diane
Oud Addict
Posts: 41
Registered: 3-22-2010
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Oud teachers - Wales, Palestine..
I think I am not lucky enough to find an Oud teacher in Wales, but please if there is one I would love to know about them. This is something I will be
starting from scratch and have loved oud music and playing for a long time. Possibly my only chance is to travel for just a week or so sometime to
...maybe Palestine - I hope to work on my tiny, tiny Arabic also - which I have long wanted to improve also :-) I am a mother here, so a long spell
away from home is not possible... but maybe I can gain at least some insight and inspiration to continue at home and through music I have here.
Any positive thoughts gratefully received. It is the Arabic style of playing, particularly Palestinian artists that I have liked. I was once told by a
Kurdish man, who played beautifully, that the Oud was not for a woman, a woman's hands could not be big enough. I politely added that I could see that
could be a problem, although as children learn to play the oud, it must be possible to find smaller ouds. I hope this is true. I played piano as a
child and violin still, my hands were not incompetant for these instruments, I hope they will have a chance to relate to an oud one day.
Kindest regards, Diane
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Ararat66
Oud Junkie
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Hello Diane
I'm sure the oud will be fine in your hands ... you don't need big hands to play oud - it is smaller than a guitar and plenty of women play guitar.
Look out for UK oud meetings, we get together now and then and so far they have been in Manchester and Oxford.
Also the amazing Palestinian oudi Nizar Rohana visits us for workshops sometimes, and we post on this forum.
Best wishes
Leon
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diane
Oud Addict
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My gosh,
People into oud in Portsmouth! I used to live there many years ago. I'm glad to hear of the UK meet ups. Thank you Leon, that sounds great. It is
possible I could put myself on a direct mailng list for that?
I am really at the beginning of my journey though and have much to understand. I do not have to access to an oud, and it would be wise to try first...
I'm glad to hear my hands will be sufficient :-) Then after another decision on which oud from where - I need to consider this wisely.
Any other leads also regarding Wales, or indeed if I was to travel, greatly appreciated.
Many thanks, Diane
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danieletarab
Oud Junkie
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Location: Palermo (Italy)
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Diane, I am sorry for the Kurdish guy, but he said such a stupid thing!! Women, as well as men can play any instrument!! Especially oud that as a
plucked instrument has one of the shorter fingerboards (as they already told you)!!
And moreover, if one has a very very small hand he\she always can get a smaller oud of 58 cm diameter (like turkish or Munir banshir model), but I
think anyway there's no need at all.
I am sure there must be a teacher in London.
Anyway, I am going to Tunis to meet a copule of teachers (one is teaching oud at the Tunis Conservatory) and if you like I will ask about the
possibility of going there for one week and make an intensive cycle of lessons. I am sure it will be possible.
I will post all the informations I get, on the forum anyway.
Enjoy your oud and become a good player in spite of the kurdish guy (-:
Daniele
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fhalaw
Oud Junkie
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Historically, and the more knowledgabe please correct me, but Oud was an instrument played primarily by women quranas (pre-islamic Gaishas). And was
later followed by the Mukhanathoon (gays) , so its a very liberal instrument 
My references come from Hassan Toumas "Music of the Arabs" which I read a while ago.
Have a good day, welcome to the forum and good luck.
Fadi
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jdowning
Oud Junkie
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My understanding is that ouds built in the Turkish tradition come in four sizes - girl, woman, boy and man - the string length for the woman's size
oud being 56 cm.
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diane
Oud Addict
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Registered: 3-22-2010
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Indeed it seems there will be no problem of gender for me playing the oud :-) And my hands are of no exceptional small size. I think this will be fine
:-) Thank you all.
Any further leads re: study greatly appreciated. Also I have found someone advertising an arabic oud for sale...is there anything I should know to
ask, be wary of, bear in mind..? Okay, that's maybe a vast question, ..but for starters!
My kind regards, Diane
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Kelly
Oud Junkie
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Hi Diane
Welcome to the forum. There is lots of information if you search the forum enter 'buying oud' and you'll get a list of related threads. Unless you
know what you are looking for definately try before you buy or get another oud player to try it for you- however, a basic relatively cheap oud to get
you started is maybe what you need. You should be able to get one for around £200-300.
Happy hunting
Kelly
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alfaraby
Oud Junkie
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Registered: 9-18-2009
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Diane
Most welcome to Palestine. Here you shall have a wonderful trip experiencing the oud & meet the oudists & the luthiers. You shall meet
hundreds of oud players & students if you have the time. You may, as-well, have an intensive course playing the oud with the best teacher we ever
had : Kamil Shajrawy from Nazareth (fluent English speaker). You'll meet the legendary luthiers : Kamil Mowais & Hatem Jubran (Jubran Trio's
father) in Nazareth & Abu A'laa in Baqa (supra) and probably buy the best oud you could have ever dreamt of, the Hanum size, built
especially for women. Here you shall have enough time to work out your Arabic, and maybe improve it a bit. We might as-well improve our English
along-with
Summary: Palestine/Israel is heaven for oudists, despite the tension, but this is politics, while music is what matters here .
Just to let you & everyone here know : Palestinian Arabs & Israeli Jews oudists are real friends & care about each other a lot. See ? Oud
can make peace, & I mean real peace !
Welcome again
Yours Truly
Alfaraby
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diane
Oud Addict
Posts: 41
Registered: 3-22-2010
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Hi!
