Your playing is very impressive! Can you tell me where i can get Middle-Eastern-style backing tracks cause i really want to play like that. I would be very thankful if you can help me.
@L0nkero In all honesty, I haven't really come across any that weren't metal or rock, and not very middle eastern. Best thing to do would be to download some middle eastern songs and jam along with them, or perhaps if you read abit and have some software, create your own ones! Thanks for watching.
@Dreamfullofzen or best..you can get download an electric tanpura..set your own key there it also comes up with a backing tabla track. you can split the beat division according to your choince..playing ot singing with a tanpura is just too good..and nice work man..i have subscribed you already..respect for you all the way from pakistan!
@Dreamfullofzen@Dreamfullofzen or best..you can get download an electric tanpura..set your own key there it also comes up with a backing tabla track. you can split the beat division according to your choince..playing ot singing with a tanpura is just too good..and nice work man..i have subscribed you already..respect for you all the way from pakistan!
hey man this is pretty gnarly. i like to play middle eastern music as well. what tips can you give me to practice at this style of music to get better at it?
@kingramesses Hey man. Thanks. Best bet is to listen to allot of authentic middle eastern music, and listen to how they phrase man. I realized they focus more on rhythm then notes, since that is a strong part of their music. There's no real harmony, just melodic development based on certain rhythmic groupings and patterns. Check out Oud Players for phrasing ideas (rhythm wise, not pitch) and also check out books on middle eastern music (scott marcus has a good one out).
@Ghruul Same notes, but the tunning is actually very different in terms of intonation. I don't do it on the video obviously because on guitar you can't, but the minor second should be slightly sharper and the major third slightly flatter. And depending on region or country, that can actually be vice versa (also depends on other factors). Main thing is though is the tonic has to be D... Most of the modes here are done rooted from C,D, and G, and then the half flat notes (B and E half flat).
@Dreamfullofzen, so, regarding this scale, the minor second and major third are to be a tuned a little different, like for example the diminished fifth in the blues scale? what i dont quite understand is why you think you need D as the tonic for this specific scale cause the function or sound stays the same, no matter from what tonic you play that scale
@Ghruul It's not what i think Ghruul.. it's how modes are in Maqamat....
The scale should be D Hijaz... That's how it's played in these regions... If you were to play C Hijaz.. a majority of the instruments here would not be able to play that scale well (or at all because of their tunning).
And no thats nothing like the diminished fifth in the blues scale.
My advice would be to listen to some middle eastern music, and try and play the notes on guitar.. and you will hear the tunning difference
@Dreamfullofzen, ah, so it depends on the instrument, but theoretically it wouldnt matter. as i read once somewhere in a guitar magazine regarding blues scale, this scale originally comes from africa and has not exactly the diminished fifth in use but a tone slightly off (again, probably depending on common instruments there), sounds kinda similiar. what artists are there to listen to, because i mainly got to hear this scale in death metal, so i dont really know the origins^^
@Ghruul lol.. Theoretically it does matter.... You're not getting the idea. The intervals themselves are tunned differently.... As soon as you start moving things around.. it stops having the middle eastern quality to it. And in some cases, moving the scale to a different tonic changes the name of the scale (and the interval distances). Just check out some authentic middle eastern music and you're hopefully hear it.
@Dreamfullofzen, that means, if you have all strings tuned down to the exact same degree, you have a different sound and you won't play that one scale anymore? if you change the tonic but keep the same notes, you have a different scale, but if you have an other tonic with the same intervals you do keep the same scale, as much as i know
@Ghruul Who said anything about tunning the strings down.
You're not getting the idea Ghruul.......
The notes you're talking about are tuned to the way the western world tunes instruments like piano and guitar, so we can move scales around to different tonics. In the middle east, they're using Natural temperament for allot of the tunnings of the notes. Hence Moving the scale around would make a different scale because the intervals are not equal.
@Dreamfullofzen i took the example of tuning down the strings cause the way you wrote about it made it seem like your scales are note-related, not interval related.what i meant with theoretically ok was regarding the intervals like for example having a guitar with frets non-equally-tempered where you can start for example only at A to get that scale, but regarding the intervals, you could play it at any other tonic if you had the frets diferrently laid out, hope you understand it that way
@Ghruul I tuned the guitar done to facility playing over a drone, a common thing in the east.
