oudtab
Oud Maniac
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Registered: 3-17-2009
Location: France
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Tabs for oud
Hello (Bonjour for the French oudists),
I've just open a website about oud and tabs. I'm also a guitarist.
I've modified some parameters of the oud :
- I use a specific tuning (low to high) C F A# d# g c which is the guitar tuning 2 tones lower. It allows the use and the knowledge
of chords. this tunig can be also used D G C f a d (for turkish oud).
- I put neck markers on my oud as on my guitar (a bar for 1/4 tones and a dot for 1/2 tones) : http://sites.google.com/site/oudguitare/le-manche (in this case, oud markers are like guitar frets)
- And I use an oud tab editor developped by M.Leschemelles of TablEdit http://www.tabledit.com, which is a famous software among guitarists.
I've transcribed about 20 tabs for oud and it seems to work very well. The tabs can downloaded at : http://sites.google.com/site/oudguitare/lestablatures/listetabs (you have to download a free version of tabledit V2.65 to play them).
Naturally, any tuning can be used with TablEdit (I've on transcribing tabs with the tuning D G A d g c).
I think tabs could be very useful to some oudists or for some guitarists who would learn and play oud.
The website is only in french for now (I'm working on the english version). I put the hole website in a pdf document which can be downloaded at http://sites.google.com/site/oudguitare (in french).
I hope you'll enjoy it.
Michaël
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jdowning
Oud Junkie
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Nice work Michael. The subject of oud tablature has been discussed from time to time on this forum so it will be interesting to see how your scheme
works out in practice. Helpful for lute players as well.
I have not had time to read through the pdf document but will do so at the earliest opportunity and comment in future.
Merci!
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jazzchiss
Oud Junkie
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So... you decided to reproduce the wrong tuning of the guitar on the oud? 
It's a good idea if you want to play the guitar repertory in the oud but, what for? I don't think you'll have many followers.
I used to be a very visual-dependent guitarists but, in the oud, I feel it's better not to trust your eyes and put your fingers where it sounds o.k.
I think it's a good practice learn to play without have to look at your fingers. I play often with records (Indian ragas) not properly tuned. That's
not a problem for me, except that I can't play open strings.
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GUY
Oud Maniac
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I don't think it is a good idea . Oud should be learnt and played like a violin , I mean without seeing the finger board or just occasionnaly . As
guitar player (flamenco) and now also oud beginner I noticed that the progres are more quick when the fingers are obeying the ear , not the sight.
But I agree that markers could be usefull fot tuning without a tuning device
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fernandraynaud
Oud Junkie
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Guy, there are many issues here, they are not one big thing to say NO to. 
First of all, to each his own. Oudtab has put a lot of thought and work into this, and it's worth dragging these points through the mud, individually
 .
Tablature, with the right extensions, might be very useful. I'm willing to check this out. There's just one problem for me. I have never understood
why anybody would bother squinting at all those little numbers -- I think I hate tablature much more than I hate classical notation . I find Tablature sort of an accountant's approach, and (don't ask me why) the first
thing that comes to mind looking at TABs is something to do with the size of shoes. Beethoven's Ninth in TABs ?
I've always found guitar tuning lacking in regularity, so I'd just as soon bury it. Oudtab, are you really able to play a wide range of chords on the
oud? I sure can't. The oud just doesn't feel like a guitar at all, so why even bother breaking the regularity and mnemonics of acending 4ths, and
wreck the already imperfect pedagogy of the oud?
All in all, I am full of respect and admiration for your dedication, and you won't hear a peep of hostility from me, but I'm much happier with the oud
as oud, das Ding an Sich, the fretless bass as such, and the guitar as a guitar. To me, the fretless 6 string bass and the Oud have a lot more in
common than oud and guitar. If you said tune them both BEADgc, I'd say, well, THAT's at least symmetrical, I could carry a banner in THAT parade.
We both find markers useful, but I can't see how you can hit the side of a barn with dots on the side of the neck, and approximation, I can do that
badly enough on my own . I guess your intent is counting markers to locate notes
by tablature, but it seems easier to learn what notes are where on the neck, and relate those to the staff. By the time they learn to use tablature
and all its workarounds, most sentient beings can learn notation.
If there's a lot to be said for playing in the dark, rather than look at the neck, as some have noted, why not go all the way and plug the ears as
well to avoid bad intonation
But another detail is this: it's like a new marriage. If I'm learning new instruments, it's probably not because I want to turn them into what I
already know only too well.
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Luttgutt
Oud Junkie
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Beautiful work, Oudtab!
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oudtab
Oud Maniac
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Location: France
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Thanks Luttgutt!
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jdowning
Oud Junkie
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Tablature for oud was in use before the 10th C (Al-Kindi) and the notation used in Arabian musical theoretical works (frets or no frets) until at
least the 14th C (Kitab al-Adwar by Safi al-din Al Urmawi). See also 'Old Oud - New Project' on the 'Oud Projects' forum for an example of a fretted
oud found in a 14th C copy of the earlier Safi al-din manuscripts.
A knowledge of the notation is as essential for a comprehensive study of these important works as it is for the study and performance of the vast
surviving repertoire in tablature for European fretted instruments.
Some modern writers have argued that the 'invention' of tablature in Europe (for lute, vihuela , guitar etc.) was taken directly from these early
works via Moorish 'Spain'. I am inclined to agree with this.
The "Muslim Heritage" site at:
http://www.muslimheritage.com
which provides a wealth of information about early Arabian science, technology, medicine, music, social environment etc. is well worth exploring.
In particular - concerning early tablature notation for oud - check out the papers "The Arab Contribution to Music of the Western World" by Rabah
Saoud and "Safi al-Din al- Urmawi and the Theory of Music" by Dr. Fazil Arslan.
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bobowes
Oud Admirer
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Location: Upstate NY
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As a tabbist (?) for both guitar and lute, your idea is extremely interesting. Would you happen to have a zip file for the the collection of .tefs.
I would really like to try some.
Since I learned French tab for the lute and have a collection of .tefs for it, I have just lowered the g ( 3rd from the top ) string on my guitar to
f# and all lutes tabs can be played on guitar as well. I should think that using your tuning above, I should be able to lower your d# to d and be off
and running , as long as I am not over concerned with pitch.
Great idea.
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