The Mesmerising sound of the OUD (Ancestor of guitar!)
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- Опубліковано 20 гру 2024
- The tale of the Arabic Oud, the predecessor of the guitar.
Many thanks to: @artofguitar. and the whole team, @kamalmusallam and Beshir Dridi for everything.
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Hi, my name is Paul Davids! I am a guitar player, teacher, producer, and overall music enthusiast from the Netherlands! I try to inspire people from all over the world with my videos, here on UA-cam.
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Anyone else notice how clearly and simply Kamal was able to teach those Arabic concepts and relate them to Western music? Phenomenal teacher and crazy command of music theory.
Just when I was finally beginning to figure out modes, Paul has to go and drop this video!
Thank you so much for such very kind words...but one never stops learning, discovering and passing on the knowledge!
I really enjoyed that part as well. There's more to music than what we know in the west. I'd like to know more about this as well as the similar aspects of Indian Ragas so I can compare/contrast to Western scales.
Anyway, I play flamenco and there is a huge amount of tonality and respect that comes from the great and fantastic Oud! I need to buy one soon for myself.
De arabic dirty major 😂
He is not a very good Oud player Honestly …
My Dad passed away yesterday morning, and I just wanted to say that we watched your videos in the hospital every day the last few weeks. Thankyou Paul, you are an amazing content creater and guitarist.
Sorry for your loss
My condolences, stay strong brother.
Sorry for your loss bro ; I had the same situation as you have now , I'm sure everything will get better ; stay strong buddy...
May Allah have mercy on his soul and strengthen your heart to endure the pain and longing of parting and unite you with him in paradise. Remember this life is temporary and short, and I just realised I don't cherish my parents enough and time is fleeting. My heart goes out to you 🙏
You did wonderfully as a son sharing such beautiful sounds and special moments together with him before his transition.
Wow Paul you've outdone yourself. Having Middle Eastern heritage I was always aware of the role the Oud played in the development of the modern guitar. Very happy you are reintroducing this to a Western audience.
I’m Lebanese and grew up hearing the Oud all the time, loved this video so much!!!
Palestinian here. I have an oud that I brought home from my last trip there. I learned more in that video than the four previous years of owning the instrument.
Do a search for this group: 3MA - you will hear such beauty
West asia
The fact that the oud is not tuned right pisses me off
The duet at the end made me so happy! It's such a treat to see people make music together.
Here is a link to the original song
ua-cam.com/video/U36XXexk8No/v-deo.html
This is awesome! I am a guitarist from Holland and I am learning to play the Oud for 6 months now. Unlocking microtonal Maqams is just magical. I am working on Maqam Rast, it's like stepping onto another planet! The eastern musical tradition is just so rich! there is so much to discover for me as a musician from a western country! Thank's for sharing!
wait until u dive in Maqam SABA u will hear real sadness . Listen to iraqi school of maqam . and Rast is a beautiful and difficult maqam to deal with . setting the mode with this Maqam need a master and hours of hearing .
Reach me bro if you need any notes or else.. whatever .. I also play oud and my teacher was the head oud player at Turkish Presidential Classic Music Orchestra. I would be happy to help on your journey.
Turkish and Arabic tunings are quite different btw.. we play a little softer and don't use so much tremolo.
Every time I play Rast I picture a gentleman wearing a suit with a tie, such a powerful and strong Maqam, no wonder most of national songs for Arabic countries is on this beautiful Maqam.
@@mk_905 do you have some good references to Ud books? I'd like to play ud aswell.
It’s wild how something so simple as a half flat can totally give such a unique identity to the sound.
😮
Lebanese-American guitar player here, thanks for this beautiful video on the Oud, Paul.
What a phenomenal teacher in Kamal, too!
Holy shit 😂 Kamal was my guitar teacher 17 years ago! So happy to see him here on this channel!
Is he Syrian? Cause I feel like I know him too!
