How To Tune A Turkish Oud
About A Turkish Oud
Turkish Oud, a fretless instrument, is in the category of stringed and plectrum instruments. Turkish oud has a 3 octave sound range and used as 11 or 12 strings. There are 6 groups of wires in the wire grouping and the top bam wire is used in single cases 11, 12 pairs when used in pairs. The bam wire at the top is tuned to the thick "la" sound called "kaba dügah" in Turkish Music.
The body of Turkish oud has a half pear-like structure.Trees such as mahogany and hornbeam which are hard woods are preferred for the body part of turkish oud.
There is no definite date, nation or period name for the invention of the turkish oud. Known about; It is a stringed instrument used since ancient times. The Turkish oud passed to Europe after the Muslim Arabs conquered Spain in 711.It has a wide usage history between Asian and European cultures.The fact that the Turkish oud has a wide range of sound has enabled the playing of different kinds of music and thus it has spread to different geographies and turned into an instrument of ’civilizations’.
Tuning of Turkish Oud
There are 2 main tuning that are suiting the vibrating length of the turkish oud. The most popular is this one, which is comfortable for most of the Maqam.
D G B E A D
When playing Makam Hicaz the Turkish oud is often tuned as follow, this tuning lets the player use his pinky to play the Hicaz note easier.
D F# B E A D
These are the basic oud tunings. Many times, the tune of the musical instrument can change accordingly to the desires of the artist and the style of the song. This means that many oud players tune differently, some of them tune high and others tune low. Armenians and Greeks have also adopted use of the Turkish oud tunings. Don't forget the Turkish oud tuning takes labor.
In this video we explain How to tune a Turkish Oud.
The most popular tuning is Re - La - Mi - Si - Fa# - Do#
In this Video we explain this tuning. But you can use other tunings also.
Here other tunings ;
Re - La - Mi - Si - Fa# - Do#
Re - La - Mi - Si - La - Mi
Re - La - Mi - Si - Fa# - Si
Re - La - Mi - Si - La - Re
Re - La - Mi - Si - Sol - Re
Which video must be next ?
Hi Kenneth,
Yes, it is possible to do F F tuning on a Turkish oud, if you replace strings with F F strings you can use F F tuning
Please check this string set: https://salamuzik.com/products/special-strings-for-arabic-f-f-oud-deep-f
Thank you
Veysel
@Walt Poor: You can use some chalk. Just put a little bit on the spot, where the peg touches the wood, turning in the peghole. This will prevent it from sliding to much. Start with a little bit and use more if needed. If it gets stuck too hard, you can rub the chalk off with a soft towel and use some candlewax instead. The wax will make it slide better. Depending on thime of the year, roomtemperature and humidity levels in your home you will need more or less of one or the other. I hope this works for you :-)
Is it possible to do Fa to fa tuning on a Turkish Oud?
I eould like to get a fill range of these oud video lessons dpoken in Turkish with English subtitles please. I have just started to teach myself Oud snd know some Turidh lNguage. I need to study the videos slowly o er and again
My son has an oud. In principle he knows how to tune it, similar to tuning his other string instruments. However, the pegs won’t stay put in their sockets (if that is what they are called). :Very soon after he tunes a string, the peg turns, and the string goes flat. Solution?
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