GuhlMustafa - 3-30-2006 at 01:11 PM
Greetings all,
I’ve been reading the forums for a while now, and I haven’t seen anything QUITE like this, so I thought I’d throw it out there as my first post-
I hear the voices of many experienced oudists here, and I feel like this would be a good topic for sharing.
I am wondering about the Principles of Oud- principles of playing, principles of study. What’s really behind all this? What do you feel, in your
experience, is really essential to knowing and playing oud? What is at the core of the art?
For example, in many postings here, I would say that relaxation is regarded as a central principle. To go further, one could say that slow practice is
a principle.
So this is the thrust of my question. What makes for a good oudist? What are the essential skills, or terms of approach? In what order should the
various elements of maqam, taqsim, repertoire, or even individual techniques be learned? What should an oudist consider when mapping out the course of
their learning experience? What makes for a good progression?
These are huge questions I guess, but it would be nice to see everyone’s thoughts gathered together, as an exploration of the real foundation of
this art. Forgive me if this is somehow redundant
Best wishes to all!
GM
fyenix - 3-30-2006 at 03:35 PM
hi gm, i sent you a u2u msg kindly check it out tq
jbreach - 3-30-2006 at 04:43 PM
Hi GM
I'm going to give a somewhat esoteric and philosophical reply. I'm a classically trained musician by background, double bass, and much of my musical
background has always been very "technically" focussed. Even when switching to bass guitar and playing in improvisation driven styles like blues and
jazz, I always felt very "limited" in the ability to cut loose.
When I took up Oud (Turkish style) , yes I had to "relearn" rules relating to Turkisk and Arabic music - but what I found was that for the first time
I felt like the instrument was playing me instead of the other way around.
One of the drivers of this was that once I had enough practical technique behind me my teacher threw me into the local Turkish orchestra here in
Sydney, which played a combination of classical and folk music. As the token white anglo saxon, with nary a word of Turkish behind me, the experience
of cultural immersion playing alongside other oud players, kanun, baglama and singers - provided a level of education, experience and confidence that
I think I never would have developed as a lone student just doing my own thing.
And maybe that is an important point - one can be technically proficient and skillful but the experience of playing the oud with others who have
grown up with the music, as part of their cultural heritage, is something completely different. And I think this is where I discovered something of
the "heart" of the music, which in turn affects my mental state when I pick up the instrument and the way I play the Oud, whether it be solo
improvisation or as part of an ensemble.
And it is something no book, tape, CD or dvd can teach you.
best regards
Jonathan
RE: Your philosophical reply
sydney - 3-30-2006 at 05:18 PM
Hi Jonathan,
Welcome to the oud world mate.
Where about in Sydney are you? I'd like to visit this school you go to. would you post something you play or you are not ready yet?
Cheers
jbreach - 3-30-2006 at 05:42 PM
Hi Emad
based in Newtown - unfortunately don't have any sound bites yet, but recently got a Mac Powerbook so I'll do this in due course on Garageband
I haven't been involved with the Turkish orchestra that was running out in Auburn for a couple of years because study committment took over, but the
chap running the school and orchestra is Sabahattin Akdagcik. He's a multi-instrumentalist and regularly pops up on a lot of "fusion" performances and
cd's releases with other Sydney artists from other cultural groups.
Details are:
SASOM (Sabahattin Akdagcik School of Music Mosaic) is a private music school located in inner western Sydney area where Turkish and middle Eastern
string instruments, BAGLAMA, OUD, KANOON, VIOLIN, MIZRAPLI TANBOUR, YAYLI TANBOUR, TAR, KABAK KEMANE, BENDIR, DARBOUKA, MAKAMAT, USUL (IQAA) AND ALSO
IMPROVISATION AND SINGING TECHNIQUE are taught in Turkish and Arabic styles . +61 2 96494956 / 0419707743 sasom96@uvtc.net.au
Cheers
billkilpatrick - 3-31-2006 at 05:37 AM
anything you choose - providing the end result is refined, precise and even.
- bill