oudz
Oud Admirer
Posts: 1
Registered: 4-5-2025
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Tuning tips?
Hello everyone,
I am a brand new oud learner. I'm completely new to stringed instruments, let alone the oud. I purchased this syrian oud from sala muzik.
Is it normal for the strings to go out of tune daily without heavy playing or is this a you get what you pay for situation? If it's expected, do you
have any tips for tuning? I feel like I spend too much time tuning before practicing. Getting both strings of the same note to be in tune with each
other is a unique challenge.
On a completely different note, how can one find an in person teacher in the Bay Area (California)? I am starting to learn with izif.com's course but
I think a teacher would serve me better.
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Jody Stecher
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1378
Registered: 11-5-2011
Location: California
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Gary Haggerty is a good oud teacher in the Bay Area. He is a member of this forum. Try sending a U2U to "teslim". He also has a Facebook presence.
Tuning any string instrument many times daily is normal, even for the best instrument. You may have poorly fitted pegs though. Do they turn smoothly?
Faulty pegs are not a sign of a bad oud. An otherwise perfect oud may need the tuning pegs adjusted or replaced. Theoretically an otherwise terrible
oud may have well-fitted pegs that turn well and neither stick nor slip. I have never seen one though.
Also new strings go out of tune at first. Your issue may not be with the pegs. It may be that the strings have not yet "settled".
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 2949
Registered: 1-30-2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY
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Mood: Stringish
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I had a couple of students who had that or similar Sala oud, the pegs were reasonably well-made, fit decently and pretty functional. It's always
possible you got a bad one but I agree with Jody that there are other possible explanations.
To add to what Jody is saying, here are a few thoughts:
• there is a definite learning curve with friction pegs. The exact amount of pressure, how much to loosen and tighten the fit of the peg as you
tune (not just how much you are loosening/tightening the string) is a subtle thing that has a big effect on how well the instrument stays in tune.
More practice will eventually lead to tuning that "sticks" better.
• strings will "settle in" when they have been tuned frequently. So newer strings will go out of tune a lot, while ones that have been tuned may
times will be more stable. But it is more a function of how many times it's been tuned than how new/old the strings are in an absolute sense. So it
may be that your oud has just not been tuned enough. As you tune it every day, it should start to stabilize.
• I've found that a new oud sometimes also needs more frequent tuning, something about the instrument itself settling in perhaps - it's wooden after
all, and the natural material changes over time. The different hardnesses of the pegs and pegbox will cause them to somewhat conform to each other
better over time (and with regular tuning). The softer wood in the pegbox compresses, perhaps this creates more stability? just a guess.
• it's springtime, which in most places means daily fluctuations in humidity and temperature, either of which will cause the strings to go out of
tune. So that may be part of it.
• As Jody said, even under the best of circumstances, it's typical to need to tune the oud at least a little each day. It's so typical that if one
picks up the oud and it has stayed perfectly in tune since a day or two before, it is a pleasant surprise.
As for tips:
• the more practice you have tuning, the better and faster you will get.
• you don't say whether you are using a tuner or your ear. It's fine overall to use a tuner, especially as a beginner. However, make sure to pay
attention to the sounds you are making and try to learn what "in tune" sounds like. Try singing the notes as well. Tuning by ear is much faster once
you develop the skill. Relying too much on a tuner is very slow and will likely never really sound totally in tune (tuners are flawed in various
ways).
• even if using a tuner, the best way to get the pair of strings in tune with each other is to tune one string (to the tuner if using one) and then
tune the second string to the first by playing them together (i.e., at the same time). As the strings get close to being in tune, they don't
sound 'out of tune' exactly but you can hear the 'beating' between them. You are trying to eliminate the beats.
• one cause of going out of tune is that the string is binding somewhere in the nut or pegbox. To minimize this, I've found it helps to always tune
the string to pitch by tuning up. Tune down first then tune up to pitch. It sometimes helps to pull gently on the string to get any
slack out that may be caught in the nut/pegbox.
As a beginner, you might focus on just getting 3 or 4 courses in tune sometimes if you find tuning is taking up too much of your practice time.
Typically, the four highest courses are where you play the vast majority of the music.
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