We are following up last week’s drone technique video with a technique that will help you embellish your melody and help you sound like a pro, I call it… Bass Note Jumping. This technique is widely used by professional Oud players and in theory is very easy, it just takes some practice to get the right intonation. I was actually specifically asked by someone to discuss this technique a…
Read MoreThe Drone – Right Hand Oud Taqsim Technique
After talking with the Oud for Guitarists community we realized that people often struggle with 2 things when learning or playing the Oud: 1. Maqamat and 2. Techniques! That’s why we created the Maqam Mastery Program, and now that it has been completed, we’ve decided to start making a video series demonstrating various techniques that can be used on the Oud. They may be right hand techniques, they may be…
Read MoreOud Maqam Learning Part 1: Maqam Learning Made Easy!
Okay, so you want to hear a melody, understand it and be able to play it authentically… But you find maqam music so hard to play, can’t recognize the maqams by ear, or remember them all…or all of the above? If so, check out this Oud Maqam Learning video series: Part 1: Maqam Learning Made Easy! (you are checking out this one) Part 2: The Ultimate Introduction to Maqam Music…
Read MoreEasy Rockin’ Oud Technique: Oud a la Van Halen
This article and video is going to teach you how to take a simple melody and turn it into a trail blazing explosion of serious Van Halen inspired chops! And this Oud technique only involves three parts: 1. Hold down a note on fingerboard and play a down stroke 2. Pull-off that note with your left-hand finger to allow the open string to sound 3. Then play the open string again…
Read MorePianos Are Out of Tune – A Discussion on Equal Temperament and Oud Music
Did you know Pianos are intentionally tuned “out of tune”? Yes it’s true. Modern Pianos are all tuned using a system called “Equal Temperament”. In fact, you can’t use your ear to tune a Piano in equal temperament because our ears don’t hear notes in this manner. Piano tuners use a device and they need to know how much each note needs to be “out of tune” in order to…
Read MoreWords of Wisdom – from World Famous Oud Masters
It is every Oud learner’s dream to study with world famous professional Oud players. Yet many of us only get to see these Oud masters in person at their concerts if they ever come into our town, and getting personal advice and their secrets from them seems like another dream. To help all Oud learners out there with similar urge to listen to renowned Oud masters’ words of…
Read MoreMaqam Hijaz Medley
As I introduced in my article, Arabic Maqam Theory – A Brief Introduction, there are many maqams that are commonly used in the Middle Eastern music, and each maqam has smaller sections. Some maqams sound very similar because they share same notes. Same but different. This may have caused some of you to think, “Do I need to learn all these maqams before I can play the Oud?” …
Read MoreOud Lessons Re-Release Update!
Thank you to those of you who have shown interest and support for our learning material and Oud lessons in the last few weeks. We hope the content of our website has been useful to you. We have been brainstorming ideas for new learning material for a long time, and we are excited to finally share these with you. As you may or may not know, Oud for Guitarists…
Read MoreOud Picks : The Ultimate Oud Buyers’ Guide Part 5
Part 5: Oud Picks The final accessory required to get you started on the Oud is an Oud pick. It called mezraab/mizrap in Farsi and Turkish and Reesha in Arabic. Whatever you call it, you’re going to need a good one. Don’t go cutting up your old yogurt containers yet, there are much better options out there! The mezraab is long and thin. It is held not only by the fingers…
Read MoreOud Strings : The Ultimate Oud Buyers’ Guide Part 4
Part 4: Oud Strings Don’t let the prospect of buying a new set of strings stop you from getting into the Oud. Fortunately, there are many companies that manufacture Oud strings for all types of tunings and styles. Oud string also last a very long time and are not meant to be changed too often, but this is always a matter of personal preference. Keep things simple and purchase Navid’s…
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