A fascinating phenomenon in middle eastern music is that we have in Arabic and Turkish repertoire some shared repertoire that originate from the Ottoman school of music that permeated their way into Arabic music. However, these pieces are generally performed in such a way as to demonstrate a unique aesthetic. An important distinction between Turkish and Arabic renditions of the same composition are in the intonation of microtones employed in…
Read MoreOud Lessons on Zoom: my curriculum
Everybody is different when they come to me wanting to take Oud lessons. Some have never played a musical instrument in their whole life. Others have played music their whole life and can play Oud quite well. So what do you learn when you take Oud lessons from me? Do you want to learn Persian, Arabic, or Turkish Oud style? Oud lessons – The basics: The basics of Oud playing…
Read MoreFlash Sale for Newsletter subscribers
We’re doing our first ever flash sale where you can save up to 20% on my Premium Courses. There’s only one catch. You have to be a newsletter subscriber to hear all the details. So make sure you sign up for our newsletter by clicking here. It’s going to be sometime in May so hurry!
Read MoreEverything we know about Maqam is wrong
Maqam is a word that brings up ideas in our head immediately. Over the last century or more we have generally discussed maqams in terms of scales, intervals, jins/ajnas (trichords, tetrachords, and pentachords), sayir/seyir (melodic pathway/movement). But did you know that there was a time that nobody in the middle east discussed music with the word “maqam”. This word was not a musical term until the 15h century. So where…
Read MoreCollection of Muwashahat
One of the primary sources and collections for traditional Arabic muwashahat, Min Kunuzina “Our Treasures”, can be downloaded here. It’s a great source if you want to get into learning Arabic muwashahat. The poetry and melody is very old. Sometimes the poetry and the melody are authored by unknown individuals. You also find some instrumental Samai written by Ottoman composers. Even better if you can read Arabic, then you search…
Read More2 Short Tutorials – 2 Farid al-Atrash Songs
Farid al-Atrash songs are fun to play. Here are two great ones to try out.
Read MoreA full course on Farid al-Atrash
Farid al-Atrash has written many catchy tunes during his lifetime. But the first time I was exposed to Farid’s music was his Oud Taqasim. At first, I didn’t really get it. I thought it sounded a bit out of tune, a little messy; sometimes he appeared to be showing off. As a Persian musician and an outsider to Arabic music, it took me many years of getting used to the…
Read MoreTaqasim Breakdown: Simon Shaheen Taqsim Kurd
Simon Shaheen taqsim are one of a kind; intense. This one of Simon Shaheen’s epic taqasim generously brought to you by Ameer Armaly’s YouTube channel. Make sure you subscribe as he regularly releases very rare and beautiful recordings from the Shaheen family. I make reference to this YouTube video in my Step-by-Step Taqasim Program as reference material for Maqam Kurd. One of my students asked for some assistance in analyzing…
Read MoreSufi music vs “Classical” music?
It’s actually difficult to distinguish between what really is “sufi music” and what is “Classical music” in the context of Persian music, especially if you are new to the culture and don’t speak the language. There is a lot of overlap. Any instrumental music could potentially be Sufi, however, not all music can be Sufi music. Music with lyrics that deal with politics, romantic love, or everyday mundane things would not be heard in Sufi contexts. It depends on the purpose…
Read More3 things you’re doing to sabotage your taqasim skills
In the last post I told you a story about my “avant-garde genius” Oud playing skills. Basically, my point was that everyone starts out playing a taqasim not knowing what the hell they are doing. Not being able to play a taqasim is going to make you feel like a Oud beginner forever. You’re going to yearn for those times where you can just grab your Oud and make beautiful…
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