I'm Jordanian by the way! 😊
@@kamalmusallamHi Kamal!! ❤
@@rockstarali99 hey Rock star
@@kamalmusallam ayy same! Nice to see some jordanian talents!
I've never seen such a great description of the unique characteristics of the oud. The contrast with the guitar and Western scales was fascinating.
I'm tunisian and when I was young I picked a guitar as my instrument. one of my friends has Oud and we used to play duets together. this reminds of that moment. thanks ! Now I'm thinking of getting Oud and finding again that joy of learning a new instrument
sa7a youssef xD
Seeing Paul even mildly uncomfortable with an instrument is so alien
Wait till he tries a saxaboom 😂
@@bicuspidmarsI’ve been waiting for that video. He should try to get Jack Black to collaborate.
honestly makes me feel a little better about my own not-playing-so-well
i think it's not the instrument. it is more the uncommon inbetween notes, which sound alien to westerners. ;)
@@pandadayi
Exactly, when it comes to Arabic music there is so much to digest before you can play it as a westerner musician, it takes a while to develope a taste for quarter tones and Arabic Maqams.
Nothing more metal than The Oud.
Heavy metal 🥲
HAHAHA that's so true
Makam, what an amazing concept. It's like a parallel world. So rich.
fun fact it was used in islamic prayer too to gave the recitation more emotion and meaning, it used the maqam (scale) trough singing like recitation
The word "Maqam" is truely loaded with meanings, not only in music, but also in spirituality and Sufism, a.k.a Islamic mysticism.
@@basicthingsbutrareansweredthat’s super cool, thanks for the info! Love to you my friend🙏
Hearing the singer with the instrument fit perfectly together at the end was incredible.
Absolutely beautiful.
Here is the simplest way to think about arabic modal music :
Like in western music you have
1- Major tonality
2- minor tonality
Then you add a third (special) tonality which is in between:
3- quarter tonality
Next, you have all the secondary modes within. In Arabic music there are almost all western modes. Plus :
1st mode Rast, the third and seventh are the quarter notes
2nd mode bayaty, second and sixth quarters
3rd sica, first and fifth quartes..
Ect (almost)
Then, inside each of those modes you have the sub-modes which are all the possible alterations used in the genre.
To conclude, it is exactly like jazz music, every single scale /mode mentioned has its own vocabulary and phrases, Arabic music is soooo rich.
Plus, there is themes, songs, standards and improvisation.
There you have it.
except its Kurdish music adapted by Arabs so its technically not Arabic. Maqam, Rast, Kurdi ... etc are Kurdish words.
This is a Persian music/instrument. arabs have NEVER had art. Whatever you know as islamic/arabic art, from architecture to music to even script/alphabet all have been invented by the mighty Persians, ALL.
@@bobakbobak2588 everything claimed by persians is actually Kurdish.
@@mj24881 literally the other way around and the same thing applies the turks and arabs. The whole world knows how Great the PERSIANS are.
This was incredible! As a metalhead with lots of phrygian in my daily fix, I can't begin to state how much I love this kind of traditional music. Thanks to everyone for keeping it so alive!
this is probably one of my favourite videos on your channel man, keep on walking your path and sharing everything music related for those of us unable to have access to these pearls of knowledge otherwise.
When this came across this in my feed, I was so excited. I found an oud several years ago in a western frontier town style market, in a merchant's back room. I paid what he bought it for plus sales tax, 110 USD. I later discovered that it was made. in Basra, Iraq. It must have had an interesting journey to make it to small town Oklahoma, USA from Iraq.
What a beautiful episode. A friend of mine is Lebanese. One night, a family friend was playing the Oud. If I remember correctly, as it was a long time ago, he said the Oud, or al Oud, is where Europeans get the word lute. The men playing and the woman singing in this video were truly amazing.
I've tried studying Arabic music for 5 years and haven't been able to understand any Maqam yet, until I saw this video ❤❤❤
Thank you for showing the world about our beautiful music, I'm an arabic guitar player from Syria and we also play Oud alot around here
The real star of this video is the Oud player Kamal Musallam who explained this music so clearly and knew how to explain this to western musicians.