You're not understanding the concept Ghruul. Scales played in the east, are done so based on tradition. These traditions are what make the scales the way they do... Their Tonics, Their interval scructures (major,minor,Medium,augmented) and their intonation.
I'm guessing you're not really interested in middle eastern music, just playing some eastern sounding scales.
@Dreamfullofzen, its not that im not interested, its just that im not accustomed to this kind of music. so far I've merely seen some western artists using dominant phrygian to make a middle-eastern sound, so i dont know much more about middle eastern music. you know any particular articles, songs or whatever i can look up to find out a little bit more?
@Dreamfullofzen yeah i agree, they are really interesting, ive been doing exactly that on my fretless and you can be more expressive than with the 12 western notes.
I'm loving this. I've been trying to find a way to apply the phrygian mode. Your fingering is wonderful. I am a funk bass player but I am in love with middle eastern expressions. If you don't mind I'd like to take that advice you gave CCGMASTER and work on phrygian arpeggios. Great work thougn man keep it coming.
I don't mind at all. One thing you should check out as a bassist is the Rhythms they use, lots of metric modulation and odd meters and whatnot. A friend of mine worth checking out is a lady called Raquy, she does alot of amazing middle eastern stuff which you'd dig.
Hi, Thanks for the kind encouraging words. Problem is middle eastern scales don't lend themselves well to faster lines per say due to the mix of small and wider intervals... they usually will have a minor 2nd, followed by a major third type sound (phrygian dominant for example). This results in some awkward fingerings and stretches. I plan on doing a vid on building lines on that in the next few weeks.
Thanks Again. Try making Phrygian dominant arpeggios for now.
Hi U.C, Neither did i. I was just curious to know which part you felt was frenchy, the note choice, the backing music, the overall sound, etc. I just meant elaborate more on what you felt was frenchy. :)
uh. So Instructive Dreamfullofzen. I am western, but i do LOVE exotic/eastern sounds. I am studying (by my own) Eastern music, like arabian, persian, Chinnesse and Jap because I want to make melodies with that "mood".
Hi errrzarrr. I mostly did the same and learnt that stuff on my own, but recently i came across a good book that might help you, it's called Guitar Atlas VOL.1, has information galore on these styles of music.
sorry, one more question: What type of progression are theses scales supposed to be used over. For example, Harmonic Minor has a middle eastern sound only when play the 5th degree of the key of the progression. So in the key of E you would use A Harmonic Minor. How does it work with with Persian and Arabic Scales?
Middle Eastern music has no harmony. Because of the use of quarter and micro tones, they cannot use chords. Usually they use drone notes (like indian music). Naturally you can use power chords, and usually the middle eastern sound is down to having a 2nd with a major 3rd interval... so if i was doing power chords in D, that would be D, Eb #. Try it out!
To be honest the drone notes are my favorite part. Something about the subtle changing in sound while keeping the root played consistently gets me somewhere. I was probably a sitar player in a past life.
Thanks for the kinds words. i have another vid where i go over the scales i use, which are naturally the Phrygian dominant (a.k.a Hijaz) scale, and the Persian scale, mixed with regular minor noodling...
Hijaz is a one of the middle eastern modes, and happens to have the same intervals as phrygian dominant, and the persian scale is also Middle eastern. Check out the other vid which shows the intervals of each scale.
Well i haven't done much middle eastern stuff in my music. M.E music doesn't have much harmony (if any) for most of the scales have micro tonal and quarter tones which don't fit over chords.
For things like Hijaz you can use a regular dominant 7th chord,for the persian scale, you can use a Major 7 b9 chord.
Check out the other video of where i show the scales over a droning D and a 5th interval.. this would be a more accurate way of getting a true middle eastern sound.
hey, what are some of the chords you use in your music? I really like the sound and am looking for some middle eastern/minor chords to use in my music.
@nmbr1metallico it's a guitar, but it's also an improvisation, so I don't have tabs for it. Thanks for watching
Dreamfullofzen 2 months ago
Holy crap! please give me the tabs to that. That is a guitar right?
nmbr1metallico 2 months ago
U great buddy...A big selamssss from Turkey brother
alkanmiami 3 months ago
Chinese with "Middle Eastern" music?
Maniaclaughter 4 months ago
@Maniaclaughter ???
