joklany
Oud Maniac
Posts: 74
Registered: 2-9-2009
Location: Dubai
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please provide me with feedback on playing
Hi All
First I would like to wish you all a happy and prosperous 2010 and hope you had a good Christmas.
It has been a year since I started my journey with the oud. The first 4 months were really just messing about. The last 8, I have been practicing
for an average of 1hr per day and taking lessons twice a month. I had no music training before I started.
I would like to share with you the challenges I have and I would really appreciate any advice to overcome these and to improve my playing in
general.
1)Until now I feel that the notes I play sound short and not full/rich.
2)Related to one, I feel that the notes sounds more staccato and disjointed.
3)I still cannot tell when I am playing off pitch or hitting the note.
4)I am still quite tense when playing especially in presence of others including my teacher.
5)I cannot follow a metronome, or my teacher tabla
I have attached few pieces I recorded to demonstrate the above points. I would like to apologize for the poor quality of the recording, the many
mistakes during playing, and most of all to subject you to listen to poor playing! I hope
In summary, the oud experience has been the most challenging task I have undertaken. In fact my engineering Ph.D. was nowhere as challenging nor as
enjoyable! BUT I loved every single minute and cannot wait to get better. My wife tells me my that I became obsessed with the oud and my 4&5
years old start singing (la ti do re re) when I practice Alamooni (one of the attached pieces)!!
Again many thanks in advance and l look forward to hear your comments, advice, critique, and tips.
Jaafar
Attachment: Alammoni-Kurd La.mp3 (739kB)
This file has been downloaded 237 times
Attachment: Dulab Rast.mp3 (419kB)
This file has been downloaded 233 times
Attachment: Jadeka AlGaith-Hussaini.mp3 (631kB)
This file has been downloaded 195 times
Attachment: Muqadama in Hijaz.mp3 (913kB)
This file has been downloaded 197 times
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ibn sina
Oud Maniac
Posts: 75
Registered: 1-6-2009
Location: New York
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Hi Jaafar,
You have my sympathy, as I feel many of the same things and have been playing about the same amount of time. OK, I try to have a lesson every week.
But in some ways the Ph.D. in Arabic was more predicatable. I knew if I spent tons of time I'd get the research done.
First, I listened to the dulab rast, as it sounds like something I play. I think you're being too hard on yourself, it doesn't sound bad. OK, I know
it's not what you're aiming for, but it sounds pretty good. My teacher told me to sing or hum along and this will help you play the right note. As
far as #1 goes, try to keep your finger on the note (if it's a closed string) as long as you can, don't move it till you have to, the note only lasts
as long as your finger is holding the string down. Try listening to the metronome separately from playing, to learn the beat. Do you listen to lots of
oud music? Munir Bashir for instance?
If you are that tense, are you with the right teacher? My first teacher made me very tense. Now the teacher I have is very encouraging. He doesn't lie
to me, but he picks out good things in the performance, there are always some good things. When I get nervous playing, I can't put two notes
together, it's like a tongue-tied student--a new experience for me.
Also, you can obviously record your music, so record your practice frequently, it will make you less nervous. This week my teacher recorded the piece
I'm working on (a nekriz exercise) in lines (2 measures each) and instructed me to listen to each line for 10 min. before I try to play it. Then you
have it in your head when you try to play it.
Don't give up, it's so much fun. My husband no longer says I should rent a practice room, and the cat no longer flees the moment I pick up the oud!
Let me know how it goes, Kiki
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omazuz
Oud Junkie
Posts: 145
Registered: 5-20-2007
Location: Israel-Tel Aviv
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Like a child making his first step
Jaafar and Kiki Hello
I'm learning to play for almost 3 years and wn i just started it was so hard and so amazing at the same tI'me- its still amazing actually.
Well- my advice is to stick to yr teacher and feel relax with hI'm no meter what... remember he was a beginner too...
I'm learning to play by notes for almost 2 years and it made a lot of difference to the tI'me i played by hearing- i don't have any back round what so
ever so i don't think i had any other option (I'm 41 and never played any instrument).