Thanks! I'm so glad it was useful 🙏
Thank you for the appreciation and love you're showing towards the instrument and the very different sounds of Mideast!
Very informative even for someone who kinda plays the oud.
Moroccan guitarist here, thank your for showing world how wonderful is the oud, i invite to check the guembri instrument and gnawa music and it influences with blues, it might interest you ! also i love your content, the way you share your experience makes me feel like im living in it.
Same here.
I think both Guembri (or Hajhouj) and Kora would make for great episodes laying down the foundation of blues and jazz.
I would love to see that!
ha wa7d l guitarist akhur , yallah rd lbal lhad l video lwa3r dyal paul wakha tfrjt l videos dyalo kamlin mry chftu
Lmgharba hajmin 3la kolchi, tahiyati drari le3ta9
Zidni m3ak, paul needs to drop the guembri video soon
Nice one. Two small tibdits of information: one is that to middle eastern and balkan ears those don't sound exotic but "home". The second is that they convey a mood, the same way hearing like a blues wailing guitar (think of BB King solo) you get into a certain mood.
i noticed how their facial expression changes immediately when they start to play oud and also it changes from maqam to maqam, as if they were intering an another planet, so amazing and richful experience
space is fake, there are no other "Plane-ettes."
As someone of Arabic heritage I really appreciated this. Thank you!
The first song at 2:33 el bent el shalabia it is a classic song for Lebanese artists a singer called fairuz
Thanks for the info, mate! 🫶 Beautiful song. I recognised the song as well but I only knew the Turkish cover version of it which is called "Böyle gelmiş böyle geçer dünya"
I just LOVE the Oud... If you haven't, listen to some music by Anouar Brahem. ❤
Travelled to Morocco a few years ago, stayed for almost three months. In one of the cities I went there was a traditional restaurant where almost every night an old musician would come and play on the terrace... I was going there to listen to him more than for the (excellent) food. It was magical. 🙂
Thank you for sharing and introducing the Oud and the arabic music to us.
was this in Fez ?
@@chahinekasmi2980 I think so, yes. 🙂
Not totally sure though. My memory isn't THAT good anymore, and I travelled all around the place all the time. But I'd say yes, Fez. 🙂
The restaurant was upstairs, with a large terrace.
Anouar Brahem--- my most played artist these days.
Thanks Paul for your open mindset and eagerness to still be a student. (talib طَالِب in Arabic). You've edited the video nicely with the name of the scales written in Arabic. You inspire me a lot in my Middle Eastern journey with playing the Oud and learning Arabic.
That was the best seventeen minutes I have spent in a long time. Thanks, Paul
i am a guitarist from Tunisia and my dad also plays oud and he was so happy by watching this video with me
You know I m tunisian😊
love the electric guitar at the end. getting those half-flats and half-sharps with just slight but very precise bends is amazing.
Also blues music has it
There's so much magic in the sound of the Oud. It's so easy to drift off into a dream state with this sound.
Hmm
Hmm
I fell in love with the Oud while living in Saudi Arabia for a few years. When you take that sound and add it to the desert geography, date palm trees, camels, wind, oriental carpets, etc it's a perfect match. the oud produces a beautiful, haunting type of music great for deep thinking, dreaming, etc.
Thank you to the Rich Arab World and Culture for so many breakthroughs, inventions, influences, gifts passed to other cultures. I am writing now a poem about many of the words from Arabic origin we have in Spanish, which are over 4.000.
Thank you from Arabia
Even the name and the meaning of this legendry instrument is beautiful!
It's the greatest musical instrument! Oud is our heart!
Thanks to Kamal
Omar from Saudi Arabia.
Wow the maqams on guitar are my new obsession
How do you do it though, quarter bends? 🤔
Ehhhh it's ronquillo
@@vic1ous511 they have to be constructed with quarter tone frets
Check out Fernando Perez- world music guitars for that.
