I hate it when I can't catch a melody, and I have to rewind to the beginning and play it again and again until I learn it...

I'm sure you've heard it before... especially when you ask...

"What's the best way to learn maqams?" or "How do you learn how to play a taqasim?"

Here's the typical answer: 

"You have to listen to middle eastern music a lot." 

Or sometimes... you might think or say to yourself...

"It's hard to learn because I didn't grow up in a middle eastern background." 

"Middle eastern people have an advantage over westerners, I'm never going to get as good!" 

Well...

IT'S. JUST. NOT. TRUE!!

Don't believe me? Well, I've never even been to Iran. But I'm an expert in the musical tradition.

Yes, it did take a lot of listening. But it takes a certain type of listening. 

I'm talking about ACTIVE listening versus PASSIVE listening.

The Ultimate Way to Internalize Maqams

Active listening is when you are actually actively engaged and interacting with what you're listening to. 

Here are a few ways you can start active listening today and vastly improve your natural internalization of maqams, musicality, and rhythm. 

1. Jam along with your favourite records - Put on a record of one of your favourite Oud tunes which you know really well, and play along with it. You'll start to hear the differences between the way YOU play it, and the way another musician plays it. You can then slowly start to borrow from them. 

2. Transcribe your favourite Oud taqsim - Rip your favourite Oud taqsim to mp3 and play it through The Amazing Slow Downer app. Then transcribe it, or try to figure it out on the Oud. I don't do this as often as I should, but it's a great exercise for your brain and your ears. 

3. Learn a song by ear - You'll hear people tell you that YOU HAVE to learn how to read music or you won't be a good musician. Pure b***s***. In middle eastern music, it only gets half the job done. Music notation is completely outdated and obsolete anyway, but that's another topic. At best, it's just a learning aid. It just helps you learn a song faster. Don't rely on it. 

Here's a tip to make your active listening EFFICIENT.

I was eleven when I started learning Persian Santoor. 

Back then, I didn't know the difference between scales. My teacher would play one scale for me, and then play a different one, and I couldn't really tell what the difference was. 

It just wasn't part of my intellectual awareness at the time. 

I remember that time like it was yesterday, but it's so strange to imagine now! 

Somewhere... somehow... this started to change. 

Now when I hear a melody, I know immediately if it's a minor scale or a major scale or a crazy maqam.

When I was in my teens learning music, I started to associate different feelings with different pieces of music some made me feel melancholic, some made me sense joy and energy. 

After a while, these associations started to become part of me. 

A simple technique that changed the way I hear scales forever.

A major shift in my consciousness occurred when I was in my teens and started to sing my favourite songs I heard on the radio. 

Around the same time, I was forced to learn how to tune my instrument. 

That’s when I really understood what an 'interval' is. It's the distance between one note to another.

The awareness of different scales occurs when you start to learn how to tune your instrument, and when you start to sing melodies that you hear on the radio that get stuck in your head. 

Using Your VOICE is the Key

When you use your voice, your body can feel the difference between one note to another note, and the idea of 'interval' is imprinted in your mind. 

A maqam is simply different notes put together with different intervals between them. Each maqam conveys a different feeling and a different vibe, and you can train your ears to tell the difference between them when you listen and sing. 

BUT singing is only the beginning.

When I started to learn taqasim, I would put on my favourite taqsim, and I would listen and try to copy what I heard. 

But it was impossible to catch all the melodies, and the technical sutiblties were above my ability.  

I felt "Ah so annoying, I have to rewind again." (Back then it was tapes and CDs.)

But now you have the tools to focus on creating connections between a melody in a maqam and your brain. 

Focused ear training is holistic and thorough using a simple, repetitive approach, which gradually helps your become accustomed to using a maqam. Reading theory books is only going to get you so far.

I always had a hard time understanding Maqam Lami.

It sounded so strange to me, and I didn't find it interesting.

I knew some well known songs in Maqam Lami, but it still wasn't sticking.

Fortunately, Simon Shaheen used Maqam Lami in one of his ear training sessions at the Arabic Music Retreat...

Then it all started to make sense.

I took what I learned from his method and created some of my own exercises using this method. I'm really excited to share this material with you. You've never seen anything like this shared online before.

I guarantee if you use this video the way it is intended, you will have learned a new maqam today. 

In this video, you'll learn using a teaching method I learned at the Arabic Music Retreat in Simon Shaheen's ear training lessons. So this stuff is really where it's at. 

This method is designed to help you internalize the maqam and learn the basic melodic developments. 

It's an inclusive method. You can be a bare beginner or an advanced musician. That's why I love it so much.

You start from developing simple melodic structures using your ears to hear a melody, and use voice to replicate the melody. Gradually it becomes more complex an advanced adding more complex melody and rhythm.  

I want you to be one of the first to take advantage of it and become confident using a maqam... the same way I felt after attending the Arabic Music Retreat.

If you like this learning method, I have 17 more ear training modules available. Keep scrolling for details.  

Train your ears & truly ingrain the foundation of these maqams into your musical language. 

The Arabic Maqam Ear Training Program is a fully downloadable audio program accompanied by musical notation where you learn the essential foundation and flow of different maqams.

Specifically, you will… 

• Follow a 8-week long systematic program - each week 2 maqams will become available for you to study and practice with until you finish the whole program.
• Download audio files that are each approximately between 15-30 minutes in length - each audio file varies in length. You should listen to and sing along with the same audio file 3 to 5 times to get the best results.
• Download PDF music notation to accompany the audio to help you follow along - Note reading is not required for this program. Notation is provided simply as a learning aid.  
• Have lifetime access to the downloadable audio files and music notation.
• Have lifetime access to all program updates and improvements - I plan on adding more content in the future, when these are released you'll get free full access to these too according to the package you purchase.