12 things I learned about the Oud in ten months
It’s been ten months with the oud, and I owe this community a lot. Mikeouds connected me with an extraordinary teacher here in Dallas, along with my
first oud (a Turkish Sandi), and countless other resources.
Hopefully the report below is useful to those who are new, or are considering picking up the oud. My intention writing this was to answer the
questions that I myself had (or didn’t know that I had) early on in the game.
Disclaimer – I am far from an expert musician, and will be skimming the replies for the wisdom (or corrections) of others on the forum. That said,
the points below advanced my playing, and perhaps could help others too.
There's no method
My teacher shared that unlike violin and some Western instruments, there’s no universal system for developing technique on the oud. Fair enough,
this could be said for all instruments, but during my violin and saxophone days, the teachers always told me exactly how to approach the instrument.
Posture, lip shape, foot placement, etc were all prescribed, usually before first touching the instruments. These things were in books. In short: if
you ask exactly how to hold the oud or risha, or exactly how to sit, don’t be surprised if you’re not given an exact answer. You are developing
these ‘answers’ for yourself, because that’s how intimate the oud needs you to be with it.
Don't convince yourself you've gotten the hang of it
At several points over the months, I thought I’d figured out the ideal risha grip, or the ideal sitting posture. Each time, my practice stagnated
until I overcame a certain belief. In order to advance your technique – improving tremolo, overcoming fatigue, whatever – you might try tweaking
your approach. E.g., grab the risha a little differently. Bend it more. Try a thinner one. A thicker one. Sit seated with one leg elevated instead of
playing cross-legged on the floor, even if the latter seemed like a good idea at the time. Summary: even what you think are good habits now might
become hindrances once your skills develop further.
Divide practice into playing and polishing
Though it’s important, there’s more to learning an instrument than polishing up other people’s songs. It’s always been rewarding to explore
the instrument with my own adventures. These are trial and error sessions. Fooling around until you start to remember the scales, patterns and chords
you like, and those you don’t. You start collecting these things, and over time, it’s like your own voice is in there. You also get to know the
different uses of certain notes. For example, to my ear, B-natural can pivot melodies in interesting ways, while A-natural is an unruly and unstable
animal that begs for a resolution.
Play in-tune
For a short time, I was lazy with tuning, until I went crazy. When your muscle memory tells your fingers where to go, you want the resulting notes to
be as faithful as possible to your ear’s memories of earlier playing. Tuning should not be a variable. Staying tuned up across practices greatly
improves the chances that your muscle memory will get you the sound you want to hear. On average, I need to tune up every other day.
Record your lessons
A guitar-teacher-friend was shocked when I asked him if this was a kosher thing to do. “It’s an extremely helpful, if not required component of
your practice. I always told my students to make recordings.” I’m thankful my own teacher allows this: there is nothing like hearing yourself play
something correctly for the first time, and then remembering what it sounded or felt like to do so.
Play for others
For me, exploring the instrument quietly at home has always been enough. Playing for others, I told myself early on, didn’t have to be the goal. But
as friends kept bugging me to play for them, I quickly learned the difficulty of performing in the center of other people's attention. “You’re
only half as good performing than when you play alone, at best,” my teacher once said. Working through (and even seeking out) this difficulty
improves concentration. You can watch where your playing ‘falls apart’ under tension, and it’s very rewarding if you can put it back together
the moment it happens.
Work through (some) pain
Several months into practice, fingers on my left hand began to complain. Twenty minutes into playing, pressing a string would just burn. Next day,
I’d grab a door handle, and again, the curled fingers were pissed. I phoned up a musician whose career had been stifled by chronic tendonitis,
asking his advice: “You’ve got to take breaks. Once this starts, there’s not much you can do. Scar tissue keeps building up. I’ve been there,
and it sucks.” I suspected the worst. But my teacher just told me to push on; he didn’t seem too alarmed by the ordeal. The pain is gone
completely now, after months of ‘pushing on’. Learning: there are growing pains associated with this instrument, and then there are more serious
pains. Having a teacher helps you navigate the pains wisely.
Love every note
Even using simple melodies or improvisations, the oud can invoke the same feelings (or magic) that drew you to it in the first place. Practicing many
hours a week has only been possible for me because of this. When you’re really inside the music – wherever you are in skill – it’s as if
you’re outside of time in a way.
Learn what interests you
You can try to play anything on the oud. Sometimes, the best practice session is thinking up a song you know by heart, and playing until you get it.
If you can really dissect a song you already know and love, you might love it all the more because you’ll understand the structure. Rhythms and
intervals make every song tick; and some rhythms and intervals make YOU tick!
Focus on technique over maqamat
At first, I thought I’d have to get bored memorizing a bunch of scales (maqamat). While this wouldn’t be a worthless thing to do, I’ve learned
maqamat best through the songs I’ve been taught. Songs are brought to life by the techniques and ornamentals applied to a given root maqam. To learn
a maqam is to learn its expression: learning a song has been far more valuable to me than trying to memorize the respective maqam. We play in songs
and phrases, not just scales. Maqams are understood more easily when they’re part of a bigger story.
Don't be afraid to take a couple weeks off (play in your head!)
I travel lots. The oud usually stays home, safe, and in one piece. It was nice to learn that these gaps in practice are manageable. Usually, I’d
come home with extra strength in my arm, or a fresh interest in playing. This is a physically and mentally demanding instrument. Final tip: over
longer trips, practicing in your head might help… in the hotel before bed, etc. This was all my teacher told me to do before setting out for a
couple weeks in Europe, and it seemed to work. Actually see the instrument and your fingers, and think about the sounds you’d like to hear.
Your instrument is at the mercy of the weather
One day I took my oud on a road trip to the desert. I was chillin’ with some friends outside after a big lunch. The time was right to play, so I
took out the oud only to find many of the strings had slipped completely loose. It took a half hour of tuning and re-tuning before things sounded
right again. If you tune up in high humidity, you’ve got trouble when things get arid, whether that’s because of a road trip or a cold front. Get
used to it and plan ahead…
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