First of all, Kelly. Thank you I had a feeling there would be specific sections for these questions about buying. I have seen one advertised for £80
which suprised me. I can't justify more than a beginner's oud as I will indeed be a beginner. But also I don't want to cause myself problems in
learning because of a poorly made oud. I will check these sections.
Alfaraby, thank you. I took some litle gasps reading your mail. Such a trip would be a great honour. I have some work to do first, I should accustomed
myself a little with oud, work a little on my Arabic as it is such a beautiful language I would hope to make the most of my opportunity to speak with
people and also not to feel disrespectful, and not to be limited in my interactions by my lack of the language. But of course, I'm sure there will be
much English to be shared also! I must also save up for this trip! :-)
Were such a journey possible however it would be amazing - some small part of it even. Thank you for the suggestions, Alfaraby.
Wow! :-)
My warmest regards, Diane
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danieletarab
Oud Junkie
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Location: Palermo (Italy)
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Quote: Originally posted by fhalaw  | Historically, and the more knowledgabe please correct me, but Oud was an instrument played primarily by women quranas (pre-islamic Gaishas). And was
later followed by the Mukhanathoon (gays) , so its a very liberal instrument
My references come from Hassan Toumas "Music of the Arabs" which I read a while ago.
Have a good day, welcome to the forum and good luck.
Fadi |
Hey! I got this book and I started to read it yesterday! I am studyng arabic at the Lybic accademy in Palermo, and I found this book in the Academy's
library\ I was so happy! And just yesterday I red about Qainat (basicly the only musicians of the pre-islamic period, all of them women..)
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diane
Oud Addict
Posts: 41
Registered: 3-22-2010
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I didn't thank everyone personally for their mails. And Fadi's in particular was enlightening. I hope to find this book also.
Many thanks, and to Daniele also, Diane
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Microber
Oud Junkie
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Hello Diane,
Did you take a look at the video that Peyman posted.
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=10527
It's an Iranian group with only women.
You also can look this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exeFV521KRQ&NR=1
with the barbat player (her name is Najmeh Saghir)
At 2:30 she begins to play a very nice taqsim.
And her fingers and arms don't seem to be too short.
Good luck in your learning.
Robert
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fhalaw
Oud Junkie
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Location: Montreal, Qc
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Yes sorry 'Qainat' , I dont know where I got 'Qurans' from
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diane
Oud Addict
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Registered: 3-22-2010
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Thank you Robert, my young son was particularly taken with the second ensemble, exclaiming 'Oud!' each time there was a shot of the player. Just a
brief message - have mails ot catch up with, but no window till later.
Kindest regards, Diane
PS Alfaraby - I wanted to ask you about better times for visiting Palestine. I know of some things happening in August there, but it is a busy month,
certainly mid and very end month for me. I don't know that late July/early August is possible this year, but it may be. Is there a reason why this
wouldn't be a good time? Is there a traditionally better time of the year? It's good to know these things - weather, events, festivals, times people
are collectively otherwise engaged/busy. It may be that it has to wait till next year, but we will see.
My kindest regards, Diane
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Aymara
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1162
Registered: 10-14-2009
Location: Germany / Ruhr Region
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Hi Diane!
Let me show you an alternative ... we have an oud teacher in the forums, who is located in Cairo and gives lessons over the internet ... our friend
Tony (Fernand Raynaud) tried it and reported about this experience HERE.
Because you mentioned being a mother I thought this might be interesting for you ... you could get your private lessons at home ... the world is a
village 
| Quote: | | I was once told by a Kurdish man, who played beautifully, that the Oud was not for a woman, a woman's hands could not be big enough.
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Did he have a little macho problem?
Let me show you one of my favorite oud songs ... and guess what ... the female singer isn't only beautiful, she's also a good oud player  ... look HERE. And this seems to be a normal sized oud.
And there are so many more women showing so muuuch talent ... just search Youtube to find further examples besides the already mentioned. HERE's a Turkish example.
| Quote: | | I played piano as a child and violin still ... |
Especially the later is very helpful, because you already got used to a fretless fingerboard. That should help you to learn oud faster, than absolute
beginners.
Greetings from Germany
Chris
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diane
Oud Addict
Posts: 41
Registered: 3-22-2010
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Thank you for your kind words Chris, I have to dhas now, but will return to reply properly later I hope.
Warmest wishes, Diane
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fernandraynaud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1865
Registered: 7-25-2009
Location: San Francisco, California
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Yo, Chris, how is she playing with those fingernails????
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Aymara
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1162
Registered: 10-14-2009
Location: Germany / Ruhr Region
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Take a closer look to find out, that only her thumb nail is long ... the finger nails of her left hand are colored, yes, but short enough for gripping
the strings. And, hey, who said, she's a virtuoso
Greetings from Germany
Chris
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diane
Oud Addict
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Registered: 3-22-2010
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Hi Chris, re: did he have a macho problem, well, I presumed so from his retort, but don't like to speak in ignorance, so I politely shared my
disbelief - given we put people on the moon, and thought I'd check for myself! :-)
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diane
Oud Addict
Posts: 41
Registered: 3-22-2010
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And thank you for the suggestion about the remote lessons from Cairo. My computer isn't the quickest but it is something that may be possible?!?
Warm regards, Diane
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Aymara
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1162
Registered: 10-14-2009
Location: Germany / Ruhr Region
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Hi again!
More important is the bandwidth of the internet connection, but we'll check out technical details later, when it's needed.
Don't worry so far ... I also only have a 5 year old notebook and it would work.
Greetings from Germany
Chris
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