May is Maqam Month. Let’s dedicate ourselves to learning maqams (maqamat). I’m posting a YouTube short everyday until the end of May to introduce a different maqam to you. I’ll also give an important nugget that will give you a new edge on each maqam. Click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you get notified when a new video has been published. Check out the playlist below: Want…
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Advanced Oud Demonstration – Al-Qarasia Oud
Learn more about ornamentation on Oud here. Looking for a new professional Oud for a fair price? “The Sultan Plus Oud is the best entry-level professional Oud on the market right now.”
Read MoreTaqasim: Avoid playing the same thing again and again.
This is a question I get regularly, and it’s one that me and everyone go through from time to time. I would recommend practicing creating simple phrases, and trying different ways of saying the same thing. Different stroke pattern, different number of notes, or stop on a different note, make a daily habit out of practising and taking some risks. Play something that doesn’t make sense. See what you can…
Read MoreIntonation, Compositional Intention, and Aesthetic in Shared Ottoman & Arabic Repertoire
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 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 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…
Read MoreThere’s no manual on how to play a taqsim…
Part 1 of 3 There’s no how-to manual on how to play a taqasim. Most students get thrown to the wolves when they learn taqasim with their teachers telling them to “just feel it”, “create your own melody”, etc, etc, etc. AND, very few teachers know how to teach melody creation, or how to go about playing a taqasim. This is one of the plateaus we reach when learning Oud…
Read MoreLe Trio Joubran Sheet Music – Masar
Download the sheet music here: https://www.oudforguitarists.com/le-trio-joubran-sheet-music
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