Good morning and good health to everyone,
I play the lafta, the trichordo and the guitar, and I would like to explore the oud in the near future.
Given that I currently have no experience with the oud, but buying the instrument would come before taking it up and having the corresponding lessons, the question that has been troubling me is this:
If we take it as a given that most of the repertoire I have learnt (and practised with other people who sing or play other instruments) is primarily in D, secondarily in A, and much more rarely in other keys (e.g. E or G), and I would like to be able to perform it on the oud as well, which tuning would be the most natural for the oud?
From what I have been able to find online, the options that seem — to my inexperienced eyes — to be good candidates are (from bass to treble):
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Turkish: D-A-B-E-a-d or D-G-B-E-a-d, where I assume the choice of A or G on the 5th course could be made depending on the maqam being performed. Here we find both A and D as open notes on the treble courses, which I assume means that it would be convenient for the melodies to move around the first two courses and, consequently, that they would be higher-pitched. Correspondingly, the presence of D and G/A in the bass would make accompaniment an easy matter.
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Arabic: D-G-A-D-g-c — here we have open A and D on the middle courses, which I assume means that in many cases they would be the starting point for the melody and, consequently, that the sound would not be as high-pitched as with the Turkish tuning. The presence of D, G and A in the low register presumably means that accompaniment would be easy, since all three are available as open notes.
On a practical level, which type of instrument and tuning would someone choose in order to perform the aforementioned repertoire easily? Sonically, based on the small sample I have heard, I am drawn to the deeper sound of the Arabic oud, but I cannot know to what extent its tuning would make performing the repertoire awkward. Of course, if the assumptions I am making are wrong, I would very much like to learn where my reasoning is mistaken.
Thank you in advance!
I don’t play the oud and I’m not sure whether I should reply, but let me share a few thoughts. The Turkish tunings you mention differ from the “standard” one, but I imagine you already know that.
As for the Arabic one, I haven’t a clue, but I don’t think we’ll find many recordings of Arabic instruments playing Greek-language music.
My impression, though, is that the Arabic and Ottoman schools were closer to each other in the past than they are today. In other words, if you listen to Melkon or Batzano, their picking is much more percussive and their use of the frets more expressive than is common today.
The oud is a more recent addition to Ottoman (and consequently Greek) music, and one of its advantages is its flexibility when it comes to transposition. If you devote yourself to it, you’ll need to be able to play pieces in at least four tonal centres, and more besides.
The main issue isn’t the type of construction or the convenient tonal centres, but how deeply you want to delve into modality. The lavta will already have set you on a path. Perhaps you should take it a little further in a more organised way, with some theory, before adding an oud? I’m asking because you’re putting buying one before taking lessons. I suffer from the same illness myself: the house is full of instruments, but that’s also distracting.
Thank you for your reply and for sharing your thoughts.
I understand what you’re saying — indeed, I didn’t clarify that in this particular case I’ve already been taking lavta lessons for over four years, and I would say that both my theoretical knowledge and practical skills are at a good level. My decision to move towards the oud is a conscious one, not a rash one. If I draw an analogy with the lavta, where all four tunings (Bolahenk, Supürde, Kız and Mansur) are ones I’ve tried, but, for example, Uşşak is much more convenient and natural on the instrument when played from Supürde (D) or Mansur (A), or, for example, Rast from Bolahenk (D), the question is: which tuning — and, by extension, which oud style — corresponds to this on the oud, mainly so that I can play the repertoire we’ve already worked on in the same keys.
It’s been a little while since half the strings on my oud had worn out, and I tuned my oud like a laouto (A–D–A–D), as I had read on Wikipedia. I simply had to stretch my fingers quite far to play a scale or a maqam; apart from that, it’s easy to play. If you tuned the first strings like a Politiko laouto, it would suit you better. With this tuning, it’s easy to play chords. I hope this helps.