Amazing Oud Improvisation: Mustafa Said

Some more amazing moments from a morning visit to TheFolksinger's Cairo flat, where Mustafa treats Bill and David Tawfik to astounding improv. Check the final moments to watch him explain some harmonics and to hear the air-conditioner turn on.

[@Seja8]

تحية الى هذا العازف المغني الملحن المدهش ما اروعك من عازف يا مصطفى

[@user-ck1nz5bo4k]

So great!!! Greetings from Greece! Mustafa is amazing!

[@TheFolksinger]

Thanks from theFolksinger in Egypt. Entirely in agreement regarding Mustafa.

[@sihat230]

i'm Arabic and i can say this is out of the world . thanks for upload

[@lairy20]

ياعم انت عظيم يا ربي روحي تاخذها لما تعزف there is no words can express my feelings when you play the oud I love listening to you wow

[@carlossanchez-us9dl]

is incredible that a person without sight can play perfectly the oud... from now on he is my hero :D

[@azizdurzy]

You are the best, I have heard lots of professionals, but you are unique in that you play it the right way, not only technique but the music itself, I enjoyed it for the tenth time

[@crash9321]

He strums with so much confidence! Very nice piece.

[@TheFolksinger]

I agree. I forwarded this comment to Mustafa in Beirut. Thanks for posting it.

[@TheFolksinger]

Unfortunately, Mustafa is usually in Lebanon or France, finishing his doctorate. At the moment I am in the US. Cairo, Egypt is where we both meet. Whenever we meet it really is an "Oud to Joy". Thanks for watching and listening.

[@grilyes547]

فنان بلا شوائب رائع يا يكون صديقي ولو إفتراضيا 🙏🙏🙏🌹❤️🇹🇳

[@TheFolksinger]

Thanks for the info and the response. I'll store your info and also send it to Mustafa. We both missed his concert last night at Al Azhar Park, and today he is returning to Beirut. I talked to him by phone a moment ago, and I read your comment to him. He was pleased by them.

[@Ahmedsaleh-cj8ky]

من اروع المواهب في عزف اله العود جميييييل

[@user-xb4ui8rc3q]

Mr. Folksinger u r a Great kind person, mustafa really a wonderful oud player, Thanks so very much for this vedio

[@TheFolksinger]

+‫محمد حسين‬‎ Thanks very much for the encouragement.

[@BagPiperGlennPryor]

wonderful. I love the real traditional music

[@TheFolksinger]

Thanks! He is one of my heroes as well.

[@TheFolksinger]

Mustafa is in Beirut, finishing a doctorate. Being blind and also always on the move, I suspect he will put off setting up a KZbin page and a website until he returns to Cairo. His brother, Mohammed Antar, has a page for the Egyptian flute, and perhaps they will set up something together sometime. Thanks for your encouraging words.

[@TheFolksinger]

@BagPiperGlennPryor Thanks for the comment. Hopefully Mustafa will soon be back in Egypt and do some more of these.

[@TheFolksinger]

I agree. I am waiting for him to come back to Cairo from Beirut, so that we can hear more from him in person.

[@Seja8]

تقاسيم مدهشة يستخدم فواصل من الصمت ببراعة كبيرة

[@user-yo8if1wd5x]

الله الله الله يا استاز ؤا كبير ولله انتا مبدع انتا استازي يا مصطفى سعيد انتا استازي ورح تضل استازي

[@TheFolksinger]

@hayatli8 Thanks for the translation. Mustafa is a wonderful person, and we in Cairo miss him when he is not here.

[@MrSouthable]

بطل يابطل مبدع والله مبدع وعودك قوووي ماشاء الله تبارك الله

[@TheFolksinger]

Not exactly what we think of as scales, but Arabic maqams, subtle sets of 4 tones, with perhaps another set added, giving a very "scale" like effect. Mustafa is blind, but he has amazing ability to hear the small tonal changes that make Arabic music so challenging for us less gifted mortals.

[@Abdul4376]

Amazing play I realy enjoy it keep going we need more like this presto

[@TheFolksinger]

@SultanMixDown We are happy you did. Thanks for letting us know.

[@TheFolksinger]

@Kaburrub I'll have to take your word for it. Thanks for commenting.

[@petrochemicals4u]

@TheFolksinger That's OK, dont stress, we will do our homework. If you come across any Oud related video's or Links, throw one our way once in a while !....cheers

[@TheFolksinger]

True greatness, indeed! Thanks for the comment.

[@sadiqkadis3704]

الله علی أحساسك وذوقك

[@TheFolksinger]

@ragu0686 Yes. But the really good thing is that the music transcends specific cultures and reaches us all. Thanks for the comment.

[@sparklesophia]

wonderful. thank you

[@petrochemicals4u]

That's Gold . . . !

