There is an Arabic instrument called an OUD. It is a string instrument. Mostly men play. There are a few women in the world that play. We went to an Oud Shop the other day with Charlie. We met Khalid. He was very quiet and probably thought we were full of it....
I encouraged the girls to ask him questions. Charlie is quiet and shy but she asked! Good questions too!
Here is Khalid playing his Oud. See how fast his left hand is going?
The girls were really fascinated. Very excited.
$400 later, Amu has her own. This was last Tuesday. She can do all the homework he gave her! Tomorrow, Saturday, Charlie and Amal start their classes! I get to sit with them. I think I will work on my hexagon quilt! Like START putting them together!
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2 comments:
what a gorgeous instrument. is it similar in learning the guitar? my daughter plays the guitar. i love your header. is that a henna tattoo on your feet? beautiful!!
Hi Susan, I'm Alia's daughter, Amal. It IS beautiful isn't it? :) The oud is similar to guitar in some respects, but in others it isn't. For example, in both guitar and oud, you have notes, picks and strings. However, the oud not only has whole tones and half tones, it also has quarter tones, which is not something you easily come across in western instruments. The pick that oud players use is also the length of your hand or longer and is held very differently than a guitar pick. Also, instead of 6 strings on a regular guitar, the oud can have 11 strings, so 5 double strings and one single, or 12 strings, so 6 double. The tuning is also different. Of course, all these differences and details make it much more complicated than in guitar. I've been playing guitar for about 4 months, and in my opinion, the basic knowledge gathered from guitar is helpful when learning oud. Hope that helps! :)
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