negomilamb
Oud Admirer
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Registered: 11-2-2014
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questions from a beginner
Hiya I'm new to this forum so hello
I got an oud a week ago from Mahmoud Dagher. I'm having some problems with the lower strings, I find it very difficult to play tremolo, and have
found it much easier on other ouds I've tried out. I have no idea what the make of the strings are, but they're standard tension - would a low
tension string set help? What make of strings? (The maker also said he could change or alter the 'bridge', but I think it's already pretty low.)
Also the risha, I using standard plastic pyramid ones, which is fine, but again, it's difficult on the lower strings and I hear the scrapey sound with
tremelo. Would a change in risha help? (I think I prefer the more flexible ones than other thicker ones I've tried)
I'm 4'10 with tiny hands, and find it v hard to reach all the notes while keeping proper hand and sitting position - any advice?
Finally, I'm in Cairo, can anyone recommend affordable teachers here who are not bayt al oud?
Thanks!
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danieletarab
Oud Junkie
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Location: Palermo (Italy)
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Hello and welcome!
Every oud has a different playability. And depending on strings and strings' lenght, a different tension. Maybe the ouds you had tried before had
looser strings, or shorter diapason. What's your oud's strings' lenght??
You shouldn't use thin rishas: in the beginning one may think that they make the tremolo easier, but it's exactly the other way round. Anyway, if you
use the right tecnique, you can play good tremolo in every oud. Keep in mind that it's always easier to play tremolo in the high strings than in the
lower ones: that's absolutely normal.
If the tension is high, you need a thick risha to play tremolo in low strings. You have to make experiments: try different strings sets, and different
rishas (I would suggest horn ones). However, the most important thing is to practise the right right hand tecnique.
You're in Cairo, and I am sure that you will not have any problem in finding a good player who can tell you if there's something wrong in your oud,
but most likely, there's something wrong in your tremolo tecnique or in the strings set.
For what concerns posture, it takes some time before you understand how to hold and play your oud in the proper way. Use a foot stand under your right
foot: it helps really a lot.
Good luck!
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bulerias1981
Oud Junkie
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Location: Beacon, NY
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Mood: John Vergara Luthier Lord of the Strings instrument making and repair
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Hello, if you are 4'10, you might want to consider getting a much smaller oud, a Turkish make and a scale of 58.8cm
About tremelo, its a technique that takes a lot of time to learn, so don't feel bad. It's something I worked on slowly with a metronome and worked the
speed up until I had it comfortably. It took me a year to get a respectable tremelo, and I'd say there's still room for improvement!
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SamirCanada
Moderator
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John's advice is a good one, I am 5'10 I have average hands and I also prefer 58.5 action. Its much easier to play on. if you have a 61.5 or 63cm
string legnth oud... it can be a chalenge to play.
A little warm up first alternating with rythm downstrokes to use the inertia of the downstroke attack so it transitions to tremolo. Then the scales
alternating up and down. I made this little video about an exercise I use for tremolo, http://youtu.be/T7B04gWo270
I recorded it quick to give an idea, maybe I will redo it without messing up 
As John says, there is always room for improvment (I have been playing oud 15 years and as you can see, i still mess up
@samiroud Instagram
samiroudmaker@gmail.com
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danieletarab
Oud Junkie
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John Vergara, may I ask you how exactly you worked on your tremolo? Did you practice every day, only some days per weeks, for how many hours? I find
tremolo exercises very boring, and I can't really make more than 30 minutes every 2 days. Another question: I find more pleasent practising also the
left hand while doing proper tremolo exercises on one string. According to you, is that better (since you make 2 exercises in one), or do you think
that that affects the efficacy of the tremolo exercise?
Thank you in advance!
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
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You can only practice one thing at a time. If you are practicing two things at once, you are messing up one or both.
In fact, even one thing can only be partly practiced at any given time.
You can think of any skill as part of a triad of components: accuracy, speed, and relaxation. When working on a skill, you can really only do two of
these at a time (it is when you have all three that you have mastered the skill). So if you are working on tremolo, you have to work only on that and
choose which two of the components you will focus on.
My recommendation for most things is to focus first on relaxation and accuracy (so that means it must be very slow). It can sometimes be helpful to
practice fast and relaxed (foregoing accuracy) because that helps you get a feeling for your goal. Most people spend too much time practicing fast
and accurate (but very tense), which is a dead-end, technically (though in a performance situation, you have to do the best you can with your current
technical level, so this may be the only option).
That said, 30 minutes on tremolo is too much at a time. Break up your practice so you cycle through different things. An example would be a 45
minute session: 5 minutes right hand, 10 minutes left hand, 10 minutes singing, 5 minutes right hand, 15 minutes repertoire (learning pieces or
specific taqsim phrases), break.
If you did that 5 days a week for a month with focused exercises, you would have impressive results at the end of the month. If you could do two or
more sessions a day, even better.
Depending on your level, different ways of organizing your practice may work better (for example, currently I prefer to transcribe taqsim as a
separate activity, away from the instrument, and I may need to up the percentage of time devoted to repertoire depending on what performances are
coming up).
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bulerias1981
Oud Junkie
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Mood: John Vergara Luthier Lord of the Strings instrument making and repair
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I never practice much. When I was stuidying Classical and Flamenco guitar I did practice a lot. But with the oud I've been lazy.
I am mindful of a few good exercises and do them every now and then. And literally I wake up one day with the ability to do "that" technique, whatever
it is. In this case with tremelo, I knew if wanted an "even" clean tremelo, I should work on it with a metronome and speed it up little by little.
Maybe I'd spend 8 minutes on this exercise 2 or 3 times a week, and I had it suddenly one day.. a year into playing. Everyone is different, everyone
takes different amounts of time to learn things.. so I am not a benchmark in anyway. Also, I'm lazy when it comes to practice as I mentioned above. I
just enjoy playing, and I imitate what I hear and try to do it.
Repetition is important also, and establishing good muscle memory, this is why starting slow and speeding up once you have it slow is a great idea for
practice in general.
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danieletarab
Oud Junkie
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Brian Punka and John vergara are the light of this forum!!! Thank you so much!!
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