Mike's Oud Forums

Need Oud Teacher in London

rasha.z - 6-9-2014 at 06:43 AM

My husband is interested in learning oud. Any good private teachers in London?
Thank you
rasha

Lysander - 6-9-2014 at 10:06 AM

Are you looking for a Turkish oud teacher or an Arabic one?

I have found getting a teacher in London to be a royal pain. But I will have to do it myself this year.

This list is the most helpful I have found. I haven't come across anyone outside of it.

http://www.hobgoblin.com/hobnob/teachers.php?GetRegion=London

Taqasim music school is Francesco Iannuzzelli, I believe.

DavidJE - 6-9-2014 at 10:58 AM

Keep in mind that you can also do Skype lessons from anywhere. I'm taking them from Mavrothi (a member of this forum with websites here and here) even though we live on different continents, and I very highly recommend him as a teacher. You're much better off with a great teacher via Skype than a decent or poor teacher in person.

Lysander - 6-9-2014 at 11:21 AM

Indeed. However, for myself, I will be compelled to get a teacher because of my degree... and I imagine the uni will want a teacher "in person". They recommended Khyam Allami, Ahmed Mukhtar, and Attab Haddad, who are also all based in London, as far as I know.

Which brings me to an interesting point. If you're playing Turkish oud, does it matter if you get an Arabic oud teacher?

DavidJE - 6-9-2014 at 12:00 PM

In my experience, yes it does matter.

The Arabic oud players *I* have met weren't used to many of the Turkish conventions, from the tuning, transposition, and the way the sheet music is written to the comma system. Surely there are many Arabic oud players and teachers who know these things, but it's not going to be what they're accustomed to teaching. You're also going to have a hard time playing with them if their ouds are tuned Arabic and your is not. You could tune down to an Arabic tuning, but an Arabic oud teacher is probably also going to have you reading Arabic sheet music instead of Turkish, and so on.

Then there's the issue of different types of ornamentation and playing style, which is probably bigger than the more theoretical/written issues above. And...different "definitions" of makams...

zakiya_alali - 6-15-2014 at 12:38 AM

a great oud teacher his name is Ehsan Emam, you can find his details on facebook

Lysander - 6-18-2014 at 04:58 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Lute  
Ahmed Mukhtar Nooooooo. Expensive and was not helpful with me at all! I would not recommend this person as a teacher!

Some teachers will do their best for a keen person to learn. Those what I call teachers, not Ahmed Mukhtar NO, stay away!

I wish him all the best with his study.


Yeah, I automatically wasn't going to go with him, because I feared the cost. How much did he charge?

bulerias1981 - 6-19-2014 at 05:50 AM

I offer Arabic lessons via Skype. If you get a good camera, liike a Logitech c920, and if you have high speed internet, the lessons will be as if you were in the room with a teacher.