ahmed_eissa
Oud Maniac
Posts: 50
Registered: 8-3-2011
Location: Columbia, MD
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Beginner Songs/Lessons
Hello everyone,
I was wondering if there were any famous/traditional beginner songs that people usually learn when starting out as a beginner oud player? I play an
Egyptian/Arabic D-A-d-g-c tuned Oud. Also, if you have the sheet music for any beginner songs that would be greatly appreciated! I am a classical
guitar player so reading music is not a problem for me.
Also, I was interested in possibly arranging some sort of lessons via Skype (webcam). If anyone would be willing to, please let me know and we can
work out the details!
Thank you
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myeyes2020
Oud Junkie
Posts: 172
Registered: 10-5-2007
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Hi Ahmed,
Welcome to the oud and to the oud forum.
Are you able to hold the oud correctly and are you able to use the risha correctly?
In my opinion, you should learn more about the music theory of maqamat before attempting songs. The melodies should be for fun and to reinforce what
you learned about theory.
There are many good first "melodies" that are instructive. Common dulab of maqamat are good. you can search dulab rast, dulab hijaz, dulab bayati
etcc...
Here is an example. the first one minute of this clip is dulab rast and continues into a nice song to learn called ya shadil alhan. Great first song
for rast mode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf59TEfVB7g
You may be interested to explore Issa boulos achive.
http://www.issaboulos.com/archive/index.php
agree to the terms, then after you search your criteria, SCROLL DOWN and you will see lots of sheet music.
Adel Ibrahim.
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londonoudi
Oud Maniac
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I definitely agree with Adel regarding dulabs (great choice for rast!), this is definitely a great way to start once you are able to hold the oud and
move the risha. if not work on this and just going through the scales/maqams (i.e. 8 notes up, 8 notes down)
Ya Adel basha,
Why do you suggest to learn about music theory before attempting songs? Im just curious to know as in my opinion and it is also that of many others
that Middle eastern music is learnt by ear in terms of what comes next.
Interested to hear what kind of theory you suggest... please do share! 
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ahmed_eissa
Oud Maniac
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Registered: 8-3-2011
Location: Columbia, MD
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Adel- Yes, I am able to hold the oud and risha correctly, I was helped with that from another oudist and just personal experimentation. Also, as I
mentioned, I am a classical guitar player, so I do know music theory. I hope this can help me learn middle eastern music theory quickly and
efficiently. Thank you for the links! I am familiar with hijaz but I do not know the terms "dulab, rast, bayati."
londonoudi- Currently I am just experimenting with hijaz and shahanaz (the only difference is the c and c#, respectively, if my knowledge is correct),
but I am looking for something more. The two Maqams (which I assume are scales?) I know seem to be fairy easy and come natural to me as a guitar
player as I just play them up and down.
-Ahmed E.
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littleseb
Oud Junkie
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i think it's as important to learn simple pieces alongside getting to grips with maqamat. that way you will not only make yourself familiar with the
characteristics of each maqam, but also learn about technical stuff and how a maqam translates into composition and how rhythms work. i started with
little tunes like sirto, munir bashir's samai nahawand and ta'a mol.
you'll have soooo much fun!
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littleseb
Oud Junkie
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fairuz's bint al shalabiya is a great song to learn and will stay with you for a very long time:
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=7381
it's in nahawand:
c - d - e(flat) - f - g - a (flat) - b - c
b (flat) on the way down
lol, bint al shalabiya really is a great song to learn! i love it!
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ahmed_eissa
Oud Maniac
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I am sorry if I am wrong, but I seem to have remember someone stating that they were an oud teacher from Bethesda, Maryland and that they you were
wondering if I knew how to properly hold the oud/risha before talking to me about skype?
I was looking forward to pursuing this teacher but I do not see the post anymore!
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myeyes2020
Oud Junkie
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Registered: 10-5-2007
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Quote: Originally posted by londonoudi  | Ya Adel basha,
Why do you suggest to learn about music theory before attempting songs? Im just curious to know as in my opinion and it is also that of many others
that Middle eastern music is learnt by ear in terms of what comes next.
Interested to hear what kind of theory you suggest... please do share!
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Hi London,
I've learned the hard way that it's best to learn some maqam theory first before attempting Arabic music. Playing by ear is an awesome skill. It's
very tempting to want to play begin playing music right away because after all, they are fun. But there is a danger in learning this way becuase you
may learn it with false notes and you will not appreciate the beauty. Knowing the maqamat that are in the song will reduce the risk of playing a
false note based on what you think you are hearing.
"If you want to learn a song, first you must understand the maqam," as stated by my mentor Souheil (katakfka).
As an example, when I attempted Hayart albi maak, I played it to my satisifaction in bayati. Then Souheil corrected it by showing me that it was
really kurd. The one "note" difference between the two maqamat, made a huge difference in the music.
When playing "ana fi intizarak" in higaz, the understanding that the maqam has nahawand and rast as upper ajnaz gave me more appreciatian for the
song and some insight as to how the composer designed the song.
Had I learned maqam theory first, I would haved save lots of time in learning the songs.
So you are correct, it's customary to learn and perform Middle Eastern music by ear. But knowing the maqam first promotes accuracy, efficiency and
appreciation. I will further add that it's important to learn rhythm, preferably practicing with a metronome (also based on the advise of my
mentor).
Learning maqamat is much easier than it might appear at first glance.
Regarding the "kind of theory."
First, keep in mind that in Middle Eastern music, the repertoire came BEFORE the theory. The purpose of the "theory" was to explain Arabic music to
the west in their own terms. In the West, the theory is learned first and then applied to the music which gives it a different feel.
The arabic word for theory is "nadhereya" which is derived from the word "see" (nadhar). The theory is explaing what we see in the repertoire. In
my opinion, it's much easier to show the theory on oud then it is to explain it in writing. Here goes.
Maqam rast is composed of Jins Rast -Do followed by Jins-Rast -Sol on the way "up the scale" and then Nahawand- Sol on the way down. Understanding
this concept is much easier than memorizing "the notes of the scale." It will also help the musician who plays by ear."
Hope this answers your question.
Adel
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myeyes2020
Oud Junkie
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| Quote: Originally posted by ahmed_eissa | I am sorry if I am wrong, but I seem to have remember someone stating that they were an oud teacher from Bethesda, Maryland and that they you were
wondering if I knew how to properly hold the oud/risha before talking to me about skype?
I was looking forward to pursuing this teacher but I do not see the post anymore! |
Hi Ahmed,
You are correct. At first I had these statments in my post but upon reveiwing them, I edited them out for two reasons.
I felt that it may have not been appropriate on my part to "advertise" here since there is a thread devoted to teachers and students and I didnt want
to cross the line.
Since I'm now so busy, I've reduced my personal one on one and I was very intrigued by the use of Skype. After I posted, I was skeptical of how skype
might work especially if a student doesn't know how to hold an oud or use a risha. Since I've never used skype before for this purpose, I felt that
it may have been unfair to promote this as a service. Now that I know that you are in MD perhaps we can work something out.
skype adel.ibrahim.usa
Adel
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myeyes2020
Oud Junkie
Posts: 172
Registered: 10-5-2007
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Mood: na3im
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Ahmed,
I'm not able to respond to your u2u. I've deleted many u2u and I keep on getting the message that I've reached the quota and need to delete more
u2u.
here is my email myeyes2020@aol.com
Adel
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ahmed_eissa
Oud Maniac
Posts: 50
Registered: 8-3-2011
Location: Columbia, MD
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Mood: Oud-y
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Adel,
Thank you, I have e-mailed you!
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