One more thing is to take it easy and play very slowly and wn yr ears and mind remembers the tones u can go faster and faster. I think the metronome
combining with yr foot (up and down yr foot by the metronome) is a must and u will find it making order in yr playing - i prefer the mechanical
metronome cause u can hear and see it the same tI'me.
Hearing a lot of oud music is also very I'mportent and if u find the notes u r learning i prefer to start on my own and listening only after i have an
idea of what I'm hearing.
1 hour a day is not enough- said my teacher... I'm trying to do more but its not always working... he was playing 6 hours a day- well he is a musician
!
I want to u wish u all the best and keep on playing- u r on the right track !
Ofer
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joklany
Oud Maniac
Posts: 74
Registered: 2-9-2009
Location: Dubai
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Hello Kiki and Ofer
Many Thanks for your comments and words of encouragements. I am enjoying learning so much to even contemplate quiting!
Regarding my teacher he is just a perfectionist. He is a fantastic player and has great ears. He could spot an off pitch note even if it is only
slightly off. He also has a Ph.D in music. He trys to encourage me to relax by asking me to chat to him while playing but this never worked with me!
I loose focus from playing and start making lots of mistakes!
I also listen to a lot of oud pieces. I started recording my teacher playing the piece that I am learning and I play it continuously on my way to
work. I found that really helped.
Like you Ofer, I had no music background and started learning at 44! But from the beginning I started learning by reading music which I think has the
advantage that you mentioned but I feel that if one learns by ear, it would be easy to identify pitch and intervals. I would love to practice for
longer as your teacher suggested but with work and home commitments it is quite hard.
And Kiki I know what you mean about the cats. I practice in the children play room at night and my companion is Charlie their baby tortoise! It
seems that he recently started moving more than usual when I practice. I would like to think that he started enjoying my music and not trying to get
out of the room! As for my wife, she is an advanced piano player and she does not mind because she knows that I have to listen to her doing scales
and chords! Did your teacher suggest any way of singing the piece especially the fast and short notes. I try to sing solfege of the piece before
playing it but I find myself not able to catch up when the piece is a bit fast.
Thanks again for your comments and please do share some of your music!
Best regards
Jaafar
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ibn sina
Oud Maniac
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Registered: 1-6-2009
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Hi Jaafar,
Hang in there! Listen, if you can't sing fast enough, you should hum the notes. The idea is if you can hear the notes in your mind, you can produce
them on the oud. It also helps with rhythm and pulse. My teacher always emphasizes starting slow, breaking a piece up into chunks (like two notes,
then building to two bars, etc.). But he also advocates playing slow to play fast later, so put your fingers in the right position for speed later. It
helps. He also tells me to go through the fingering without playing a few times to "teach your fingers where they're going." (left hand)
I agree with you, I can't talk while I'm playing. Music later!
It's nice to know there are other beginners out there. I am much more visually oriented, so it's been a whole new world.
best, Kiki
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joklany
Oud Maniac
Posts: 74
Registered: 2-9-2009
Location: Dubai
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Hi Kiki
Thanks for the information regarding your teacher's method. It is very similar to mine.
This forum is a great in connecting people and I agree it is nice to know others are going through the same learning experience.
Best regards
Jaafar
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Christian1095
Oud Junkie
Posts: 454
Registered: 4-29-2008
Location: North Carolina, USA
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Hey Jaafar,
Pieces sound good.. but could be more relaxed... I think that will just come with time and realizeing that you're playing is pretty good...
Also, something I did was to put videos up on youtube... so when I'm feeling discouraged, I can just go look at my first one and I see how much I've
improved.
Chris Walters
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joklany
Oud Maniac
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Registered: 2-9-2009
Location: Dubai
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Hi Chris
Thanks for the tip and the encouragement. My teacher made the same suggestion of video taping just last week!
I will give it a go.
Thanks again.
Jaafar
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