Have been playing guitar for 26 years and wanting to get into Arabic music for a while, this was a great lesson with lots of well-explained crucial concepts
The blend of Middle Eastern melodies and classic western styles has also produced some awesome music.
I've always loved the harmonic minor sound. The Oud is just able to take that a step farther, to a whole different level of awesome.
This is awesome. Love learning about these Arabic modes… so cool. - Also, Phrygian Dom is my fav. So glad it’s so popular among Arabian people. Hijaz!
After been playing guitar for 50 years and still trying to get better, I think I'm finally at a point where I can appreciate this different approach to a stringed instrument. I love the description of "moods" instead of scales. Excellent video!
I just found this channel and i can say is gold. I didn't know about this instrument, but i feel motivated to learn about Arabic music. Thanks for this!
I don't play the guitar (I'm a singer at heart!) but I've been enjoying this channel (breaking down the riffs from classic rock is always amazing). I've always loved the sound of the oud and LOVE this exploration. Thank you!
Yesss! I've been waiting so long for a video about the oud!
І would really love to see more arabic music related videos. Arabic music is so different and special
Oud is such a big culture instrument in my country (Syria) that I personally have never understood even tho I play classical, acoustic, and electric guitar for over than 14 years. I even sat with friends and they tried to explain what Makam is but I was never able to understand the note between both notes xD. You just made me understand what Oud in such a simple way thanks to your creativity and HUGE thanks to the teacher for his way of explaining the Oud. You are truly amazing Paul, THANK YOU!
Fantastic to see how music brings people of different cultures together. If just the world could be more like this. Understanding, curiosity and compassion!
3:26 I just remembered that I haven’t picked up my oud in a while. I’m pausing here and play it a bit.
the arabic oud and the greek bozouki are some of the coolest stringed instrument sounds imo, they really sound beautiful and have such rich culture behind them, love it!
Bozouki probably more complex
The site of origin of the oud seems to be Central Asia. The ancestor of the oud, the barbat was in use in PRE ISLAMIC PERSIA.
Since the Safavid period, its name shifted from barbat to oud which was taken up by Arab world.
I'm not sure but i don't think the origin of the oud is arabic.
Sad that Islam bans musical instruments
@@AERYS. No actually, Islam doesn't allow certain things about the content of songs that is should not be against the morals and teaching of islam, containing violence, encouraging for doing bad stuff. Cheers
Generaly people think of just one or two scales as teh Arabic scale. Having learnt Indian classical music, I know these scales but i know them with their Indian names and playing styles. Learning the Arabic names and getting a slight view of their playing style, is so cool. Dont know how 17 mins passed. With this vid, you took us to a new maqaam of learning ... Beautiful :) and the Oud is Sultan as well.
The oud originates from
Pre islanic PERSIA where
it was called the
Babat.
The Arabs adopted it when
its name changed to Oud.
Regardless of the topic Paul David’s videos always throw me back into playing guitar. He also taught me almost everything I know. Thank you Paul!
The thing I find really interesting about the concept of modulation is that it’s really present in turkey and the arabic world. In other places in the middle east like in Iran, the pieces rarelly modulates and like and it’s more common to just stay in one mode and to explore all the possibilities that that one mode can offer.
An other thing I want to touch on is that the concept of « quarter tones » (first of all isn’t really an appropriate term because these pitches aren’t exactlly in between two western half steps), is that depending on the region you’re in, the pitch of these notes will change. For instance : in Turkey, these pitches can become pretty sharper than the rest of the middle east. Also, I’ve been told by an oudist friend of mine that generally, these notes played by levantine musicians (the levant consists of countries like Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, etc), will be pretty flatter than the rest of the region (I’ve been told that in Iran, these pitches are pretty flatter as well). But it can also depends on the taste of the player or the context in which thses certain notes are played in : depending on if you’re playing an ascending line of a maqam, or depending on a certain maqam you’re playing, the pitch of thses notes will vary.