Dreamfullofzen 4 months ago
Is it a Godin?
iAmirx 5 months ago
@iAmirx yep, early 2000 multiac concert model
Dreamfullofzen 4 months ago
amazing man!
Torqueofficial 6 months ago
@Torqueofficial Thanks!
Dreamfullofzen 5 months ago
is it just me or do middle eastern scales and spanish scales sound really similar
XgiantXrectumX 8 months ago
@XgiantXrectumX there's a reason for that, you should check out some history books, and you'll find your answer.
Dreamfullofzen 8 months ago 5
This is lovely~! If you had a CD I'd so buy it!
Yukihiro21 9 months ago
@Yukihiro21 lol, I have albums out on iTunes, just visit my website.
Dreamfullofzen 9 months ago
Your playing is very impressive! Can you tell me where i can get Middle-Eastern-style backing tracks cause i really want to play like that. I would be very thankful if you can help me.
L0nkero 1 year ago
@L0nkero In all honesty, I haven't really come across any that weren't metal or rock, and not very middle eastern. Best thing to do would be to download some middle eastern songs and jam along with them, or perhaps if you read abit and have some software, create your own ones! Thanks for watching.
Dreamfullofzen 1 year ago
@Dreamfullofzen or best..you can get download an electric tanpura..set your own key there it also comes up with a backing tabla track. you can split the beat division according to your choince..playing ot singing with a tanpura is just too good..and nice work man..i have subscribed you already..respect for you all the way from pakistan!
fawadrizvi 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@Dreamfullofzen @Dreamfullofzen or best..you can get download an electric tanpura..set your own key there it also comes up with a backing tabla track. you can split the beat division according to your choince..playing ot singing with a tanpura is just too good..and nice work man..i have subscribed you already..respect for you all the way from pakistan!
fawadrizvi 1 year ago
@1000years1day Thanks!
Dreamfullofzen 1 year ago
nice check ougt secret chiefs 3 and john zorn
hairlessdog101 1 year ago
hey man this is pretty gnarly. i like to play middle eastern music as well. what tips can you give me to practice at this style of music to get better at it?
kingramesses 1 year ago
@kingramesses Hey man. Thanks. Best bet is to listen to allot of authentic middle eastern music, and listen to how they phrase man. I realized they focus more on rhythm then notes, since that is a strong part of their music. There's no real harmony, just melodic development based on certain rhythmic groupings and patterns. Check out Oud Players for phrasing ideas (rhythm wise, not pitch) and also check out books on middle eastern music (scott marcus has a good one out).
Dreamfullofzen 1 year ago
btw are u influenced by jesse cook , cuz that track just reminded me of him
Shredster86 1 year ago
mystical , magical arabian sound. Hailz from dubai man , love those phrygian modes
Shredster86 1 year ago
@Shredster86 Thanks!
Dreamfullofzen 1 year ago
@Shredster86
arabian or middleeastern as a whole? you know turkey and iran are also part of the iddle east and theyve given much more to it than arabs have...
Sallar21 1 year ago
Sounds very Di Meola-ish.
xzylophone 1 year ago
@xzylophone Thanks, albet i imagine he would have played something far more interesting then i did.
Dreamfullofzen 1 year ago
I too am in love with this style and in tend to use it in my jazz guitar practice.... THANKS!!!!!
and the backin track, did you make it? if so, what program did you use?
livemusic15 2 years ago
Thanks. You're welcome.
Yes i made it, using Sony Acid Pro.
Dreamfullofzen 2 years ago
@Dreamfullofzen, is this the normal phrygian dominant scale or do you use any other in it? and if so, what notes do you use for it
Ghruul 1 year ago
@Ghruul Same notes, but the tunning is actually very different in terms of intonation. I don't do it on the video obviously because on guitar you can't, but the minor second should be slightly sharper and the major third slightly flatter. And depending on region or country, that can actually be vice versa (also depends on other factors). Main thing is though is the tonic has to be D... Most of the modes here are done rooted from C,D, and G, and then the half flat notes (B and E half flat).
Dreamfullofzen 1 year ago
@Dreamfullofzen, so, regarding this scale, the minor second and major third are to be a tuned a little different, like for example the diminished fifth in the blues scale? what i dont quite understand is why you think you need D as the tonic for this specific scale cause the function or sound stays the same, no matter from what tonic you play that scale
Ghruul 1 year ago
@Ghruul It's not what i think Ghruul.. it's how modes are in Maqamat....
