Hello everybody!
If I don't get it wrong, pluckyng the string downwards should be called SAD\ upwards should be RAD. Well, my RAD sounds very
<b>shoot</b>ty while I like my SAD sound. Questions are:
1)Is it possible to achieve a rad sound as good as the SAD one, or a t least almost as good?
02) any exercises, or good exercise buy on sell for right hand?
03)Since I don't know any exercises, I am doing these 3 things:
- Sad on first string and rad on the second, for many minutes.
- playng scales always alternating the plucking.
- playng every tunes just plucking upwards (RAD)
Do you think this is going to be useful?
Thank you very much for your attention!
Daniele Jody Stecher - 9-17-2012 at 07:05 AM
If by "string" you mean a double course of two strings, then alternate picking is useful when playing on one course so long as the tones (notes) are
of equal length. For example: A quarter note followed by two eighth notes might sound better as a down for the long note and down/up for the two
shorter notes than down/up/down would. It depends on context. When moving between courses it is often more effective to begin the first stroke on the
new course with a downstroke. It's sounds more like oud this way. It takes time to hear and understand this and is not *always* true.
But if by "string" you mean one of the strings that makes up a double course, then playing down on only one of these will force you to play a stroke
more in an outward direction than a downward direction or an *inward* direction (which gives a deeper, more resonant tone) and this outward stroke
can cause an unpleasant timbre. It also means you are getting half the volume you would get from playing both courses. If you play both strings of a
double course in a downstroke you will get more sound with no more effort. To play both strings of a double course on an upstroke however would
necessitate a rotation of the wrist. It is not unknown but it is awkward. So usually an upstroke of the plectrum contacts only the lower string of a
pair (the string closer to the ground). Naturally this is a weaker sound than the sound of two strings. There are two solutions to this problem.
Either you can decrease the force of the downstroke and increase the force of the upstroke thereby getting equal volume and a similar sound of up and
down, OR, you can allow the natural difference of the sounds of down and up to add color to your music. Instead of fighting the difference, *use* the
difference.
If your tone is not sounding good you may be squeezing the plectrum too hard. A relaxed hand will help. Also if you look at the hands of good oud
players (on youtube for instance) you will see that the plectrum contacts the string in a way that is parallel to nothing and perpendicular to
nothing. No right angles or sharp corners anywhere. Changing the angle of your stroke may help. Also the motion should come from the wrist, not from
the fingers and not from the elbow or shoulders. I don't mean to *lock* any of these joints, but that's not where the power or movement originates.
I might also add that since there are typically more downstrokes in most oud styles, if you work on getting an optimal downstroke, the up stroke might
improve as a corollary without you making any more effort to make it better. I don't know how to explain this, I can only say that I've noticed that
it can happen this way.
I hope this is of some use. I may have not understood the question(s) properly.danieletarab - 9-17-2012 at 01:46 PM
Thanks a lot!
Yes, with string I meant the course, sorry
My problem is that very often, it seem necessary to play upwards strokes on the beat. If I try to play all the notes on the beat with downwards
strokes (which sounds better obviously) I feel that I make unnatural mouvements, and it's however impossible if I am playng something very fast.
What I want to say is that we prefer to play the accents with downstrokes, but it's not always possible. That's why I would like to have a better
upward stroke.. And I am still wondering if there are any specific exercises for this purpose.
Thanks again!Brian Prunka - 9-17-2012 at 02:51 PM
Quote:
if you look at the hands of good oud players (on youtube for instance) you will see that the plectrum contacts the string in a way that is parallel to
nothing and perpendicular to nothing. No right angles or sharp corners anywhere.
This is a great explanation . . . very insightful to present the stroke as what it is not.
