Mike's Oud Forums

A dual instrument beginner?

Victoria - 1-31-2023 at 01:03 PM

Hi again :)

I recently bought an oud (the one I mentioned in another thread). This was kind of a quick decision because I got it at a favorable price from someone who wasn't using it and had decided that they would never get into oud playing (they had it for 35 years though!). I got it because I was interested in oud music, the distinct sound and because it is a fretless instrument. Besides that, it is the predecessor to my main instrument, the classical guitar.

But the thing is.. I am a beginner at the guitar. Which means that I got interested in the oud while I am still a beginner/intermediate guitar player. I am currently following an online guitar course and getting still better at it. But nevetheless, I am still a beginner.

So was it a bad idea of me to buy the oud and introduce it into my life at such an early stage of my guitar learning? I somehow criticize myself for it and even considered selling it already (I have OCD and depression and I tend to be "dark minded" at times). Should I have waited till I am much better at the classical guitar? And how would you go about it :shrug: Never touch the oud for now or start experimenting with it already? I already got new strings for it and risha.:airguitar: And I have been watching quite an amount of videos from Oud for Guitarists which is a great channel.

Thanks for reading :)

nassic_zhd - 1-31-2023 at 05:00 PM

Play it now! You don't need expertise on the guitar to start learning oud. Learning oud is easier if you are already good at guitar, but learning guitar is also easier if you are already good at oud, and there is nothing stopping you from doing both at once.

coolsciguy - 1-31-2023 at 07:33 PM

My only advice for you is to get an instructor for any instrument you plan to learn. It's almost impossible to get good at playing an instrument without a teacher.

Navid (oud for guitarist) is a great instructor. There are other brilliant teachers on this forum. Feel free to reach out if you need further help finding one.

Marcus - 2-1-2023 at 12:48 AM

Quote: Originally posted by coolsciguy  
My only advice for you is to get an instructor for any instrument you plan to learn. It's almost impossible to get good at playing an instrument without a teacher.

Navid (oud for guitarist) is a great instructor. There are other brilliant teachers on this forum. Feel free to reach out if you need further help finding one.


"It's almost impossible to get good at playing an instrument without a teacher."
This is not true! I know several musicians, include me, who play their Instruments very well, without ever having a teacher. The most important thing is talent, followed by feeling!

coolsciguy - 2-1-2023 at 05:40 AM

Perhaps your experience is different, Marcus. I wasn't referring to musicians who just pick up other instruments and excel but non musicians who got a late start in music (like myself).

Victoria - 2-1-2023 at 12:24 PM

Wow guys thanks a lot for your most appreciated advice. It is a great help listening to the advice from experienced musicians :airguitar:

I am, in fact, happy to hear that it is ok to work with both simultaneously. The variation seems appealing to me as sometimes it can be a little tedious practicing your guitar chords and it actually helps putting it away for a while and trying over. Besides that, I feel like the oud can enhance ones musical feeling even further.

Regarding the need for an instructor, I think it depends on the learner but since I already am using a paid course for the guitar I guess I will do the same for oud and I will probably be using Navid's course as it seems like the best for me at the moment. Especially considering I already am a beginner/intermediate guitar player. However, I always envied the ones who are able to just pick up an instrument and get good at it real quick. Wow :applause:

Thanks again to you guys for helping me answer my question! :bowdown:

By the way: My Pyramid Super Aoud strings and rishas arrived today :)