It’s been about two weeks since I’ve returned from the Arabic Music Retreat. Man… I have a lot to share with you, so I’ll probably be creating a few blog posts about different things over the next few weeks. It was a great experience I’ll never forget. The faculty are all heavy-weights of Arabic Music, so you can imagine how nice it was to be in their company for seven days,…
Read MoreJamil Bashir Oud Method Exercise
Here’s an exercise from Jamil Bashir’s Oud method. This is a beginner level Oud lesson for practicing 16th notes in G major scale. The tuning you need to use for this lesson is (low to high string) C G A D g c. Free Beginner Oud Lessons Course Next week I’m starting a brand new free email course for bare beginner Oud players. This course is…
Read MoreFinally! Deep Arabic Oud sound on Godin MultiOud
A lot of people agree that it’s difficult to get a good, deep, boomy, authentic Arabic Oud sound on the MultiOud. I used to think the same thing. I used to think that the MultiOud is just good for Turkish music and Turkish Oud style. A friend once played a gig with an Oud player who only plays the MultiOud and commented, “He’s a good player, but the sound of…
Read MoreJamil Bashir’s Oud Method and more…
I came across this nice little resource on MikeOuds forums the other day. I’ve been waiting for something like this for a while. www.oudmethod.com This is a nice little site that translates the intro pages to Jamil Bashir’s Oud method. I’ve always wondered what the intro pages say about the Oud. The translation isn’t amazing, but it’s good enough to get the idea. What I’m working on …
Read MoreSuper Oud Tremolo Exercise
Tremolo is one of the most challenging techniques for Oud learners, but it’s so essential to Oud playing. It takes time and discipline. In this video, you’ll learn an exercise that will help develop your Oud tremolo. Let me know what you think about this Oud lesson. Comment below or email me at support@oudforguitarists.com. Tomorrow, Oud for Guitarists is offering a limited time Premium Oud…
Read MoreOud Practice
I’m an introvert. Playing the Oud allows me to enter my own world. Even though I have a lot of performing experience, I think playing the Oud has always been a stress reliever, and I always get energized after I play the Oud. How about you? Are you an introvert? Oud practice I come to the Oud from Persian music. Persian music, at it’s core,…
Read MoreBecome an expert on Arabic in 15 days with this FREE Email Course!
I found it really difficult to get into Arabic music when I started investigating it and listening to it. I didn’t have the cultural background or even friends to ask about it. Even the Arabic Oud players I knew about were hard to listen to because I just wasn’t diggin’ it yet. It took me a while to get a taste for Arabic music… and Turkish music. I had only…
Read MoreWhat’s the most exciting Arabic musical form? Here’s what I think…
If you’re like me, then you like to hear a little bit of everything in the music you listen to. You need a good balance. You can get that with this one type of musical form, which is super fun to play and learn. It’s called Tahmila. Tahmila is great because it’s dance music, traditional dance music. It’s bound to be fun because it’s usually played with…
Read MoreEverything you need to learn in one song – Doulab Bayati
Learning the subtleties of Arabic music can take a long time. When I was learning Arabic music, I was listening to lots of music so I could hear examples of everything and absorb all the melodies and nuances of all the different maqamat. I was copying these melodies on the Oud and trying to bring them out. It was a very long process, and I became very good…
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,…
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