majnuunNavid - 11-5-2013 at 08:43 PM
Hi everyone,
This post is for beginners looking for demonstration of different styles of Oud playing. Here is a little perusal of some of the different Oud playing
styles out there. This post deals with some Arabic styles. I have a post that will follow that will deal with non-Arabic styles.
http://www.oudforguitarists.com/regional-oud-playing-styles-part1/
FilipHolm - 11-6-2013 at 06:42 AM
This is great.
Really interesting stuff 
Keep up the good work!
/Filip
majnuunNavid - 11-8-2013 at 09:19 PM
For those who enjoyed this post, the follow up is out now. It deals with all non-Arabic styles!!
http://www.oudforguitarists.com/regional-oud-playing-styles-part-2/
hartun - 11-11-2013 at 07:03 PM
Hi, a couple of comments on the Armenian section. Haig Yazdjian was born in Syria, not Turkey, although his ancestry is in present day Turkey as are a
majority of Armenians in the Arab World (and the Western World for that matter).
One point about Armenian oud players. The vast majority are in the United States. Here is some background.
Since 1514 (the Battle of Chaldiran between Turkey and Iran), the Armenian homeland divided into two sections, Western and Eastern. Western was ruled
by Turkey and Eastern by Iran, later in the early 1800s Russia conquered most of the Iranian part. Over time this led to different styles of music,
different dialects of the language, etc. The oud was played in Western (Turkish) and not Eastern (Russian) Armenia. Probably it was first played by
the large Armenian community in Istanbul (which was the cultural center of the Western Armenians) before it was played in the Armenian lands. This is
why Armenians play the Turkish style oud that was developed in Istanbul rather than Arabic style. Although for some unknown reason Marko Melkon (see
below) played an Arabic oud. After 1915 it was brought to Eastern Armenia by refugees from Turkey who sought refuge under Russian rule. There it
became a minor member of the large state run Soviet folk orchestras where it usually served to play a bass line. As in Iran, tar was a major
instrument but not oud. But in Western Armenia, and later in America as Armenians from Turkey immigrated to the United States, the oud was one of the
main instruments in a small band. In the 1930s the recordings of Udi Hrant from Istanbul were released (especially taksims) and most Armenian oud
players in America tried to emulate him. At the same time, Marko Melkon, an Armenian immigrant from Izmir to NYC became a very popular oudist
performer in the Armenian- and Greek- American communities, playing mostly dance music. As time went on, the oud became more and more popular in the
United States Armenian community until it became considered the most important instrument in an Armenian American band by the 60s at the very latest.
There being no more Western Armenia but only a small Armenian community in Istanbul, there were more Armenian oud players in the US than Armenia/the
Middle East. In other Armenian diaspora communities it was not so popular. One of the main features of the type of Western Armenian music that was
brought over to the US are the very heavy use of 10/8 "Jurjine" meter, which doesn't resemble the Iraqi use of 10/8 but is similar to the Syriac use
of 10/8, and Turkish folk use of 10/8 but not Turkish classical. The other main meters are 4/4, 9/8, 2/4, and 8/4 "chifte telli". We also use 7/8,
5/4, and 6/8.