Çarpma as Pedagogy: Transmitting a Turkish–Iraqi Oud Ornament into Malaysian Gambus Instructional Practice (2005–2025)

Abstract

This article examines the pedagogical transmission of çarpma, a characteristic articulatory technique in Turkish oud performance practice, and its introduction into Malaysian gambus pedagogy between 2005 and 2025. In Turkish makam-based music, çarpma functions as a rapid articulatory device that activates neighboring pitches without fully re-articulating each note, shaping melodic flow, rhythmic nuance, and modal expression. While central to Turkish conservatory pedagogy, this technique was not evident within documented Malaysian gambus instructional practice during the early 2000s, based on the author’s autoethnographic observations following his return from oud studies in London in 2002. Drawing on ethnomusicological pedagogy, historical lineage analysis, and practice-based documentation, the study traces a transmission pathway from Turkish oud traditions through Iraqi institutional contexts associated with Şerif Muhiddin Targan, Munir Bashir, and Naseer Shamma, to Beit al-Oud in Cairo, where the author formally encountered a pedagogically codified realization of çarpma in 2005. This realization employs paired right-hand pick attacks on the principal pitch, each followed by a left-hand hammer articulation to the upper neighboring pitch, forming repeated articulatory units during descending maqām motion. The article documents the systematic introduction of this technique into Malaysian gambus instruction at ASWARA, UiTM, UPSI, and IIUM through studio teaching, technical exercises, and taqsīm-based application. Methodologically, the study integrates autoethnographic reflection, pedagogical analysis, and comparative performance observation to examine how this paired çarpma articulation reshaped articulation norms, improvisational vocabulary, and aural perception of maqām among Malaysian students. The findings demonstrate that the author’s systematic introduction of çarpma into Malaysian gambus instructional practice from 2005 onward marked a pedagogical shift, whereby a previously undocumented articulatory technique became a mechanism for mediating embodied musical knowledge and stylistic awareness within localized gambus practice.