What an insane piece of audiovisual production Paul. This is insane.
I'm always attracted to the middle eastern sound in modern rock & metal music. It gives a unique, mystical vibe
Having fallen in love with the oud ever since I first heard one in a Loreena McKennitt song, this was a joy to watch
What you did Mr.Paul showing how much Great musician and teacher you are ... No one had recovered this information abou OUD to western culture. You are a unique musician ❤
Love this topic, I’m Lebanese but I play a bit of guitar, never had the chance to play oud, yet kamal made it look so easy. Maqamat they way explained it are modes. The modes you play on a guitar only on the oud the sound and flavor is different due to the oud’s body design and type of wood used.
My grandfather was Lebanese. 2 years ago I boughtt an Oud. Still have so much to learn but everytime I play it I'm transported to another world
You brought tears of joy to my heart, I could feel your respect and appreciation to the music that I grew up listening to, thank you so deeply for this wholesome video!
Beautiful instrument.
I borrowed once from my teacher in Greece and I was able to play it in an empty basketball stadium!!
I highly recommend it to everyone...
It's godlike!!!
Paul, thank you for bringing us along. That was awesome 🙏🏼
as a player for both instruments Oud and Guitar I can relate to how much music can be different from the Eastern world to the Western world and that just shows us how grat and Huge music really is .
It was a great experiment to have as a musician Paul !!
The maqam played by Mahmoud, at around 16:00 using the electric guitar is the big deal of the video 😍.
wish i could find him on apple music
Awesome! One of the best tutors and service agents at the Art of Guitar gallery in Dubai ❤
I once had the chance to play an oud during a school guitar lesson and It has to be one of the coolest instruments I've tried. I found it very difficult to play of course but it had such a particular feel and sound that left a real impression on me
An amazing video Paul! It was a good idea to broaden your musical background with Arabic maqams that each of them gives a certain mood or feeling. Try to do more videos with Oud players!
This was awesome…those microtones where out of the world and out of our western sounds, so mesmerizing thank you all’ of the musicians here and the kind arabic lesson.
My favorite Maqams are Bayyati, Saba and Kurd!! Even the children cry in Maqam when they cry. Maqams are different moods, similar to genres in movies, used to create and set a musical or sound scene. They are not only used to express individual emotions but also to enable recipients to release their own emotions. It’s simply magical. I’m so happy to have inherited 7 different Maqams from my heritage. By comparison: Western Music has 1-2 Maqams -> Ajami and sometimes Kurd.
Defining oud and Arabic maqams from scratch is really interesting. Paul is so enthusiastic 🤩. I really liked it although I’m an Arab who listens to oud 24/7. ♥️
IVE WANTED A VID ON OUD FOR SO LONG!! thank Paul
Fascinating!
Thank you, Paul (and everyone else involved in the making of this video)! 🙏🏻🤍
bro why is this so uncommon in the western area, I love this
@4:49 instantly changed everything for me. i see my weaknesses and strengths within a style, and thats the only way i could explain it before. now i have a term for it, Maqam. It will be so much easier to explain to studio musicians what im feeling......... instead of what im thinking.
thank you for sharing.
It was nice seeing you in Dubai, even nicer to know you had this filmed during your visit. Thank you for sharing a bit of our culture ❤
"Maqams" are just Arabic modes/scales. The "state of mind" speech applies to all scales and modes. Examples like 5:26 is very common when using modes. The concept at 8:53 should be easy to comprehend if considered from a vocalists perspective, rather than notes on a piano, for example.
Paul Davids Explores Strings & Theory of the World. I do hope this becomes a regular feature.
Privileged to mix sound for Kamal Musallam and his huge band at the WOMAD festival some years back. Great that you also got to spend time with him!
Trevor...wow, 15 years ago! I’m so glad you caught this video...🙏🏼
watching this made me really happy that people still be happy while looking at the precious history and it was very much informative too, thanks Paul.
