Meeting Sami Kreishan
A couple of weeks ago I met Sleman, a friend that I haven’t seen in a year or so. He was doing Tawjihi this year, and has passed with an excellent grade :)
We went out for dinner with a bunch of friends to catch up some of the days we missed. Sleman had so much news; he said he started learning guitar a year ago, little after the last time I saw him, which was a bit surprising because I too started learning guitar about the same time!
Sleman asked me where I go for music lessons and I said am trying on my own. He said he had been taught playing guitar during the past year by the legendary Sami Kreishan …
Sami Kreishan is a top Jordanian guitarist. I would have simply said he’s the best, but I’ll stay opened to the possibilities because I didn’t check every other player in Jordan. Among the Jordanian guitarists community, Sami has been a well-known figure. Some are astonished by his abilities, while others say he’s a showoff. Both parties, however, can’t but agree on his astounding level … the guy is amazing!
Sleman said he could arrange to take me with him to his next lesson, and I couldn’t say no. I wanted to see how good Sleman got with playing guitar, and of course … wanted to meet Sami Kreishan :)
So it was Wednesday, the past week, and I picked up Sleman and drove to Sami’s place. We arrived there a bit early and Sami was out for sometime so we waited outside his house. Ten minutes later, he arrived, parked his car and went down walking into his house without noticing us. His humble appearances made him look like any other guy out there; nobody would have guessed what that guy with the short pants was capable of!
We went down, followed him, and knocked the door. He opened it with a wide smile and greeted us, then we all went inside and waited for him to arrange his stuff and prepare for the lesson.
Sami’s house was full of guitars and equipment. I can’t recall much but for a moment I thought I was playing “find 40 guitars in the view”! He had soo many guitars arranged everywhere in the living room … an American Stratocaster … a Squier Showmaster … some Ibanez … a flying-V something … and I stopped counting for my own sake!!
His little “studio” was full of guitars, guitar accessories and equipment. Distortion pedals where covering the floor all around him, boxes were everywhere, and next to him stood one big Marshall Amplifier that could have easily brought the building down with its sound.
The guy must have been running a serious guitar business in his place!
Sami arranged his stuff, picked a guitar, and started playing …
I don’t think I can explain it to non-guitarists, but Sami could perform as well as some of the top worldwide guitarists, namely Joe Satriani (Link), Yngwie Malmsteen (Link), Michael Angelo Batio (Link) and Steve Vai (Link). The guy turned to be a professional player, much more than I thought he was. Now I have a solid belief that this guy can compete internationally.
So after some warm-up with cool shredding (Link) pieces of heavy metal, Sami stopped and started the lesson. I tried to be a silent observer because I didn’t want Sleman to waste his class, but I simply couldn’t but ask at some points … Sami had all the answers I needed!
During the past two months, I had a strong feeling that am lacking an essential technique because I couldn’t play some licks no matter how hard I practiced. Watching Sami playing last week helped me figure some big facts that I missed all the way till now, details that remained “secrets” for long, holding me back from advancing to the next level …
Whether Sami is the best guitarist in Jordan or not doesn’t matter as much as that he’s got this far with playing guitar. The new techniques I picked while watching him play last week were the best kind of info I ever had about playing guitar. I’ve been playing for hours since then, exercising over and over with some new solos that have just been unlocked for hard practice!
Next week I’ll meet him again in a celebration for Sleman’s graduation, I hope I get to know him better :)
EDIT: I was asked by Sami to publish his contact details here since many people are linked to this page looking for them. This post, surprisingly, is the first hit on Google for "Sami Kreishan". Here it goes guys;
Sami Kreishan
+962 79 5364002
We went out for dinner with a bunch of friends to catch up some of the days we missed. Sleman had so much news; he said he started learning guitar a year ago, little after the last time I saw him, which was a bit surprising because I too started learning guitar about the same time!
Sleman asked me where I go for music lessons and I said am trying on my own. He said he had been taught playing guitar during the past year by the legendary Sami Kreishan …
Sami Kreishan is a top Jordanian guitarist. I would have simply said he’s the best, but I’ll stay opened to the possibilities because I didn’t check every other player in Jordan. Among the Jordanian guitarists community, Sami has been a well-known figure. Some are astonished by his abilities, while others say he’s a showoff. Both parties, however, can’t but agree on his astounding level … the guy is amazing!
Sleman said he could arrange to take me with him to his next lesson, and I couldn’t say no. I wanted to see how good Sleman got with playing guitar, and of course … wanted to meet Sami Kreishan :)
So it was Wednesday, the past week, and I picked up Sleman and drove to Sami’s place. We arrived there a bit early and Sami was out for sometime so we waited outside his house. Ten minutes later, he arrived, parked his car and went down walking into his house without noticing us. His humble appearances made him look like any other guy out there; nobody would have guessed what that guy with the short pants was capable of!
We went down, followed him, and knocked the door. He opened it with a wide smile and greeted us, then we all went inside and waited for him to arrange his stuff and prepare for the lesson.
Sami’s house was full of guitars and equipment. I can’t recall much but for a moment I thought I was playing “find 40 guitars in the view”! He had soo many guitars arranged everywhere in the living room … an American Stratocaster … a Squier Showmaster … some Ibanez … a flying-V something … and I stopped counting for my own sake!!
His little “studio” was full of guitars, guitar accessories and equipment. Distortion pedals where covering the floor all around him, boxes were everywhere, and next to him stood one big Marshall Amplifier that could have easily brought the building down with its sound.
The guy must have been running a serious guitar business in his place!
Sami arranged his stuff, picked a guitar, and started playing …
I don’t think I can explain it to non-guitarists, but Sami could perform as well as some of the top worldwide guitarists, namely Joe Satriani (Link), Yngwie Malmsteen (Link), Michael Angelo Batio (Link) and Steve Vai (Link). The guy turned to be a professional player, much more than I thought he was. Now I have a solid belief that this guy can compete internationally.
So after some warm-up with cool shredding (Link) pieces of heavy metal, Sami stopped and started the lesson. I tried to be a silent observer because I didn’t want Sleman to waste his class, but I simply couldn’t but ask at some points … Sami had all the answers I needed!
During the past two months, I had a strong feeling that am lacking an essential technique because I couldn’t play some licks no matter how hard I practiced. Watching Sami playing last week helped me figure some big facts that I missed all the way till now, details that remained “secrets” for long, holding me back from advancing to the next level …
Whether Sami is the best guitarist in Jordan or not doesn’t matter as much as that he’s got this far with playing guitar. The new techniques I picked while watching him play last week were the best kind of info I ever had about playing guitar. I’ve been playing for hours since then, exercising over and over with some new solos that have just been unlocked for hard practice!
Next week I’ll meet him again in a celebration for Sleman’s graduation, I hope I get to know him better :)
EDIT: I was asked by Sami to publish his contact details here since many people are linked to this page looking for them. This post, surprisingly, is the first hit on Google for "Sami Kreishan". Here it goes guys;
Sami Kreishan
+962 79 5364002
4 Response(s) to "Meeting Sami Kreishan"
Ora said:
Sorry to break this news to you but...
He's a total jerk...
Great musician though ;)
Ghaith said:
lol Ora, what made you say so? :D
Ora said:
Personal rather sad experience… el zaman be3allem ya waladi ya Ghaith
Ghaith said:
Hmmm ...
Walla el sara7a el zalameh ana ma shofto 3'er kam marra, o ma la77aget at3arraf 3aleh mnee7. I only saw the musician side of his character ya benti ya Ora.