| notable_instruments = Oud
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'''Munir Bashir''', the ''King of Oud'' ({{lang-ar|'''منير بشير'''}}, {{lang-syr|ܡܘܢܝܪ ܒܫܝܪ}})<span dir="ltr"> (1930 – September 28, 1997) was an [[Assyrian Chaldean People|AssyrianChaldean]] Iraqi musician and one of the most famous musicians in the Middle East during the 20th century and was considered to be the supreme master of the Arab [[Arabic maqam|maqamat]] scale system.<ref>World Music: The Rough Guide, by Simon Broughton, Mark Ellingham, Richard Trillo, 1999.</ref>
He created different styles of the Arabian short scaled [[lute]], the [[oud]]. He was one of the first middle eastern instrumentalists known to Europe and [[United States|America]]. Bashir's music is distinguished by a novel style of [[improvisation]] that reflects his study of Indian and European tonal art in addition to oriental forms.<ref name="Zuhur">Colors of Enchantment: Theater, Music and the Visual Arts of the Middle East, By Sherifa Zuhur, 2001</ref> Born in Iraq, he had to deal with numerous disruptions of violent coup attempts and multiple wars that the country went through. He would eventually exile to Europe and become noticeable first in eastern nations such as [[Hungary]] and [[Bulgaria]].
Munir Bashir was born in [[Mosul]], situated in northern [[Iraq]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/worldmusic/view/page.basic/artist/content.artist/munir_bashir |title=National Geographic World Music: Munir Bashir |publisher=Worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com |date= |accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref> According to different references he was born in a period of time from 1928 to 1930. Bashir is descended from a family of Chaldean heritage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/page.basic/artist/content.artist/munir_bashir/en_US |title=Munir Bashir : National Geographic World Music |publisher=Worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com |date= |accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref> His father Abd al-Aziz and his brother [[Jamil Bashir|Jamil]] had good reputations as oud-soloists and vocalists; Jamil wrote an important textbook for the oud. The family started musically educating young Bashir at his age of five, Bashir's father began to instruct him and his older brother Jamil in the basics of ud. His father, who was also a poet believed that a pure tradition of Arab music had devolved in [[Baghdad]].<ref name="Zuhur" /><ref>Colors of Enchantment: Theater, Music and the Visual Arts of the Middle East By SHERIFA ZUHUR, ED.</ref> He first learned to play the [[violoncello]], a European instrument that had become a popular bass-instrument in [[Arabian music]] during the end of the 19th century. He simultaneously was taught playing the oud. The lute plays a similar role in Arabian music as the piano does in European music: it is the instrument used to impart the most important theoretical aspects in music.
Due to a blend of many different styles and traditions there is a rich musical history in northern Iraq. In this milieu Bashir came in contact with [[Byzantine music|Byzantine]], [[Kurdish music|Kurdish]], [[Assyrian/Syriac Chaldean folk music|AssyrianChaldean]], [[Music of Turkey|Turkish]], [[Persian traditional music|Persian]], and traditional [[Abbasid]]ian music.
===Moving to Baghdad===
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:1997 deaths]]
[[Category:Iraqi Assyrian Chaldean people]]
[[Category:Iraqi oud players]]
[[Category:People from Mosul]]
[[Category:Hungarian people of Iraqi descent]]
[[Category:Hungarian people of Assyrian Chaldean descent]]