Masel - 5-24-2012 at 03:52 AM
Hello, to those of you who have studied the master's taqassim: do you learn to play every phrase percisely, from memory, or simply learn the general
flow of things? How deep do you recommend going?
MatthewW - 5-24-2012 at 05:00 AM
Hello Masel- Sunbati is truly unique, his playing is so fluent that he makes it appear easy!
I'm sure many of us here have listened to his playing, and tried to copy a phrase or pick up a few phrases of his taqasims; they are both useful as a
learning aid and beautiful to listen to as well as to play. What I have picked up from his playing I try put to memory, and just let it take root
there, inshallah.
Once I manage to get a phrase down, I then try not to play note for note as he played for two reasosn- it would be impossible to play the same way
the master played those notes, and I don't want to be in a Sunbati covers band (unless it paid well)
regards, MW
Jody Stecher - 5-24-2012 at 08:36 AM
Whatever music I'm learning I pick a worthy model and try to copy it exactly in every possible way. This is a temporary measure and is a "technique
" or a process and not an end in itself because the world does not need a second rate Sunbati. I know full well that I will fail because each musician
has a unique touch and sensibility and body rhythm which cannot be *perfectly* replicated by another person any more than a fingerprint can be
transferred from one person to another. But the effort to copy exactly improves my technique and improves my understanding. Once I have a reasonable
facsimile of a Sunbati phrase (or someone else's) I then forget all about it and play what is natural to me. Every now and then that phrase will
appear in my playing, perhaps as a template for something else, perhaps as a literal quote but with my own touch, perhaps as a paraphrase.
ameer - 5-24-2012 at 08:47 AM
@Jody Very nicely put.
Alfaraby - 5-24-2012 at 12:08 PM
Riad Al Sunbaty is not just a great oud player. He's one of the greatest composers in modern Arabic music history.
Therefore one should study his Taqaseem as a composition, not just study the rough line or the Maqam Sayr .
It worth every single note.
Good luck
Yours indeed
Alfaraby