Maqam Improvisation Lessons Online

Each one-to-one lesson is tailor-made to your goals and preferred style.

WHAT TO EXPECT?

Improvising is a rich and essential aspect of Arabic maqam music. There are three main ways it is practiced by instrumentalists:

  1. Zakhrafa: ornamenting a pre-composed melody.

  2. Irtijal: free improvisation (a modern form).

  3. Taqasim: the structured traditional form, both unaccompanied and with a rhythm.

Coaching sessions are tailor-made to your particular interests and needs. Typically they may include:

  • Getting to know the maqamat at the deepest level.

  • Studying the structures and pathways of a taqsim.

  • Developing your skills of playing by ear and ‘inventing’ in the moment.

  • Learning how to practice improvisation most effectively.

  • Sharpening your understanding of stylistic differences.

WHO IS THIS FOR?

These things are usually covered in oud lessons and introduced gradually in stages, as a complete player needs to know the standard composed repertoire and have mastered the techniques of their instrument (these are key ingredients for improvising!). Therefore, for most beginners oud lessons are the recommended route.

In recognition that everyone is different, however, beginners that wish to focus on improvising are welcome.

Also welcome are students who already have good experience in maqam music but want to refine their improvisations, and those from jazz backgrounds and other traditions, for whom improvising is already a way of life.

ABOUT THE TEACHER

Julian has over twenty years experience with Arabic maqam music, as a composer, concert soloist and teacher. He has been teaching since 2012, spending seven years as an oud teacher at the Arab British Centre in London, and also working as a seminar leader/supervisor and examiner for undergraduates in the music department at King’s College London, on subjects including: the maqamat, music of the Middle East and South Asia, Ethnomusicology and Sound Studies.

He has two areas of specialty in oud performance and composition: firstly, the modern solo style of oud, resulting from eight years of intensive study with Iraqi oud master Ahmed Mukhtar in London. During his PhD research period this was further enriched by time learning with Palestinian player Adel Salameh, and fieldwork in Dubai, observing live sessions in top industry studios, interviewing renowned composer Khaled Muhammed Ali and prominent producer Shakir Hassan about their creative processes, (and also bumping into Khaled al Sheikh recording his new oratorio!).

Since then, Julian has fallen in love with the older tatribi style of oud playing from 1920s and 1930s Egypt, a style as iconic and influential in its day across the region (think Umm Kulthum) as the modern Iraqi-inspired style is today.

Julian studied composition at the Junior Guildhall School of Music and Drama, then music at Cambridge (BA) and Oxford (MPhil) universities, concluding with a PhD at King’s College London.

Prior to the pandemic he worked as a professional concert oud player, both as a soloist and in group projects, for example in 2019 with Lux Musicae London for their Secrets of Andalusia UK tour. For health reasons he’s had to stop in-person work these days, but enjoys the quality time that one-to-one online teaching allows.