The word laúd is the Spanish word for lute

Lute

Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....

. It is most commonly used to refer to a plectrum

Plectrum

A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick, and is a separate tool held in the player's hand...

-plucked chordophone

Chordophone

A chordophone is any musical instrument that makes sound by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points. It is one of the four main divisions of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification....

 from Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. It belongs to the cittern

Cittern

The cittern or cither is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is descended from the Medieval Citole, or Cytole. It looks much like the modern-day flat-back mandolin and the modern Irish bouzouki and cittern...

 family of instruments. It has six double courses (i.e. twelve strings in pairs), similarly to the bandurria

Bandurria

The bandurria is a plectrum chordophone from Spain, similar to the cittern and the mandolin, primarily used in Spanish folk music.Prior to the 18th century, the bandurria had with a round back, similar or related to the mandore. It had become a flat-backed instrument by the 18th century, with five...

, but its neck is longer. Traditionally it is used folk string musical groups, together with the guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

 and the bandurria.

Like the bandurria, it is tuned in fourths, but its range is 1 octave lower.

Tuning:

• 1st: A (la)
• 2nd: E (mi)
• 3rd: B (si)
• 4th: F# (fa#)
• 5th: C# (do#)
• 6th: G# (sol#)

Cuban laúd

There is also a Cuban variety of laúd (such as played by Barbarito Torres

Barbarito Torres

thumb|Barbarito Torres.Bárbaro Alberto Torres Delgado, best known as Barbarito Torres , is a Cuban musician best known for his work with the Afro Cuban All Stars and the Buena Vista Social Club. Torres plays the laúd, a traditional Cuban instrument of the lute family that is most associated with...

 of the Buena Vista Social Club

Buena Vista Social Club

The Buena Vista Social Club was a members club in Havana, Cuba that held dances and musical activities, becoming a popular location for musicians to meet and play during the 1940s...

). It has the same appearance and use as the Spanish version, only the tuning is different. The Cuban tuning is: D, A, E, B, F#, C# (or D).