Oud

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Oud

The oud ( ?ud, plural: ?????, a‘wad; kaban; barbat; ; ; , Azeri

Azerbaijani language

Azerbaijani is a language belonging to the Turkic languages language family, spoken in southwestern Asia, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran....
: ud; Hebrew: ??? ud) is a pear-shaped, stringed instrument, which is often seen as the predecessor of the western 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....
, distinguished primarily by being without fret

Fret

A fret is a raised portion on the neck of a stringed instrument, that extends generally across the full width of the neck. On most modern western culture instruments, frets are metal strips inserted into the fingerboard....
s, commonly used in Middle Eastern music

Middle Eastern music

The music of the Middle East and North Africa spans across a vast region, from Morocco to Afghanistan, and its influences can be felt even further afield....
.

words "lute" and "oud" are both speculated to be derived from Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
????? (al-?ud), consisting of the Arabic letters

Arabic alphabet

The Arabic alphabet is the writing system used for writing several languages of Asia and Africa, such as Arabic language, Persian language, and Urdu language....
?ayn
Ayin

' or ' is the sixteenth letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician alphabet, Aramaic language, Hebrew language and Arabic alphabet ....
-waw
Waw (letter)

Waw is the sixth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician alphabet, Aramaic alphabet, Hebrew alphabet, Syriac alphabet, and Arabic alphabet ....
-dal
Dalet

Dalet is the fourth Letter of many Semitic languages alphabets, including Phoenician alphabet, Aramaic alphabet, Hebrew alphabet , Syriac alphabet and Arabic alphabet ....
, meaning a thin piece of wood

Wood

Wood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs, etc....
similar to the shape of a straw, referring either to the wood plectrum

Plectrum

A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a string instrument. For guitars and similar instruments, the plectrum is a separate tool held in the player's hand....
used traditionally for playing the lute, or to the thin strips of wood used for the back, or for the fact that the top was made of wood, not skin as were earlier.

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Encyclopedia

The oud ( ?ud, plural: ?????, a‘wad; kaban; barbat; ; ; , Azeri

Azerbaijani language

Lute

Fret

Middle Eastern music

The music of the Middle East and North Africa spans across a vast region, from Morocco to Afghanistan, and its influences can be felt even further afield....
.

Name

The words "lute" and "oud" are both speculated to be derived from Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic alphabet

Wood

Plectrum

Persian language

name=Persian|nativename=|pronunciation=[f??r'si]|image=|caption=Farsi in Perso-Arabic script |states= Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Bahrain....
name rud, which meant string, stringed instrument, or lute. Gianfranco Lotti suggests that the "wood" appellation originally carried derogatory connotations, because of proscriptions of all instruments of music in early Islam.

The Oud is also popular in Azerbaijan where it is known as an Ud. The Ud found its way into Azerbaijani culture during the 7th century. Most Azerbaijani mughams are played on the Ud by Ahsan Dadashov.

The Arabic prefix al-, in al-?ud, which represents the definite article

Definite Article

Definite Article is the title of British comedian Eddie Izzard's 1996 performance released on video and CD. The video/DVD and CD performances were both recorded on different nights at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, England....
and can be translated as "the," was not retained when al-?ud, was borrowed into Turkish, nor was the ?ayn
Ayin

' or ' is the sixteenth letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician alphabet, Aramaic language, Hebrew language and Arabic alphabet ....
, as it is not a sound existing in the Turkish language. The resulting word in Turkish is simply ud (pronunciation follows that of the word good without the g ).

The oud was most likely introduced to Western Europe by the Arabs who established the Umayyad Caliphate of Al-Andalus

Al-Andalus

Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to the parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Arab Muslims, at various times in the period between 711 and 1492....
on the Iberian Peninsula beginning in the year 711 AD. Oud-like instruments such as the Ancient Greek Pandoura and the Roman Pandura

Pandura

The pandura is an ancient string instrument from the Mediterranian basin.The ancient Greek pandoura was a medium or long-necked lute with a small resonating chamber....
likely made their way to the Iberian Peninsula

Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar and a very small area of France....
much earlier than the oud. However, it was the royal houses of Al-Andalus that cultivated the environment which raised the level of oud playing to greater heights and boosted the popularity of the instrument. The most famous oud player of Al-Andalus was Zyriab. He established the first music conservatory in Spain, enhanced playing technique and added a fifth course

Course (music)

A course is a pair or more of adjacent strings tuned to unison or an octave and usually played together as if a single string. It may also refer to a single string normally played on its own on an instrument with other multi-string courses, for example the bass string on a nine string baroque guitar....
to the instrument. The European version of this instrument came to be known as the lute - luth in French, laute in German, liuto in Italian, luit in Dutch, (all beginning with the letter "L") and alaud in Spanish. The word "luthier

Luthier

A luthier is someone who makes or repairs stringed instruments. The word luthier comes from the French language word wikt:en:luth#French which is French for "lute"....
" meaning stringed instrument maker is also derived from the French luth. Unlike the oud the European lute utilized frets (usually tied gut).