[@TheFolksinger]

@AyaMisr Thanks for the comment. Anyone who hears him play is bound to agree with you. I hope to put up some new and interesting moments from a concert he recently performed in Cairo. He again amazed us all.

[@TheFolksinger]

Thanks.

[@TheFolksinger]

@DavidRasssam I myself (theFolksinger, not Mustafa) am not surprised, because it would be really hard to dislike anything Mustafa does. I personally love it, even if lots of it I must struggle to understand. Thanks for the comment.

[@TheFolksinger]

I entered the words Buying an Oud in some major search engines, and, yes, there are quite a few sites that at least give help and advice about how and where to buy an oud. Of course, one would usually like to examine any instrument up close, and have it in hand, before buying. Often, in Cairo, one commissions a known oud maker to craft one for him or her. But that takes both time and money.

[@TheFolksinger]

In Mustafa's case it was an impairment that worsened so that most sight (except light and dark) was gone before his teens. Both he and his brother, Mohammed Antar (a great flute or "Ney" player) experienced this loss of sight. I think both exchanged it for an incredible in-sight into music.

[@TheFolksinger]

@nulwee It's hard to imagine anyone would dislike Mustafa or his music, so I am inclined to agree.

[@moal2221]

ah ya mustafa

[@TheFolksinger]

I will forward your message to Mustafa. I know he enjoys hearing from viewers.

[@TheFolksinger]

Thanks. I will leave this for Mustafa to translate.

[@TheFolksinger]

@petrochemicals4u I agree. Thanks for the comment. It'll get to Mustafa through friends in Beirut.

[@TheFolksinger]

@IzzysNightrain Yes, indeed. Thanks for the positive assessment.

[@TheFolksinger]

@crash9321 I agree. Thanks for giving him and this site your attention and comments.

[@mesab2003]

wow this is awesome

[@TheFolksinger]

@MarlonOwnsYourCake Agreed, but note that Mustafa, being blind, probably focuses on the sounds rather than the sights, and that may explain the interesting use of the eyes.

[@Kaburrub]

والله ما إنت قلييييل

[@medoo349]

على عظمة!!

[@TheFolksinger]

@crash9321 Yes, he often performs, in Beirut,, Lebanon and Cairo, Egypt, as well as in Paris, France. Presently he is doing graduate work in Beirut, but I and many others hope he will soon return to Egypt on a more permanent basis.

[@TheFolksinger]

@sweetmorris Thanks for this kind response.

[@TheFolksinger]

@fbf1451 Hey, it's very informal, just friends talking: an elderly musician (me), a blind musician (Mustafa) and a young jazz and rock guitarist (David Tawfik, who doesn't say much here). The real point is that Dave and I get to hear more amazing improvs from Mustafa. It's like you get to listen in as well, because this was an unplanned set of musical moments.

[@Seja8]

@TheFolksinger I`m sorry, I just want to say, that it was absolutely great:D

[@TheFolksinger]

@madiovich True. Thanks for the comment.

[@TheFolksinger]

@Kaburrub Yes. Both he and his brother, Mohamed, two great Egyptian musicians, have had macular degeneration from childhood and are pretty much completely blind. But they both get around and accomplish more than most of us sighted people.

[@TheFolksinger]

@zeilinec Thanks for watching and listening.

[@TheFolksinger]

You are most welcome.

[@TheFolksinger]

@Abdul4376 We will definitely try. We hoped to meet last week but the demonstrations and chaos in Cairo kept us at home.

[@TahaMohammad1]

Amazing

[@williamevenhouse2827]

TahaMohammad1 Thanks. I agree, of course, but it is nice to know others enjoy Mustafa as much as I do

[@adilbelmokaddem6667]

I'm proud to be an arab!

[@BOND_BOND_007]

I did enjoy

[@TheFolksinger]

@sparklesophia You are most welcome.

[@TheFolksinger]

@MrSouthable I'm sure Mustafa will have some one read the Arabic comments. I am also sure no one would send derogatory comments in Arabic to such a wonderful artist. So I will apologize for not being able to read Arabic, but still thank you for the comments.

[@TheFolksinger]

@AzathothianBrew Yes. Both he and his brother, Mohammed, are among Cairo's finest musicians (though Mustafa is studying in Beirut at the moment). And both are blind.

[@TheFolksinger]

@im100and2 No problem. Mustafa is very open to discussing his blindness. And I have a suspicion that this "handicap" has been compensated for by some of the best musical ears that I have ever encountered.

[@petrochemicals4u]

@TheFolksinger Oh..ok, say G'gay from Australia ! Tell him his videos have inspired me to buy an Oud !

[@ragu0686]

@Kennyiavh 'namaste' is an indian word. This man is Egyptian

[@TheFolksinger]

@TheQuicka Thanks. I agree.

