Sumbelina
Oud Admirer
Posts: 1
Registered: 5-1-2012
Member Is Offline
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Newbie Question
Hi everyone, great forum, I glanced through the FAQs section, and I see that theres a lot of helpful info-
But I just wanted some general advice. I don't know how to read music, I've never played an instrument ( I was in choir when I was young so I know
that I DID know how to read music)-
And I have an Oud that I bought from Egypt like 8 years ago, that I always wanted to play, but never really got the chance to.
SO NOW, I would like to.
I wanted to know, how should I go about doing so? Should I first order a book on reading music? Should I get some material on playing a
guitar? Or can I start off with the Oud?
Also, I've attached some pictures because I'm not quite sure if I need some repair work done on this guy. I think there are some strings missing? Can
I go get them strung at a guitar place? Theres also a crack in the base, but I was thinking about going at with some wood glue.
Gracias/Shukran/Thanks for your help.
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fernandraynaud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1865
Registered: 7-25-2009
Location: San Francisco, California
Member Is Offline
Mood: m'Oudy
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Welcome! It is impossible to form an opinion on the state of your oud without more, and more detailed, photos. Your oud might need work, if you show
us more photos we might have some suggestions. I would leave that crack alone for now, until you know a lot more about ouds.
It is not unheard of to string an oud with 5 courses this way, but if the oud has the customary 12 pegs, you should string it with the more
contemporary 6 courses, 3 being doubled plain nylon, 2 being doubled wound strings, and the bass being a single wound string as you have now. You can
get an inexpensive set of strings from Bill Ostrie, the Daniel Mari Arabic set costs about $10 and is a good set. That's for openers.
Your broader question is best answered with a question: what music do you want to play? Middle Eastern music is based on different scales and concepts
than Western music, and if you are interested in that realm you can look on YouTube and you will find tons of examples to listen to and explore. A
good search term is "oud taqsim". A fantastic learning tool is OudProf's computer DVD called Learn Maqamat on Oud. It would be ideal to find a local teacher to get you started.
I'm afraid that if you want to play Western music on the oud, you will find that very few teachers know this instrument. In that case you have a tough
road ahead, first learning basics of harmony and melody, and applying them on the oud. Starting with Middle Eastern music might be the best approach
in your case. You can always apply what you learn to other types of music.
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