History

According to Farabi, the oud was invented by Lamech

Lamech

Lamech is the name of two men in the Generations of Adam in the book of Genesis. One is the sixth generation descendant of Cain and Abel ; his father was named Methusael and he was responsible for the "Song of the Sword." He is also noted as the first polygamist mentioned in the Bible, taking two wives, Ada and Tselah....
, the sixth grandson of Adam. The legend tells that the grieving Lamech hung the body of his dead son from a tree. The first oud was inspired by the shape of his son's bleached skeleton. The oldest pictorial record of a lute dates back to the Uruk period

Uruk period

The Uruk period existed from the protohistory Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age period in the history of Mesopotamia, following the Ubaid period and succeeded by the Jemdet Nasr period....
in Southern Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern Iraq, as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khuzestan Province of southwestern Iran....
- Iraq

Iraq

Nasiriyah

Nasiriyah is a city in Iraq. It is on the Euphrates River about 225 miles southeast of Baghdad, near the ruins of the ancient city of Ur. It is the capital of the province of Dhi Qar....
city nowadays, over 5000 years ago on a cylinder seal acquired by Dr. Dominique Collon and currently housed at the British Museum. The image depicts a female crouching with her instruments upon a boat, playing right-handed. This instrument appears many times throughout Mesopotamian history and again in ancient Egypt from the 18th dynasty onwards in long and short-neck varieties. One may see such examples at the Metropolitan Museums of New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and the British Museum on clay tablets and papyrus paper. This instrument and its close relatives have been a part of the music of each of the ancient civilizations that have existed in the Mediterranean and the Middle East regions, including the Sumerians, Akkadians, Persians

Persian people

Persian identity, at least in terms of language, is traced to the ancient Indo-Iranians , who arrived in parts of Greater Iran circa 2000-1500 BCE....
, Babylonians, Assyrians

Assyrians

Assyrians or Assyrian people may refer to :*the Ancient Assyrians*the modern Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac peopleSee also*Assyrian ...
, Armenians

Armenians

The Armenians are a nation and ethnic group originating in the Caucasus and in the Armenian Highlands. A large concentration of them has remained there, especially in Armenia, but many of them are also scattered elsewhere throughout the world ....
, Greeks

Greeks

The Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in Greek diaspora communities around the world....
, Egyptians

Egyptians

Egyptians is the name of the nationality and Mediterranean North African ethnic group native to Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to the Geography of Egypt, dominated by the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the Cataracts of the Nile to the Mediterranean Sea and enclosed by desert both to the Easte...
, and Romans

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
.

The ancient Turkic peoples

Turkic peoples

The Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern, central and western Eurasia, and who mostly speak languages belonging to the Turkic languages....
had a similar instrument called the kopuz
Komuz

The komuz or qomuz , Azerbaijan Gopuz, is an ancient fretless string instrument used in Central Asian music, related to certain other Turkic string instruments and the lute....
. This instrument was thought to have magical powers and was brought to wars and used in military bands. This is noted in the Göktürk monument inscriptions, the military band was later used by other Turkic state's armies and later by Europeans. According to Musicolog Çinuçen Tanrikorur

Çinuçen Tanrikorur

Cinu?en Tanrikorur was an oud master, prolific composer of Turkish classical music, musicologist, and music journalist.He served as the director of Turkish Music at Ankara Radio, and taught music at Sel?uk University....
today's oud was derived from the kopuz by Turks near Central Asia and additional strings were added by them. Today's oud is totally different from the old prototypes and the Turkish oud is different from Arabic oud in playing style and shape. The Turkish is derived from modifying the Arabic oud, whose development has been attributed to Manolis Venios, a well known Greek luthier who lived Constantinople (Istanbul) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In Greece and Armenia musicians especially use the Turkish ouds and tunings.

