amtaha - 4-25-2006 at 05:00 PM
My humble guess tells me that, since the oud is mostly a melodic instrument, singing while playing should be more easily accessible than with other
instruments..
But I've been at it for sometime now, and it's not coming through. I can play the melody, or sing the song, each by itself. But whenever I want to do
the both together, things get mesed up.
Does any one know of exercises, or something of the sort .. ?
SamirCanada - 4-25-2006 at 07:56 PM
Someone told me a good exercise for that is To play the maqam scales and sing at the same time you jump from note to note.
Afterthat its mather of practicing.
I have a really hard time with this problem myself so I feel you. But its just amazing we someone can sing and play at the same time. Just listen to
abadi el Johar... its almost like he's got 2 brains controling each part by it self and joining it togheter perfectly. But he can sing complicated
stuf and play fast without getting stuck. There's other good artists that can do it also, I just used him for an example.
billkilpatrick - 4-25-2006 at 08:00 PM
try humming the song as you play and introduce the words as they come.
- bill
billkilpatrick - 4-26-2006 at 01:58 AM
another possibility is to reduce what you are playing to its simplest form while singing. i believe beethoven once referred to the guitar as an
orchestra in an instrument - no reason why the oud can't bask in the same light. vary your performance with a simple "do-re-mi" bass accompaniment to
your voice before playing the melody unaccompanied, in an upper register.
for me it was a bit like riding a bike - difficult at first with lots ... i mean lots! of mistakes but after a while it just came naturally.
- bill
Marina - 4-26-2006 at 05:35 AM
Just sing the song 1000 times and play it another 1000 times. Well, I promise you, you'll sing&play together after such a practice. 
My advice in 5 steps
sydney - 4-26-2006 at 05:37 AM
I do not mean to sound like a "doctor how to play" but you are free to try this...
1- Select a song that you love and know the words by heart. 2- Master singing that song on it's own without you playing oud.
3- Then (sing it along) Try to sing it while listening to it from a CD or a tape player.
4- Try to introduce the oud in the first couple of lines of your favorite song.
5- Add a little extra as you go.
This way helps your brain to register that there are two tasks to activate. Remember your first oud exercises when you were trying to get the left
hand working with the right one ( They do two different movements but your brain is convinced that they both complete each other on the oud) Now you
need to convince your brain that singing completes the playing.
Do n't try a different chapter of the song if the first one did not work well - a different chapter won't work either. It is your brain that needs the
work out.
Every new song will take a little while to exercises but you as a oud player will become more trained as you go and your brain will need to put less
effort everytime you introduce a different song.
Take it real easy
Good luck
amtaha - 4-27-2006 at 08:08 AM
Thank you, fella's ... The idea of reducing the song to basic form is interesting. I'm mostly able to sing with the rythm - so maybe therein lies a
start ..
Samir, someone once told me - he made me listen to clip to - that Youssef Al-Mu6ref did the most amazing sing. In between the singing parts, he'd
behave, so to speak, no tricks, no nothing. Now, when the time came to sing, his hands would be playing something completely different.
billkilpatrick, the humming worked for a while. I haven't been able to move forward much. I'll take your advice on simplifying, even starting with the
simplest songs, and see where it goes.
Marina, been there, done that .. and even though we say shouldn't rush things, there must be a way of a simple and direct method to do things ..
(that's my hope)
sydney, I'm going through my head with the songs that I know. Turns out there's something tricky. I can memorize the lyrics and melodies by heart, but
not the music. So when the time comes to play and sing, the frustration kicks in. I started going back to the songs, paying attention now not just to
the words, but everything. Quite a good practice and, surprisingly at times, feels like a re-discovery.
Thanks again.