The scale should be D Hijaz... That's how it's played in these regions... If you were to play C Hijaz.. a majority of the instruments here would not be able to play that scale well (or at all because of their tunning).
And no thats nothing like the diminished fifth in the blues scale.
My advice would be to listen to some middle eastern music, and try and play the notes on guitar.. and you will hear the tunning difference
Dreamfullofzen 1 year ago
@Dreamfullofzen, ah, so it depends on the instrument, but theoretically it wouldnt matter. as i read once somewhere in a guitar magazine regarding blues scale, this scale originally comes from africa and has not exactly the diminished fifth in use but a tone slightly off (again, probably depending on common instruments there), sounds kinda similiar. what artists are there to listen to, because i mainly got to hear this scale in death metal, so i dont really know the origins^^
Ghruul 1 year ago
@Ghruul lol.. Theoretically it does matter.... You're not getting the idea. The intervals themselves are tunned differently.... As soon as you start moving things around.. it stops having the middle eastern quality to it. And in some cases, moving the scale to a different tonic changes the name of the scale (and the interval distances). Just check out some authentic middle eastern music and you're hopefully hear it.
Dreamfullofzen 1 year ago
@Dreamfullofzen, that means, if you have all strings tuned down to the exact same degree, you have a different sound and you won't play that one scale anymore? if you change the tonic but keep the same notes, you have a different scale, but if you have an other tonic with the same intervals you do keep the same scale, as much as i know
Ghruul 1 year ago
@Ghruul Who said anything about tunning the strings down.
You're not getting the idea Ghruul.......
The notes you're talking about are tuned to the way the western world tunes instruments like piano and guitar, so we can move scales around to different tonics. In the middle east, they're using Natural temperament for allot of the tunnings of the notes. Hence Moving the scale around would make a different scale because the intervals are not equal.
Do some research & you'll start to get it.
Dreamfullofzen 1 year ago
@Dreamfullofzen i took the example of tuning down the strings cause the way you wrote about it made it seem like your scales are note-related, not interval related.what i meant with theoretically ok was regarding the intervals like for example having a guitar with frets non-equally-tempered where you can start for example only at A to get that scale, but regarding the intervals, you could play it at any other tonic if you had the frets diferrently laid out, hope you understand it that way
Ghruul 1 year ago
@Ghruul I tuned the guitar done to facility playing over a drone, a common thing in the east.
You're not understanding the concept Ghruul. Scales played in the east, are done so based on tradition. These traditions are what make the scales the way they do... Their Tonics, Their interval scructures (major,minor,Medium,augmented) and their intonation.
I'm guessing you're not really interested in middle eastern music, just playing some eastern sounding scales.
Dreamfullofzen 1 year ago
@Dreamfullofzen, its not that im not interested, its just that im not accustomed to this kind of music. so far I've merely seen some western artists using dominant phrygian to make a middle-eastern sound, so i dont know much more about middle eastern music. you know any particular articles, songs or whatever i can look up to find out a little bit more?
Ghruul 1 year ago
nice stuff bro ...this is the style im kinda looking froward to playing. Im Dominican but love this kind of sound
postillest204 2 years ago
Thanks. I look forward to seeing videos of that!
Dreamfullofzen 2 years ago
Seems like the Arabs were "rockin", long before the rest of us ever thought of such things??
glynnth 2 years ago
Well... It's the middle east, so not just the arabs, but turkish, persian, egyptian, armenian.... well, you get the idea....
The history behind the music is actually as interesting as the music itself.
Thanks for watching.
Dreamfullofzen 2 years ago
no problem. Also if you have a fretless, check out the maqams.
Dreamfullofzen 2 years ago
@Dreamfullofzen yeah i agree, they are really interesting, ive been doing exactly that on my fretless and you can be more expressive than with the 12 western notes.
johnklucy 1 year ago
I'm loving this. I've been trying to find a way to apply the phrygian mode. Your fingering is wonderful. I am a funk bass player but I am in love with middle eastern expressions. If you don't mind I'd like to take that advice you gave CCGMASTER and work on phrygian arpeggios. Great work thougn man keep it coming.