The oud has a particularly long tradition in Iraq

Iraq

Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, where a saying goes that in its music lies the country’s soul. A ninth-century Baghdad jurist praised the healing powers of the instrument, and the 19th century writer Muhammad Shihab al-Din related that it "places the temperament in equilibrium" and "calms and revives hearts." Following the invasion of Iraq

2003 invasion of Iraq

The 2003 invasion of Iraq, from March 20 to May 1, 2003, was spearheaded by the United States, backed by United Kingdom forces and smaller contingents from Australia, Spain, Poland and Denmark....
and the overthrow of the secular Hussein

Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the President of Iraq of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003.A leading member of the revolutionary Ba'ath Party, which espoused secular pan-Arabism, economic modernization, and Arab socialism, Saddam played a key role in the 1968 coup that brought the party to long-term power....
regime in 2003, however, the increasing fervor of Islamic militants who consider secular music to be haraam
Haraam

Haraam is an Arabic term meaning "forbidden". In Islam it is used to refer to anything that is prohibited by the faith. Its antonym is halaal....
(forbidden) forced many Oud players or teachers into hiding or exile.

Defining features

Lack of Frets: The oud, unlike many other plucked stringed instruments, does not have a fretted neck. This allows the player to be more expressive by using slides and vibrato
Vibrato

Vibrato is a musical effect, produced in singing and on musical instruments by a regular pulsating change of pitch , and is used to add expression and vocal-like qualities to instrumental music....
. It also makes it possible to play the microtones
Microtonal music

Microtonal music is music using microtones ? musical interval of less than an Equal Temperament semitone.Microtonal music can also refer to music which uses intervals not found in the Western system of 12 equal intervals to the octave....
of the Maqam System
Maqam

Maqam is a musical mode structure that characterizes the art of music of countries in North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. In this area we can distinguish three main musical cultures which all belong to the Maqam family, namely the Persian, the Arabic and the Turkish....
. This development is relatively recent, as ouds still had frets in AD 1100, and they gradually lost them by AD 1300, mirroring the general development of Near-Eastern music which abandoned harmony in favor of melismatics.
Strings: With some exceptions, the modern oud has eleven strings. Ten of these strings are paired together in courses
Course (music)

A course is a pair or more of adjacent strings tuned to unison or an octave and usually played together as if a single string. It may also refer to a single string normally played on its own on an instrument with other multi-string courses, for example the bass string on a nine string baroque guitar....
of two. The eleventh, lowest string remains single. There are many different tuning systems for the oud which are outlined below. The ancient oud had only four courses - five by the 9th century. The strings are generally lighter to play than the modern classical guitar
Classical guitar

The classical guitar, also known as the "Spanish guitar", and in more recent times as the "nylon string guitar" ? is a plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones....
.
Pegbox
Pegbox

A pegbox is the part of certain String instrument musical instruments that houses the tuning pegs.See alsoHeadstock...
: The pegbox of the oud is bent back at a 45-90° angle from the neck of the instrument. This provides the necessary tension that prevents the pegs from slipping.
Body: The oud's body has a staved, bowl-like back resembling the outside of half a watermelon
Watermelon

Watermelon refers to both fruit and plant of a vine-like herb originally from southern Africa and one of the most common types of melon. This flowering plant produces a special type of fruit known by botany as a Epigynous berry, which has a thick Peel and fleshy center ; pepos are derived from an inferior ovary and are characteristic of...
, unlike the flat back of a guitar
Guitar

The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six Strings , but Tenor guitar, Seven-string guitar, Eight-string guitar, Ten-string guitar, Eleven-string guitar, Twelve-string guitar, Thirteen-string guitar and doubleneck guitar string guitars also exist....
. This bowl allows the oud to resonate and have a more complex tone.
Sound-holes: The oud generally has one to three sound-holes, which may be either oval or circular, and often are decorated with a bone or wood carved rosette.

Construction

Construction of the oud is similar to that of the lute. The back of the instrument is made of thin wood staves glued together on edge. Alternating staves of light and dark wood are often used. The instrument usually has an odd number of staves. This means the back will have a center stave rather than a center seam. Contrasting trim pieces are often used between staves. Patterns and wood species used generally vary from maker to maker.

The top of the oud is generally made of two matching pieces of thin spruce glued together on edge. Transverse braces, also of spruce, are glued to the underside of the top.

The neck is generally made of a single piece of wood and is usually veneered in a striped pattern similar to that of the back. The pegbox meets the neck at a severe angle. The pegbox is usually made from separate side, end and back pieces glued together.

