jdowning
Oud Junkie
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Location: Ontario, Canada
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Oud Sixth Course?
During the Medieval period ouds were strung initially with 4 and then 5 double courses - at least up to the 14th C.
Likewise the lute had 5 courses until about the end of the
15th C/ beginning of the 16th C. This is known with certainty from the historical record and surviving tablature of the period.
Is there any equivalent historical record that might confirm when a 6th course was first added to the oud and, if so, in what region of the Middle
East did this innovation first occur?
Thanks
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Alfaraby
Oud Junkie
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Abu Alhasan Ali Ben Nafe'a , well known as as Zeryab, added the fifth string to the oud back in the 9th century.
The first to refer to a six course oud was an unknown author from Baghdad of the 14th century, in a script called :
"كشف الهموم والكرب في آلة
الطرب"
(removing difficulties & griefs of the instrument of passion - my poor translation !)
This was the first time ever anybody referred to the oud as having 6 double courses. This oud didn't replace the 5 course oud, known as the "perfect"
oud, but the six course oud was called the "most perfect". They both exist side by side till this very moment.
Yours indeed
Alfaraby
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jdowning
Oud Junkie
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Thank you Alfaraby for this important historical information - indicating that string technology for the oud was well in advance of that of the
European lute. I wonder if the 6th course oud strings at that time were made from silk rather than gut?
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jdowning
Oud Junkie
Posts: 3485
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Location: Ontario, Canada
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Alfaraby - does the 14th C script give the names of each of the six courses and their relative tuning? This would be of interest as the addition of a
thicker 6th course implies an advance in string making technology.
It is interesting to note that a 5 course oud was considered to be 'perfect' at that time and that a 6 course oud as 'most perfect' (or superior to a
5 course oud?). Why is that?
In the 10th C, the Ikhwan al-Safa (Bretheren of Purity - based in Basra Iraq) described the 'perfect' oud as limited to four strings (courses)- "no
more, no less, so that the musician philosopher's productions would be comparable to the natural things that are under the lunary sphere and in the
image of the science of the Creator .." They then go on to compare the perceived properties of the strings to the four 'elements', Fire - 1st string
treble, Air- second, Water-third, and Earth- fourth string bass as well as describing the effect their harmonious sounds have in opposing or healing
illnesses, ailments and pain - all ".... because the number of strings of the oud is restricted to four, no more, no less". (translation by Ammon
Shiloah, Tel- Aviv University).
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