Temporary neck markers for intonation (+pics)

At the risk of excommunication, I thought I'd throw this idea out to my fellow new oudies here, as it has served me well.

It's very difficult for people who are new to a fretless instrument to hit the notes perfectly, and permanent inlaid neck markers have become commonplace on fretless basses. Even experienced players admit they can be useful on occasion. They are rare on the oud. To add temporary ones to a smooth neck with tape etc is possible, but it's a mess. Dots on the side of the neck are quite insufficient, because of parallax. Pencil marks vanish and more permanent lines detract from the instrument's appearance. That black 1/16" Art Tape is thick enough to cause buzzing. I tried everything, then came up with this simple solution for bass, and it works for oud too: don't mark the neck, mark the strings.

Once new [bass] strings have stabilized, position changes due to stretching turn out to be minimal. I was prepared to redo marks as needed, but have never had to. I don't have much experience with nylon on the oud, so far so good, but I'm not sure long term, you can make your own determination. It's easy to wipe off markers and redo them if needed in a few minutes ... or not.

The simplest way to try this is to download the free WFRET program, which is designed for luthiers to place frets on a guitar. It prints out a chart and a graphic template. Examine all the program's options. Enter the precise measured scale length of your oud, request a template for 7 frets and print it in Landscape mode. You must set up your default printer in landscape mode, as this is an old program which just prints with no access to the printer properties. Of course if you often play higher up, you can print a template to "fret lines" 8, 9 or more. Say, specify 12 frets.

Test the template very carefully, by tuning perfectly, laying the cut out template on the neck under the strings (see photos), and fingering notes exactly on the lines with your fingernail, and see if they agree with an electronic tuner and at e.g. the neck-bowl line. I have heard that some printers distort dimensions, and you might have to tweak the driver settings, clean the paper rollers, or compensate by artificially adjusting the scale. In my case I have always had very accurate results on several printers.

Once you know your template is good, coat it with scotch tape or immortalize it some other way, so you can keep it and reuse it for this oud. Save the settings in the software for each instrument. Back the template with something so no ink ever bleeds onto the fingerboard while marking. Align the template exactly and use e.g. a marker pen, Sharpie, Paint Sharpie, or whatever is most (or least) permanent for your needs, to mark the strings at the lines on the template. Some markers make marks that resist wear pretty well, yet can be quickly removed with orange-oil "goo removers". Always cover your fingerboard, soundboard, tabletop, carpeting, clothing, walls, etc to keep ink and solvents off.

Strings don't twist very much once they stabilize, and, if you care, small marks carefully made on the player side of the string are more resistant to rubbing off and practically invisible from the audience angle. You can use a different color for essential intervals. These are all details you can work out to your taste.

I don't think it is necessary or appropriate, but if you wanted 1/4 tone markers, you could probably get them by halving the scale. At some point I will no longer need markers, but until that day comes, I find this simple, reversible, and inoffensive. If nothing else, it makes a good way to get acquainted with your oud's neck. You may have to determine exactly how to best finger relative to the marks, or you may wish to deliberately offset them, but people who don't think this can work, for reason X, Y or Z, may be pleasantly surprised if they try it. If this is pedagogically or ideologically wrong, you can always ignore the dots until your in-laws insist it's time to strum the F#M7+9 chord in "Up, Up and Away".

We all understand, of course, that we are dealing with standard Equal Temperament intervals here, and that if you want e.g. Pythagorean intervals, you must make adjustments.

You can download the free WFRET program here:

http://europa.spaceports.com/~fishbake/soft/wfret.zip

Here is what a first pass looks like. Granted I didn't do a perfect job, but it's usable, and you can do much better. Notice how some strings against scotch tape tend to create a capillary suction that smears the ink, so my next template will be different, I haven't worked out the ideal marking technique for oud strings yet. Feedback and experience with different markers on different oud string materials are appreciated.

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Hey man, I have the same kind of markings on the neck of my Sukkar oud.... If you notice, your ''frets'' come right to the last square more or less... that's how I tend to think of them anyway... It's not exact, but I have big fat fingers anyway

Also, I try go go over some scales with my tuner next to me... that has helped me too...

I agree though, It would be nice to have some inlay on the neck that marked out interval...

Chris! what are you doing looking at that neck? shouldnt you be looking at the crowd??

Quote: Originally posted by freya

I'd like to amplify the importance of getting instruction early on even if one has been playing guitar and/or bass for a long time as I had. After about six months of bad left hand position, I developed trigger finger in my left pinky. Basically my hand position was wrong and I was reaching too far with my pinky. I never felt any pain or strain until the finger went snap I ended up needing cortisone injections to reduce the inflammation but was left with permanently weakened tendons (a cautionary note about cortisone injections). As soon as my first oud instructor saw my hand postion (which was shortly before the damage), he said that I would blow out my pinky if I kept playing that way. Unfortunately, it was too late; the damage was done.

Quote: Originally posted by SamirCanada

Hi Fernand, there is another trick to help beginners with the positions on the oud. You can take sticky paper (the kind you separate from another wax paper film) and punch little holes in it with a hole puncher. Now take those little pieces of punched paper and stick them to the TOP edge of the neck just above the area where your thumb glides on the neck. You can place them easily now since you already have the lines where the major and minor tones are. This is way better in my opinion because it enables the player to have a proper posture and playing position and it avoids you looking at the fingerboard which is something you shouldnt do otherwise you will have neck and back pain. and also they are only temporary so you can then remove them easily.

Can someone help find a teacher?

Quote: Originally posted by SamirCanada

by the way Fernand this is off topic but since you live in san francisco you should really look around to see if you can find a teacher and sign up for a few lessons. There is a wealth of teachers in your area and there really is nothing better to speed up the learning process then someone actually showing you how to play.

to: mmraslan

I believe this was the thread I was talking about I was reading a lot at once . Thanks for the program and the spreadsheet has also been very helpful!