Regional types

The following are the general regional characteristics of oud types in which both the shape and the tuning most commonly differ:

Arabic ouds:

Syria
Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north....
n ouds: Slightly larger, slightly longer neck, lower in pitch.
Iraq
Iraq

Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i (Munir Bashir type) ouds: Generally similar in size to the Syrian oud but with a floating bridge which focuses the mid-range frequencies and gives the instrument a more guitar-like sound. This kind of oud was developed by the Iraqi oud virtuoso
Virtuoso

A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa....
Munir Bechir. Iraqi ouds made today often feature 13 strings, adding a pair of higher pitched nylon strings to a standard Arabic oud configuration.
Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
ian ouds: Similar to Syrian and Iraqi ouds but with a more pear shaped body. Slightly different tone. Egyptians commonly are set up with only the 5 courses GADGC. Egyptian Ouds tend to be very ornate and highly decorated.

Turkish
Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....
style ouds ("ud,??t?") (Includes instruments found in Armenia
Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in South Caucasus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea....
and Greece
Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkans. It has borders with Albania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the north, and Turkey to the east....
): Slightly smaller in size, slightly shorter neck, higher in pitch, brighter timbre
Timbre

In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices or musical instruments....
. It's known as outi in Greece and was used by early Greek musicians.
Barbat (Persian
Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
Oud): smaller than Arabic ouds with different tuning and higher tone. Similar to Turkish ouds but slightly smaller.
Oud Qadim: an archaic type of oud from North Africa, now out of use.

Although the Greek instruments Laouto and Lavta appear to look much like an oud, they are very different in playing style and origin, deriving from Byzantine lutes. The laouto is mainly a chordal instrument, with occasional melodic use in Cretan music. Both always feature movable frets (unlike the oud).

Plectrum (pick)

The plectrum

Plectrum

A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a string instrument. For guitars and similar instruments, the plectrum is a separate tool held in the player's hand....
(pick) for the oud is usually a little more than the length of an index-finger. The Arabs traditionally used thin piece of wood as a plectrum, later replaced by the eagle's feather by Zyriab in Spain

Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
(between 822 to 857), other sources state that he is the first one to use the wooden plectrum

Plectrum

A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a string instrument. For guitars and similar instruments, the plectrum is a separate tool held in the player's hand....
.

To date the Arabic players use the historic name reeshe or risha(Arabic ????), which literally means "feather" while Turkish players refer to it as a mizrap.. Currently the plastic pick is most commonly used for playing the oud being effective, affordable and convenient to get.

Like similar strum

Strum

A strum is the act of brushing one's fingers over, or strumming, the Strings of a string instrument such as a guitar.A strumming pattern is a preset pattern used by a rhythm guitar....
med stringed instruments, professional Oud players take the quality of their plectrum

Plectrum

A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a string instrument. For guitars and similar instruments, the plectrum is a separate tool held in the player's hand....
s very seriously, often making their own out of other plastic

Plastic

Plastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic organic chemistry solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products....
objects, and taking great care to sand

Sandpaper

Sandpaper is a form of paper where an abrasive material has been fixed to its surface.Sandpaper is part of the "coated abrasives" family of abrasive products....
down any sharp edges in order to achieve the best sound possible.

Oud tunings

There are many different tuning options for the oud. All tunings are presented from the lowest course/single string to the highest course. The following tunings are from and :

Arabic oud tunings

G A D G C The most common tuning, and the best for 5 strings
F A D G C F The most common and best tuning for 6 strings
C F A D G C Very rare and uncommon tuning not even used by Arabs
D G A D G C Older tuning
E A D G C Five Strings (Syria, Palestine and Lebanon) - by Eduardo Haddad Ribeiro
B E A D G C Turkish tuning
B E A D G C F Seven strings oud tuning.
G C D G C F

Turkish oud ("ud") and Cümbüs tunings

Old Turkish, Armenian and Greek Tuning: E A B E A D or D A B E A D
Classical Turkish and Tuning Variant: C# F# B E A D or B F# B E A D

Note - Turkish classical music is written transposed, so that the written tuning for the above tuning is "F#BEADG"; also the Turks will transpose to other keys, too.

Standard Cümbüs Tuning: ABEADG actual pitch, written as D E A D G C

List of famous oud players

In Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....

