My favorite page as I mentioned in the overview the purpose of this page is to:

1. Create an interactive venue where all the interested Ney players all over the world be able to interact and share experiences with others every where.
   
2. Provide information about the Ney playing technique.
   
3. Arabic Maqams and how to play it with the Ney.
   
4. Do our best to provide answers to all the Ney related questions.

This page will be monthly updated with new materials in every update, so please keep visiting and always share with us your opinion,suggestions and questions.

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Lecture 1:

This discussion and all the future presentations will be on the DOKA Ney (D or RE)
which is the most commonly used Ney.

Image 1

The Thumb hole
Today’s discussion is focused on the thumb hole which Also called ajam (Bb). I renamed it the IRAQ, Iraq represents the base B half flat used in Arabic music.The reason is that:
A well tuned Ney has its thumb hole tuned on this pitch a little flatter than Iraq .But it is really much higher than the ajam. Such tuning would make it easier to produce the different tunes. For example, by blowing soft air, you will create the IRAQ pitch. Though, blowing more air will bring the B natural, and blowing less air results in Bb.

 

Image 2

From this hole 4 primary & 2 secondary pitches are produced.
The primary 4 are:

1-B natural (blow more air)
2-B half flat (normal air)
3-B flat (less air)
4-A natural (less air, thumb hole half closed)

The 2 secondary pitches are:

1-B natural decreased about 1 Turkish komma
(1\9 of a tune).
2-A flat which is a very difficult one to produce,
and considered the Ney's weakest spot.

Image 3

Image 1 shows the fingers position on the ney
While getting the sound from the back hole.

Image 2 gives you a closer look.

Please notice that the thumb, index and the middle
fingers Are not closing their corresponding holes while all other holes are completely closed.

The Image show you how to produce the B
natural, B half flat and Bb.

Image 3 shows you how to produce the A natural
· Notice the thumb hole is half closed.

Image 4

Image 4 shows you a different way of producing the A natural Notice the thumb hole is opened while all of the other holes are completely closed.
All of these sounds depend mainly on your ears, and the techniques we just described are just aiding tools.

Image 5 is a closer look to image 3 shows you

how the thumb hole is half closed This concludes
our today’s lecture on the thumb hole.

I hope you enjoyed it.

Image 5

For any questions or comments please e-mail
Moheb boules: theney@yahoo.com

 

 

 

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Lecture 2:

The Racy ney method:

As I mentioned in the introduction most of the information in the web site is based on the work and effort of Dr. Ali Jihad Racy.

For mistakes (if any) to be found, I would consider it a misunderstanding or misinterpretation on my behalf.
In the previous and the following few lectures I will provide you with the ney fingering chart, I will emphasize only on some of the music notes that are difficult to find and/or play and May require specific techniques.

For the basic ney chart I will refer you to the following ney web site www.neyzen.com, It is a very instructive site that explains the basic music notes, it also explains how to get the sound from the ney, however the ney holding position instructions are very specific to the Turkish Ney.

N.B:
It is very important to know that the chart and any other ney chart is a guiding tool and the need to listen and modify to get the most precise sound is a must.
A ney master is the one who can identify the different notes and it’s intonation and is able to recognize it and using whatever technique it takes to produce such note with precision. So be flexible and good luck.

In the previous lecture we talked about the back hole Today is about some other notes most of which is very specific to the Arabic Makam system intonation.

For any questions or comments please e-mail Moheb boules: theney@yahoo.com

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C#,G#	C#,G#
Eb Nahawand	Eb, Bd Ajam
Eb Kurd	Eb Hicaz
F half sharp	F half sharp

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