Are you ready for a workout? Let’s play some trills together. But I’ll be honest, it’s difficult to define this one. Call it what you want, it’s really good to learn!!! I’ll let the video speak for itself: 3 Stroke Trills difficulty: intermediate to advanced What? This is a 3 stroke accent played on two notes with a stroke pattern of DOWN UP DOWN. Why? It creates rhythmic…
Read MoreBouncing Down the Stairs – A Taqsim Technique
If you liked last week’s post that showed you how to create a short musical phrase and turn it into a longer musical phrase, then you’re going to like this week’s post. This is another technique you hear during taqsim. I call it, “Bouncing Down Stairs”. Check out the video below to learn how to do it! Bouncing Down the Stairs Difficulty: easy to moderate What? This technique is…
Read MoreThe Descending Pattern Technique for Taqsim
The Descending Pattern Technique is something you will definitely hear when you listen to Middle Eastern music. You’ll hear it in short phrases and in longer phrases. It’s used during taqsim and in compositions. In essence, it is simply a musical phrase that gets repeated on different notes descending the maqam or scale. It’s like creating little musical theme and then copying it on different notes making a longer…
Read More3 Stroke Accent (Short Tremolo Burst)
This is one of my favorite techniques. It’s absolutely indispensable, so really practice this one. You’ll also want to remember this one because it’s going to help you learn a really cool riff that Simon Shaheen plays in his album Blue Flame. And you’re going to learn Simon Shaheen’s riff in next week’s video! Learn how to play the 3 stroke accent in the video below. The 3 Stroke…
Read MoreHamza Al Din Combo
So I’m sure you remember this video. I’ve embedded it three times now. There is a short excerpt from this that you will learn in the video below the Hamza Al Din one. This lesson puts together two techniques together to play this combo, the down down up picking pattern and the tremolo drone technique. Check it out! The Hamza Al Din Combo Difficulty: moderate to advanced, tricky What? The…
Read MoreAlternate Picking Part 2 – Down Down Up Pattern
Have you heard this wonderful playing of Hamza Al Din? Want to learn how to do it? Check out my video below to learn another essential Oud alternate picking pattern: down down up. Down Down Up Pattern Difficulty: moderate What? The down down up pattern is a right hand strumming or picking pattern that you can apply to the Oud. Why? It allows you to play drones and melody…
Read MoreEssential Right Hand Strumming Exercises – Alternate Picking
The right hand is extremely important in order to play authentic Oud. Here is one basic strumming exercise that you can use to hone your skills. Alternate picking on parallel strings! Check out the video to learn how to do it! Alternate Picking on Two Adjacent Strings – Essential Right Hand Technique Difficulty: Easy to Moderate What? Alternate picking is essentially down stroke, up stroke, repeatedly.…
Read More5 Steps to Learn Oud without a Teacher or a Book (#3 is ridiculous…)
This is an article for those of you who want to start learning the Oud but have no idea what to do with the instrument once you get it in your hands. This is for those of you who don’t want to buy a book, or have no access to a beginners book and want to start right away. I get a lot of emails from people who want…
Read MoreThe Secret to Playing Taqsim Using Jins Rast (modulating to many different maqamat)
Ever wonder if there is one good trick or tool to use to create a seamless modulation from one maqam to another? Ever listen to a taqsim where the Oud player confuses your ears and you can’t follow what he’s doing until you realize he’s playing a completely different maqam than what he started out playing? I know I’ve experienced these situations plenty of times. But I’m now going…
Read MoreFree Sheet Music: Middle Eastern, Arabic, Turkish, Greek, Armenian, and Persian
A lot of people are looking for sheet music to learn new pieces. Here is a list of some good sources for free downloadable sheet music. If you know of any other links or sources for Middle Eastern Sheet Music please let us know so we can share it with everyone online and encourage people to learn. Free Sheet Music Arabic Sheet Music MEMA This is my favorite site. Most…
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