[@hayatli8]

@TheFolksinger It reads "A salute to this handsome rich something musician :P

[@TheFolksinger]

@im100and2 Blind artists often have different expressions than sighted do. It's interesting to notice.

[@TheFolksinger]

I'm an admirer of the Arabic ma'ams, but myself not an expert. But Mustafa is probably one of the world's most expert. He would probably say that the Hijaz is one of the basic ma'ams here. But knowing him, I am guessing we should hear lots of departures from it into others, and lots of returns. I wish I could give you a better answer. Whichever "scales" he is using, this is amazing music, which he can do at the drop of a hat.

[@Abdul4376]

Amazing play keeo going

[@TheFolksinger]

@trafficjam10 Me, too, though I confess I know much less about it than I would like to. Thanks for your comment.

[@BanjoMikeGregory]

If it's someone you personally know, you might ask him to play a little Beethoven, which you can re-title as OUD to joy!

[@TheFolksinger]

@mesab2003 Thanks from theFolksinger, who agrees entirely with you.

[@TheFolksinger]

@TerrySleeper Mustafa sends his thanks, as I do.

[@TheFolksinger]

@TheQuicka Unfortunately for me, I can't read Arabic. So I am assuming this is a kind and helpful comment. Mustafa may have someone read it when he gets the opportunity. At present, I believe he is still in Beirut, though I hope to see him soon in Cairo. Cheers.

[@TheFolksinger]

@MrSouthable I do not know what to till, this is more than positive and much more than i deserve. Please write this on the comment, it is really more than i deserve. Though i can not access the tupe but, all come to me through you Bill. I will see you in July if you are in Egypt. Remember me to Nil and all. Salaam. M

[@hfjehamdan]

سبحان الله وبحمده سبحان الله العلظيم

[@TheFolksinger]

@Abdul4376 I will try to get Mustafa to come over again when I know he is in Cairo for s reasonable amount of days. Often he is here and gone again before I find out about it.

[@TheFolksinger]

@TheQuicka Though I can't read the Arabic Script, I am assuming this is a positive comment, and so I thank you for it. Mustafa may have sighted friends around him in Beirut who will read it for him. Thanks.

[@TheFolksinger]

@SuperSaad64 Nice observation, and hopefully true.

[@TheFolksinger]

@Kennyiavh I'll forward your email to him. Thanks for the comment.

[@TheFolksinger]

@DDFDriver I will discuss this with Mustafa, and with David. Perhaps when Mustafa is back in Cairo for a sustained period, we will be able to explore this. Meanwhile, go to Dreamfullofzen and send David a message; he is into a lot of interesting scales and improvisations, as you will see.

[@TheFolksinger]

@petrochemicals4u Mustafa commissioned an Egyptian oud maker to make one for me, but I failed to write down his name. I can forward your request to Mustafa. Another way to go is to google the phrase "oud makers" and conduct a search.

[@shaalan1408]

this guy is really amazing, and I can feel that he feels his music. I wish if I can come to one of his concerts. if u r still in contact with Mr. mostafa can you tell him to make a youtube account and post his videos? because I am sick of all these stupid Amateur oud players.

[@TheFolksinger]

@sadahhm Thanks for this. We will try.

[@TheFolksinger]

@abuhany128 Thanks from us in Cairo and Beirut.

[@TheFolksinger]

He's studying complex issues of musical theory and history relative to, I believe, both modern and classical Middle Eastern Music. But the exact nature of the present studies, I do not know. I am expecting to get a link from him to his Master's Thesis, which he finished some time ago.

[@medoo349]

سلاام

[@petrochemicals4u]

Can you recommend a good quality Oud for us ? We currently play guitar, but have always loved the oud ! Cheers...!

[@ammrc1]

Wonderful! Nice taqsim (Improvisation). What is Mustafa studding? Best regards for both of you.

[@elmostafa.smira87]

إسأل روحك

[@lion2092]

we want more for moustafa and whats his channel in u tube

[@TheFolksinger]

@haydar123123 Shukran

[@roker7426]

is there a web site where they sell the oud?

[@crash9321]

@TheFolksinger Does he do any concerts of some sorts?

[@TheFolksinger]

Blind persons tend to do that, since they are not focusing on a specific spot of vision.

[@TheFolksinger]

@petrochemicals4u Got this note from Mustafa. You might want to check out the contact. Cheers. Bill, How are you? You should be in the US now, should not you? How is everything with you and how is Nilll? Tell her my regards. Here you are the number of the Oud maker who always makes my Ouds. He lives in Beirut. Albert Mansour: Mobile: [phone] Factory: 00 961 1 319 448 Salaam Bill. M

[@TheFolksinger]

@madiovich Yes, he is. He is also one of the blind who does almost everything a sighted person does. And lots of the stuff, he does better!

[@JohnJE123]

Maqam hijazkar?