult to distinguish between what really is “sufi music” and what is “Classical music” in the context of Persian music, especially if you are new to the culture and don’t speak the language. There is a lot of overlap. Any instrumental music could potentially be Sufi, however, not all music can be Sufi music. Music with lyrics that deal with politics, romantic love, or everyday mundane things would not be heard in Sufi contexts. It depends on the purpose…
Read More3 things you’re doing to sabotage your taqasim skills
In the last post I told you a story about my “avant-garde genius” Oud playing skills. Basically, my point was that everyone starts out playing a taqasim not knowing what the hell they are doing. Not being able to play a taqasim is going to make you feel like a Oud beginner forever. You’re going to yearn for those times where you can just grab your Oud and make beautiful…
Read MoreThere’s no manual on how to play a taqsim…
Part 1 of 3 There’s no how-to manual on how to play a taqasim. Most students get thrown to the wolves when they learn taqasim with their teachers telling them to “just feel it”, “create your own melody”, etc, etc, etc. AND, very few teachers know how to teach melody creation, or how to go about playing a taqasim. This is one of the plateaus we reach when learning Oud…
Read MoreBanjo-Oud? A unique instrument you need to see.
Back in 2015 I made a video demoing some of my instruments and one of them was my Turkish Cümbüş (pronounced: jumbush) with nylon strings. I hated the metal strings on my Cümbüş I bought when backpacking in Turkey, and so one day I haphazardly put on nylon strings to make it more like an Oud-Rubab-like instrument. Later, Sylvain from sbd-projets.com started modifying Cümbüş specifically for nylon strings and his signature style hoops that make it easier…
Read MoreLe Trio Joubran Sheet Music – Masar
Download the sheet music here: https://www.oudforguitarists.com/le-trio-joubran-sheet-music
Read MoreViral Greek Song on Oud
This family duo put out this video of an old Greek tune and it went pretty viral. I love this video because of the young woman’s Oud playing. She’s just giving it all she’s got. Even though she’s still developing her taqasim skills, she’s really digging into her Oud and playing with soul. Their chemistry is contagious too. Classic YouTube; just a cell phone camera on a table and away you go. Click…
Read MoreJohn Vergara Oud – Oud Talks
John Vergara talks Ouds on YouTube with Navid. In this video you’ll learn more about John’s philosophy and approach to Oud building, how to got started building Ouds in Beacon, NY, and what woods he likes and why. Please like, share, and subscribe to the YouTube channel.
Read MoreJins Hijaz – The quickest way to sound authentic
There are so many ways to perform jins hijaz (the tetrachord known as hijaz) in Arabic and Turkish music. In this video you’ll see and hear how to play “hard” and “soft” intervals of jins hijaz. You can create so many intonational colours and flavours by playing with the intonation. In Arabic music, when playing Maqam Hijaz with a starting note of D (Re), we use the key signature above.…
Read More