HeartofRhythm 3 years ago 3
Hey, Thanks.
I don't mind at all. One thing you should check out as a bassist is the Rhythms they use, lots of metric modulation and odd meters and whatnot. A friend of mine worth checking out is a lady called Raquy, she does alot of amazing middle eastern stuff which you'd dig.
Dreamfullofzen 3 years ago
Sorry it took so long man. Thanks for the advice!!.
HeartofRhythm 2 years ago
Dude, you are awesome!!! I'm liking the middle eastern sound right now. Would you be able to recomed a scale for something faster, like a lot faster?
CCGMASTER 3 years ago
Hi, Thanks for the kind encouraging words. Problem is middle eastern scales don't lend themselves well to faster lines per say due to the mix of small and wider intervals... they usually will have a minor 2nd, followed by a major third type sound (phrygian dominant for example). This results in some awkward fingerings and stretches. I plan on doing a vid on building lines on that in the next few weeks.
Thanks Again. Try making Phrygian dominant arpeggios for now.
Dreamfullofzen 3 years ago
sounds a bit Frenchy.
UnforgivingCritic 3 years ago
Care to Elaborate?
Dreamfullofzen 3 years ago
hey, i don't meant anything against you..
i even like your performance. that's something unexpected from a critic like me.
UnforgivingCritic 3 years ago
Hi U.C, Neither did i. I was just curious to know which part you felt was frenchy, the note choice, the backing music, the overall sound, etc. I just meant elaborate more on what you felt was frenchy. :)
Dreamfullofzen 3 years ago
oh, i'm sorry.. i think i missed your point.,LOL. :)
yes, it's the overall sound, the scales and notational passages are somewhat French style in my ear.
UnforgivingCritic 3 years ago
uh. So Instructive Dreamfullofzen. I am western, but i do LOVE exotic/eastern sounds. I am studying (by my own) Eastern music, like arabian, persian, Chinnesse and Jap because I want to make melodies with that "mood".
errrzarrr 3 years ago
Hi errrzarrr. I mostly did the same and learnt that stuff on my own, but recently i came across a good book that might help you, it's called Guitar Atlas VOL.1, has information galore on these styles of music.
Dreamfullofzen 3 years ago
sorry, one more question: What type of progression are theses scales supposed to be used over. For example, Harmonic Minor has a middle eastern sound only when play the 5th degree of the key of the progression. So in the key of E you would use A Harmonic Minor. How does it work with with Persian and Arabic Scales?
MetalMilitia2 3 years ago
Middle Eastern music has no harmony. Because of the use of quarter and micro tones, they cannot use chords. Usually they use drone notes (like indian music). Naturally you can use power chords, and usually the middle eastern sound is down to having a 2nd with a major 3rd interval... so if i was doing power chords in D, that would be D, Eb #. Try it out!
Dreamfullofzen 3 years ago
To be honest the drone notes are my favorite part. Something about the subtle changing in sound while keeping the root played consistently gets me somewhere. I was probably a sitar player in a past life.
Ardelmer 3 years ago
Indeed. I love hearing an ostinato bass part that stays on one note, and has chords/harmony moving over that one same note.... sounds incredible.....
Dreamfullofzen 3 years ago
excellent picking around 1:18, great job. What scales did you base the solo around?
MetalMilitia2 3 years ago
Thanks for the kinds words. i have another vid where i go over the scales i use, which are naturally the Phrygian dominant (a.k.a Hijaz) scale, and the Persian scale, mixed with regular minor noodling...
Hijaz is a one of the middle eastern modes, and happens to have the same intervals as phrygian dominant, and the persian scale is also Middle eastern. Check out the other vid which shows the intervals of each scale.
Dreamfullofzen 3 years ago
Well i haven't done much middle eastern stuff in my music. M.E music doesn't have much harmony (if any) for most of the scales have micro tonal and quarter tones which don't fit over chords.
For things like Hijaz you can use a regular dominant 7th chord,for the persian scale, you can use a Major 7 b9 chord.
Check out the other video of where i show the scales over a droning D and a 5th interval.. this would be a more accurate way of getting a true middle eastern sound.
Dreamfullofzen 3 years ago
hey, what are some of the chords you use in your music? I really like the sound and am looking for some middle eastern/minor chords to use in my music.
endoftheline9 3 years ago