Arabic Music Retreat 2016

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,…

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Simon Shaheen Riff from “Blue Flame” – Using 3 Stroke Accent

Last week you learned how to play a 3 Stroke Accent, and now you’re going to learn a cool way to apply it by learning a riff that Simon Shaheen uses in his song “Blue Flame”. Check it out in the video below!   Simon Shaheen’s Blue Flame I highly recommend checking out Simon Shaheen’s album “Blue Flame” with his band Qantara. It is the most modern and virtuousic Oud…

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3 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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The Best 50 Middle Eastern Songs You Have to Hear!

Here is a brief education in Middle Eastern music listening. If you want to become more familiar with Arabic music and don’t know where to begin, I have 50 suggestions for you. This is just a mere, humble list, and really does not do justice to the rich musical traditions of each area I mention, but it is a strong start. I made three categories: Arabic, Turkish, Persian. The list…

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