Dikran Richard Sarookanian (of Armenian descent)
Gordon Grdina
Sean Goharzadeh
Filis Ann Ozkurdum

In Greece
Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkans. It has borders with Albania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the north, and Turkey to the east....
:

Tsiamoulis Christos
Michalis Tsouganakis
Periklis Tsoukalas
Alekos K. Vretos
Haig Yazdjian (Armenian descent)
Giorgos Alevizos

In Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
:

Hazem Shaheen
Hazem Shaheen

Hazem Shaheen is an Egyptian Oud teacher and player.He has studied oriental music and Oud instrument since he was in secondary musical school in Alexandria,Egypt then he moved to Cairo to continue his studies of oriental music and oud instrument in the university...
(1978-)
Farid Al Attrach (1915-1974)
Mohammed Abdel Wahab
Mohammed Abdel Wahab

Mohammed Abdel Wahab , also transliteration Mohammed Abd el-Wahaab was a prominent 20th century Egyptian singer and composer. Born in Bab El-Sheriyah area of Cairo, Egypt , Abdel Wahab played oud before the Prince of Poets, Ahmed Shawqi....
(1907-1991)
Mohamed El Asabgi (1892-1966)
Sayed Darwish
Sayed Darwish

File:Sayed Darwish.JPGSayed Darwish was an Egyptians singer and composer who was considered the father of Music of Egypt popular music. He was born in Alexandria on March 17, 1892....
(1892-1923)
Sheikh Imam
Sheikh Imam

Imam Mohammad Ahmad Eissa or Sheikh Imam was a famous Egyptians composer and singer. For most of his life, he formed a duo with the famous Egyptian colloquial poet Ahmed Fouad Negm....
(1918-1995)

In Iran
Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
:

Hossein Behroozinia
Hossein Behroozinia

Hossein Behroozinia is a renowned Iranian peoples oud player and arguably the greatest oud player of all times.He studied oud, playing under the supervision of maestro Mansour Nariman....
(1962-)
Arsalan Kamkar
Arsalan Kamkar

Arsalan Kamkar is a Kurdish people musician from Iran.He has played violin in the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, and is also a barbat player. His compositions are regularly performed and include a symphony called The Story of My Father's Land, written with his brother Ardeshir Kamkar....
(1960-)
Mansour Nariman
Mansour Nariman

Mansour Nariman is a Iranian peoples oud player, researcher and writer. Nariman performed first on Radio Mashhad and latter became an oud player in radio programs....
(1938-)
Mohammad Delnavazi (1954-)
Mohammad Firoozi (1957-)
Ahad Goharzadeh (1958-?)
Jamal Jahanshad (1948-)
Yousef Kamoosi (1902-1987)
Mohammad Khansarian (1948-)
Hasan Manoochehri (1934-)
Shahram Mirjalali (1959-)
Akbar Mohseni (1911-1995)
Abdulvahab Shahidi (1921-)
Nasrollah Zarrinpanjeh (1906-1982)

In Iraq
Iraq

Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
:

Salman Shukur
Salman Shukur

Salman Shukur was born in 1921 in Baghdad, Iraq. He studied oud under Sherif Muheddin Haydar at the Baghdad Conservatory. Later, he became Professor of oud and the head of the Oriental Music Department at the Institute founded by Sharif Muheddin, and held that post for 30 years....
Rahim Al Haj
Jamil Bashir
Munir Bashir
Munir Bashir

Munir Bashir was 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 maqamat scale system....
(Iraq/Hungary)
Ahmed Mukhtar
Ahmed Mukhtar

Ahmed Mukhtar Arabic ,???? ????? is an Iraqi musician who is internationally renowned for his playing of the oud. He was born in Baghdad and is a graduate of the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad....
(Iraq/London)
Naseer Shamma
Naseer Shamma

Naseer Shamma , is a renowned Arab Iraqi musician and oud player.He was born in 1963 in Kut, a village on the Tigris River. He began studying the oud at the age of 12 in Baghdad, following in the footsteps of Jamil Bashir and Munir Bashir....
Ali Alemaam
Ghanim Haddad
Asim Al-Chalabi (Iraq/Austria)
Salim Al-Nur (Iraq/Israel)
Fawzy Al-Aiedy (Iraq/France)
Mohammed Saleh Lelo (Iraq/Quatar)
Salim Abd Al-Karim
Ali Hassan
Ali al-Imam
Ruhi Al-Kamash

In Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
:

