Can you play Rock music on the Oud? Hell yes! And why not? I’ve decided to test the limits of the Oud’s ability to play different types of music, and I’ve decided to try my hand at Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze, because why not? No one has done it before! It’s time to expand the repertoire of the Oud. Jimi Hendrix – Purple Haze Jimi Hendrix was practically a…
Read MoreThe Ultimate Guide to Persian Music
Persian Music is EASIER to Learn Persian music is definitely not as popular among Western peoples as is Arabic and Turkish music. There could be many reasons for this, but I think the two biggest ones are: 1.) The political climate of the last 30 years has closed off Iran’s cultural heritage to the world to only a select few with the tenacity to pursue it. 2.) The music itself rather introspective,…
Read MoreSawt Al-Khaleej
Today you’re going to learn about a really important genre of Arabic music. This music is timeless and ancient. It is very different in tone and feeling than Arabic music in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Egypt. You can call it Sawt Al-Khaleej, or Sawt for short. Sawt music is the Arabic music I find very intriguing. The rhythms are very unique, and the Oud playing is absolutely furious.…
Read MoreCan you Dance to Traditional Persian Music? Reng-e Nava by Hossein Alizadeh
It’s no secret that Persian musicians are pretty serious guys and gals. Have you ever been to a Persian concert? It’s no dance party, that’s for sure. But if you take a really good look at the music, and the history, you’ll find that Persian music has dance written all over it. That’s what I’m going to demonstrate this week… No, I’m not going to dance… I’ll perform…
Read MoreLearn Guli Ya Hilu on Oud
A few weeks ago you learned how to play a basic Jurjunah (Jurjinah) Rhythm on the Oud. Now it’s time to learn an actual song in this rhythm. We’ll learn Guli Ya Hilu, a well-know traditional Iraqi song. Check out the video below. Guli Ya Hilu is in an obscure Maqam called Lami. For information about this maqam listen to Jamil Bashir’s taqsim. You can also check…
Read MoreThe Difference Between Persian, Arabic and Turkish Quartertones
If you don’t know anything about me, the first thing you should know is that I only started listening to Arabic and Turkish music about 8 or 9 years ago. I’m Persian, I grew up listening to traditional Persian music, and the bulk of my musical education is in Persian music. So when I started to listen to Arabic and Turkish music I noticed that the quartertones (or…
Read MoreThe Amazing SlowDowner
Remember my posts on Farid Al Atrash Taqsim Al Rabeea? How did I learn some intricate parts of his taqsim, especially the really fast parts? I used an Oud learning tool called the Amazing SlowDowner. It’s a nice little app I downloaded to my phone. It’s great for practicing songs, transcribing them, and learning them by ear. One of the problems Oud players often have is tuning our…
Read MoreFarid Al Atrash Taqsim Al Rabeea Part 4 – Finale!
I was listening to this Album by the Classical Arabic Orchestra of Aleppo, Ottoman Arabic Classical Music. The first track is Samai Bayati starting with a Oud taqsim. At about 0:53 seconds, the Oud player plays the exact same riff that Farid Al Atrash played from his taqsim Al Rabeea… it’s not exactly the same, but it’s quite obvious where the inspiration for this comes from. In…
Read MoreFarid Al Atrash Taqsim Al Rabeea Part 3 Modulation
Many a question and many an answer when it comes to the question of modulation in Middle Eastern Music. It is a challenging thing to learn and master. Mostly it is learned through listening and repetition, and is executed with gusto and fluidity. Here you see just how Farid Al Atrash does it. How did I learn how to modulate? I’ll…
Read MoreFarid Al Atrash – Taqsim Al Rabeea
As you may know, I’m from Iranian background and I grew up in that culture in Canada. It wasn’t until about 8 years ago I started to really listen to Arabic music. Over that time period, I’ve really seen some interesting cultural differences through both music cultures. Iranians are expected to stay dead quiet until the end of a performance… Iranian musicians and performers expect their…
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