Skype Oud Lessons Do you have any burning questions about the Oud? Are you feeling stuck with your Oud playing? Do you need exercises for the left hand or the right hand? You can now get Oud lessons on Skype from me. You can be a bare beginner, a novice, or an intermediate player. You can get Oud lessons tailored to your specific needs. Lesson times: North America…
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 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 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 MoreThe Beginner’s Guide to Holding the Oud and Risha
The Oud is the most awkward instrument to hold. It looks easy, because it looks like the same way you would hold a guitar… But you can’t hold it quite the same way as a Guitar… There are two ways to solve the Oud holding problem. Use a foot stool The foot stool will save you from unnecessary pain and discomfort. They carry them at any…
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 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 MoreLearn Guli Ya Hilu on Oud
A few weeks ago you learned how to play a basic Jurjunah (Jurjinah) Rhythm on the Oud. Now it’s time to learn an actual song in this rhythm. We’ll learn Guli Ya Hilu, a well-know traditional Iraqi song. Check out the video below. Guli Ya Hilu is in an obscure Maqam called Lami. For information about this maqam listen to Jamil Bashir’s taqsim. You can also check…
Read MoreSamai Bayati Al Aryan Part 2 – Free Oud Lesson
Here is the follow up to last weeks free Oud lesson Samai Bayati Al Aryan with Advanced Techniques. It will complete the first “hane” of this Samai instrumental. Samai Bayati Al Aryan Part 2 For those of you who like notation, here it is! This is the 2nd section of Samai Bayati Al Aryan played on the Oud with advanced techniques. Turkish Samai pieces are very well organized. This section…
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…
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