Hello,
I would like to practice the Rast scale and I have difficulties to hear the E and the B.
I've read many things about quarter tones on this forum ...
the main thing I understood is that quarter tones ARE NOT quarter tones... it is to say that the third in Rast is not strictly between E and Eb ...
In order to practice the Rast, I customized the scale of a software tuner and I choose the value of -35% for the E and the B (I found
that information on that link http://dubsahara.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/RAST-MIDI.jpg) ...
What do you thing of all of this ?
Thanks for your contributions.charlie oud - 11-14-2011 at 09:16 AM
Hi Juju welcome to the forum.
The Rast is a bit of a monster for me, I hope you will get some constructive replies from other members. Here's my effort.
Some oud recordings of rast sound plain out of tune to me, at first I thought this was me needing to get used to the quarter tones but that was'nt the
case as I am now familiar with rast and still hear this disonance at times.
Listening carefully I think I have worked out what is happening. I can hear that the so called quarter tone works only in relation with the note that
follows it, if ascending then it is sharp almost E natural and when descending it can be well flat or may also be just a little flatter than the
ascending way.
I think someone will follow this with a description which will make me look foolish.
All I can say is that I use my ears, they have done me well for 35yrs as a musician. I do not think the quarter tone is 'measured' in oud playing or
singing. I can hear it is variable and selected by the musician as part of an overall phrase. Further, I believe this is why some players can sound
more moving than others, because thay have such tasteful intonation.Brian Prunka - 11-14-2011 at 09:20 AM
Turkish Rast and Arabic Rast are different. In my experience the Arabic rast is lower than 35 cents.
Perhaps Charlie is referring to Turkish rast, which is closer to E natural. His description does not match my experience of rast in Arabic music. charlie oud - 11-14-2011 at 09:44 AM
Juju, I bow to Brian's greater experience. Best ignore my response, it is a personal view only.fernandraynaud - 11-14-2011 at 10:48 AM
But all Charlie said was that the exact position changes depending on direction and context. Isn't that true? Brian Prunka - 11-14-2011 at 11:02 AM
Quote:
, if ascending then it is sharp almost E natural
Its exact position does change slightly depending on context, but if we're discussing Arabic rast, the above is not true. littleseb - 11-14-2011 at 01:05 PM
yep oudistcamp, that's how i see it and do it.
one way to practice the dE is by playing a C major chord, then a C minor, and then the C rast chord. if the dE is played correctly it will sound
beautifully harmonic, rather than 'out' or 'disharmonic'. that's how i did it.aimanriahi - 11-14-2011 at 03:11 PM
It is important to sing, it improves the identification
welcome to the forum.