A little background

Wagwan

Alright. Okay. I think I’m finally ready to actually start writing. Let’s. Make. Magic.

Welcome to my digital stream of consciousness (and good luck).

What’s going on exactly? Well, more than anything, this will be a platform to record my thoughts and progress around my oud-playing journey. A space where I can record and upload videos of myself reciting pieces set by my teachers, set myself goals and challenges and generally try to improve as an oud player and as a musician.

Side note - it’s also a niffty excuse to try out some web technologies I’ve been curious to learn more about ;)

A little background

I’m not going to spend too much time writing about what would undoubtedly be an uninteresting tale that led to my picking up the oud.
… It would include an origins story where a little boy wakes up to sounds of Oum Kalthoum and Abdel Halim Hafez, where he would watch old Egyptian movies with his father and listen to tales of grand Arabic musicians…
Fast. Fucking. Forward.

So, roughly 4 years ago I had decided that I wanted to learn to play the Oud. I had some experience playing guitar and thought that picking up the oud would be a straightforward transition. Anywho, as luck would have it, Bubz (my dad) and I were scheduled to be in Egypt soon. I used this as an opportunity to do some research, source an oud from a reputable luthier and get shredding. Two of those three things came to be.

Whilst trawling the internet was informative, and finding an oud that fit my needs wasn’t too much hassle, shredding on the thing was just not happenin’. It quickly became apparent that playing the oud the way one would play a guitar was not that right approach to take. Everything from tuning to hand positioning and technique felt alien. Whilst I had plenty of practice holding chords shapes and running through scale patterns, I struggled to even find the right notes on an oud.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, the internet does not contain the same wealth of beginner tutorials and courses for oud as it does for guitar, so yeah, I quickly became discouraged with my lack of progress and as a result I’m ashamed to say that had led to the temporary banishment of my instrument. Sent away to a distant wardrobe somewhere to gather dust and become better acquainted with my obsolete DVD collection.
I always knew I would come back to the oud however, this was never meant to be a permanent sentence.

Wrap it up…

As the years passed it became increasingly difficult to ignore the ever-growing urge to return to the oud. I finally began to feel like I was in the right headspace to take music lessons more seriously, which is when I happened upon the kind and mystical folk at Taqasim Music School.
I signed up to their beginner Oud and Arabic music theory course and began my journey in earnest. With their tutelage I began to unlock the secrets of the oud and Middle Eastern music. I’ve learned an incredible amount in a short space of time and I’m infinitely excited to see where this path leads.

#WatchThisSpaceFriends #PatientsIsAdvised