Ive been addicted to the sound of the oud for awhile now, especially the artist Anouar Brahem
This is a completely different universe of music. So much to explore here. Paul, thanks for this video, as well as for every other piece of content that you do
For those interested in achieving microtonal voicings in a typical guitar, you can try taping a metallic piece (similar to the frets) in-between some of the the frets and that way you can get these microtones. A good option could be a piece of a paper-clip. Obviously, these metallic pieces must be same height as the frets. Its just an experimental method and works great for reincarnating middle eastern sounds, without needing to modify anything in your guitar.
*Its not perfect tho, you cant get the full sound (since the oud is a fretless organ). But then again, there are fret based organs in middle eastern music too.
You can also remove all the frets of a guitar you dont use, fill the slots and make it fretless (just like Paul did in a past video).
Great vid. Paul!
Paul, I’m so happy you did this!!
Thanks for this great video! I had the pleasure to play with Issa Fayad at some point in 2017, a Oud master from Syria living in Germany at the time. I was a rather simple guitar player myself and his playing was just phenomenal. I tried to play it myself, but it really needs a lot of practice and effort to get just mildly comfortable :D.
Awesome! Thank you for this short insight into the arabic world of music.🙏
I think they have very interesting concepts and especially the oud has a very mesmerizing sound.
It's almost as if I'm in trance whenever I hear one play. Just can't break loose of it. ❤
I'd appreciate more videos about the oud or arabic guitar play in general. Mahmoud's playing style was absolutley inspiring! 🔥
Fascinating… there is so much music in the world that should be lifted and celebrated, regardless of cultural differences. This was awesome, thank you!
Thank you for this, I am North African Jewish and I grew up listening to a lot of music with the beautiful oud... Thanks for bringing it into western attention
I was wishing for this video to go on for another 4 hours man 😅 so much beauty in oud once your ear gets used to it, it gives you a feeling that no other instrument ever could ❤
those dirty tones are more of quarter tones , these are pretty common in oriental instruments, especially Oud and Quanun , which might interest you too
I consider it the ancestor of the piano
I've always wanted an Oud. My wife is Algerian and I've come to just love the sound of this instrument
One of your best shows. Great guests and appreciate how you told the whole story!
Thank you for this beautiful documentary! ❤️
i could watch and rewatch this video... amazing work david!
I love this . This is like understanding vocal and wind instruments that aren't keyed. Just like a violin,viola, cello, bass,no frets , it's only the hard set 440 frequency for the writing and "scaling" because music is sound and vibration among an unfixed numeric set of frequencies. 1.00001hz, 1.0002hz, 1.0003 etc...the not actually FIXED point makes so much eastern music peaceful. Yes certain "notes" sound better together , but there isn't exactly any fixed rule when you truly get to it.
16:15 Crazy-fast trills.
I'm a very basic guitar playing, metal listening guy from the cold north. Today I ordered an Oud for myself because I've always had an interest in the arabic scales and how the traditional music sounds.
You should definitely listen to the oud,kanun and klarnet trio. They do this very successfully in Turkish music.
the collab between Taksim Trio and Dhafer Youssef is a really really good example of that
Turks and Tunisians have a lot in common especially when it comes to music, mix them together and you'll have one hell of a masterpiece
Great introduction to the world of Oud, it is a wonderful sound. My college thesis way back when, was on the development & history of the guitar. The Oud is the root, (apart form maybe single of few string gourd type bush instruments with no name & ignoring the Kora of course!). From Oud we got the renaissance Lute, La Oud (Al Oud?) & that construction wise mutated into Cittern & eventually Guitar. That's all I can recall of it!
As a Palestinian American musician, I was so happy to see this video. Well done Paul.
Music is a great example of how interesting is to keep alive as much cultures as possible.
IVE BEEN INTO THE OUD FOR LIKE TEN YEARS LETS GOOOOOO
Just what a good learning in the month of Ramadhan, Paul - thanks!