Ask a listener what they love about a particular oud player and they will describe tone, attack and phrasing. All three are the right hand.

What the risha controls

• Where you strike. Near the bridge is bright and cutting; over the soundhole is round and vocal. Moving two centimetres changes the character more than any left-hand technique.
• Angle. Flat gives a full tone; tilted gives a thinner, more percussive sound useful for rhythm.
• The upstroke. Beginners play everything down and get an even, mechanical pulse. The tradition breathes because down and up are not the same weight.

How to practise it

Play one note, only one, for five minutes. Change where you strike. Change the angle. Listen to what happens at the very start of the sound, because that first few milliseconds is what a listener identifies as your tone.

It is dull practice and it does more for how you sound than a month of scales. The left hand decides which notes; the right hand decides whether anyone wants to hear them.