Don Z
Oud Maniac
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Registered: 8-29-2014
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Tunings
I have been doing research on tunings and i must ask; what are the standard tunings? I get so many seemingly conflicting results, or are there just
that many? I have an Egyptian friend who looked at me as if I were crazy when i suggested a tuning. He told me that now people are tuning E A D G C E.
I was a bit surprised at the suggestion but I'm keeping an open mind. Comments on tuning? Thanks in advance.
Don
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luan
Oud Junkie
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I never heard of that tuning
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Don Z
Oud Maniac
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I'm asking because I don't want to start on the wrong foot. What timings are recommended for Arabic music?
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
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Mood: Stringish
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To understand the oud tunings, you need to know a bit of history:
The oud started out with four courses. These were tuned all in fourths, but with no fixed pitch reference. Later, a fifth and then a sixth course
were added. The tunings of these are variable and depend on the piece and the preferences of the player.
Nowadays, many/most Arabic oud players adopt the pitch c' as the first (i.e., highest-pitched) course, which results in:
c'
g
d
A
? (usually F or G)
? (usually C or D)
Some people, mostly followers of Munir Bashir or Naseer Shamma, tune a fourth higher:
f'
c'
g
d
A
? (F or G)
However, many people in both tunings choose to de-tune (actually most old recordings are lower in pitch than today), so the actual tuning could be:
b
f#
c#
G#
E
B
etc.
All the typical variations on tuning follow the same basic scheme, it is just a question of the reference pitch.
the second course is typically considered the reference pitch in Arabic music (rather than an arbitrary A=440, it is the "g" or "nawa" note, whatever
it is tuned to).
My recommendation would be:
c'
g
d
A
F
C
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ameer
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I suggest Brian's post be put in the FAQ as it's a very well-put explanation of both the whys and hows of oud tuning.
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Jody Stecher
Oud Junkie
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If you change the E of the last and first string to F you get the tuning Brian recommended tuned a fourth higher. Indeed *some* players tune that way
But Only With A Set Of Strings Designed To Be Tuned That High. Tune a standard set designed for CFADGC to FADGCF and it is tossup as to whether the
strings or the oud breaks first.
For tuning discussions and information use the Search function on this website.
Until you have a chance to read over those discussions here is a brief summary in two points:
1) the four highest strings are always tuned a fourth apart. Remember this and the apparent variety of tunings no longer is at all bewildering.
2) the high E in your friend's tuning breaks with this universal practice. I can't see the advantage in this so I think there is a typo or
misunderstanding somewhere.
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Edward6311
Oud Maniac
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My Oud instructor has me use D G A D G C.
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Don Z
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Thanks all! Do you regularly retune just he low string depending on the tonic?
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