I gotta have more bass… I have a new tutorial for you here for adding bass notes. I used to play bass note jumping with down strokes mainly. But now I experimented with down-up patterns and it works really nicely. And it’s faster, maybe even better? Check out the OLD video here. See, even I’m still learning things. Learning is what keeps you young, don’t you think? Keep pushing yourself…
Read More2017 Highlights & Step-by-Step Taqasim
2017 is going by fast. It has been a very eventful year. I haven’t released any new videos on YouTube in a while, but a few things developed which you can totally take advantage of right now. You can now hear my self-recorded and self-released solo Oud album. And it’s free. I’m working on a new project with Cumbus with Oud strings. I would love to hear your opinion on a rough…
Read MoreHow I learned Ear Training – Learn Music by Ear (and your voice)
In the last post, you learned about active listening. Active listening is to learn music by ear. Well today I have a story about that, which I’m sure you can relate to. 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…
Read MoreLearn Arabic Music With Your Ears and Your Voice
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?” 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…
Read MoreArabic Maqam Ear Training Program now open for enrolment!
Great news! The Arabic Maqam Ear Training Program is now open for enrolment.
Read MoreThe Most Important Thing in Arabic Music: Music Interpretation
Last week I talked about how I learned to use techniques and embellishments in my Oud playing, and now I want to demonstrate this in action. I’ll show you three ways I interpret my own music and apply different techniques and embellishments to the same basic melody to create different a different feeling and vibe. If you want to these techniques and learn more about how and when…
Read MoreFlashy Oud vs Emotional Oud: What’s better?
There’s a lot of debate about what’s better: to be able to play flashy techniques and play really fast, or to be able to play with a lot of feeling and emotion in your playing. What do you think? Watch this video, then share with me your favourite Oud video from YouTube. Post a link in the comments section below, and tell me why you it’s your favourite. …
Read MoreMaqam Ear Training
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…
Read MoreUnraveling a Taqsim: Episode 3 – Maqam Husseini (free taqasim training download)
This week I have another taqsim for you to watch and follow along with. This one goes all over the place, and has a little Persian flair to it in some parts. Free Taqasim Training Audio In addition, I’ve created two taqasim training audio files that you can download at the bottom of this page when you sign up. A lot of people ask, “how do I…
Read MoreUnraveling a Taqasim – Episode 1. Maqam Ajam Ushayran
It has been difficult to make time for practising Oud this week. But on the days I was able to, it happened because I put Oud first on my list of things to do. One of the things I’ll be working on for myself since the retreat is taqasim. Previously, I’ve always allowed my taqasim to be completely spontaneous. I don’t think about it. But after the retreat…
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