Originally posted by David Parfitt
Hi bluesyOud
I'm not sure there is such a serious speed vs. feeling debate with the oud, as compared to the guitar for example. (I used to play the guitar,
and I remember endless arguments in guitar mags about the relative merits of Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai etc. as opposed to Eric
Clapton, Peter Green, BB King etc.)
As far as the oud is concerned, I get the feeling that the real battle is traditional vs. modern/commercial. Audiences have shorter attention spans
and different expectations, people need to sell records, conservatories have often replaced the traditional master-student way of teaching. From
listening and reading it is apparent that what is played on the oud seems to have changed dramatically over the last hundred years or so, and whether
this is good or bad is up to each person to decide I guess.
If I could think of one piece of advice based on my, albeit very limited, experience of the oud (+ guitar), it would be the following: don't
think of the oud just as a fretless guitar, but try and delve into the more traditional types of music that are played on the oud. I have listed and
described a lot of CDs representing Egyptian, Turkish, Iraqi, Armenian, etc. styles on my website at:
http://website.lineone.net/~david.parfitt/recordings.html
Mike also has audio clips of a lot of these CDs on this site under the 'Oudism' section, if you have not already seen it.
Sorry if it sounds like I'm preaching or being patronising - that's definitely not my intention. Good luck with your oud playing.
All the best
David |