Yair Dalal
Yair Dalal

Yair Dalal is an Israeli musician of Iraqi Jews descent.His main instruments are the oud and the violin, and he also sings as accompaniment. He composes his own music and draws on Arab and Jewish traditions, as well as European classical music and Music of India....
(Israel/Iraq)
Mikhail Maroun
Amos Hoffman
Taiseer Elias
Chalom Bouhnik (France\Tunisia\Israel)
Armond Sabah (Israel/Morocco)
Moshe Habusha
Yoel Ben-Simhon (Maroccan descent)

In Kuwait
Kuwait

The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab emirate on the coast of the Persian Gulf, enclosed by Saudi Arabia to the south and Iraq to the north and west....
:

Ibrahim Tami (Kuwait)
Bader Hamdan (Kuwait)
Hamad Bo Resli (Kuwait)
Jarah Al Hadari (Kuwait)
Fozi Al Lenqawi (Kuwait)
Salman Al Ammari (Kuwait)
Salah Hamad Khalifah (Kuwait)
Yousef Al Motref (Kuwait)

In Lebanon
Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of Lebanon or Lebanese Republic , is a country in Western Asia, on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea....
:

Wadih el Safi
Wadih El Safi

Wadih El Safi is an Assyrian people-Lebanese people singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a Lebanese cultural icon, and is often called the "Voice of Lebanon"....
Rabih Abou-Khalil
Rabih Abou-Khalil

Rabih Abou-Khalil is an oud player and composer....
Marcel Khalife
Marcel Khalife

Marcel Khalife is a Lebanon composer, singer and oud player, considered a Palestinian among the Palestinians, a Southerner among the South Lebanese and most commonly an Arabic music....
Charbel Rouhana
Charbel Rouhana

Charbel Rouhana is one of the finest oud players in Lebanon. Born in 1965 in Aamchit , Charbel pursued his music education at the Holy-Spirit University in Kaslik and obtained his diploma in oud instrumentation in 1986 and his M.A....
Bassem Rizk
Bassem Rizk

Bassem Rizk was born April 10, 1979 in Achrafieh, Beirut. The capital then ravaged by war, resulted in the forced relocation of his family in Amchit near Byblos, cradle of the alphabet and the Phoenician civilization....
Fouad Harraka (Lebanon/Australia)
George Abyad (Lebanon/Syria)
Abdul Salam Kheir
Mazen Fouad Salha
Ziad El Ahmadie

In Morocco
Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
:

Ahmed El Bidaoui
Said Chraybi
Driss El Maloumi
Armand Sabach

In Palestine
Palestine

Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. It is derived from a name used already much earlier for a narrower geographical region, mainly along the coastal region....
:

Simon Shaheen
Simon Shaheen

Simon Shaheen is a Palestinian oud and violin virtuoso and composer.At the age of 2, Shaheen moved with his family to Haifa, but he spent most of the weekends in Ma'alot-Tarshiha, an Arab citizens of Israel town....
Ahmad Al-Khatib
Issa Boulos
Nizar Rohana
Samer Totah
Adel Salameh
Kamilya Jubran
Haytham Safia (Palestine/Netherlands)In Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA , is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south....
:
Al-sharif Mohyi-aldain bin ali haidar pacha(Hejaz/Saudi Arabia)
Mohammed ali Al-Sindi
Tariq Abdul-Hakeem
Omar Kadars
Fawzi Mahsoon
Abadi al-Johar
Talal Maddah
Talal Maddah

Talal Maddah 1939-2000 is a popular legend and well-known Saudi musician and singer. His fans coined the nickname the voice of Earth for him....
Ghazi Ali
Bashir Shannan
Khalid Abdulrahman

In Somalia
Somalia

Somalia , officially the Republic of Somalia and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic, is a country located in the Horn of Africa....
:

Hudaydi
Omar Dhuule
Hanuuniye

In Sudan
Sudan

Sudan is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest in the African continent and the Arab World, and List of countries and outlying territories by total area by area....
:

Mustafa Said Ahmed (Sudan)
Mohamed Al Amin (Sudan)

In Syria
Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north....
:

Alsiadi (Syria/USA)
Muhammad Qadri Dalal
Omar Naqishbandi
Afif Taian

In Tunisia
Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast....
:

Anouar Brahem
Anouar Brahem

Anouar Brahem was born on October 20, 1957 in the town of Halfouine in the Medina of Tunis, Tunisia. He is an oud player and composer, who is widely acclaimed as an innovator in his field....
Amine-Hamza M'RAIHI
Dhafer Youssef
Dhafer Youssef

Dhafer Youssef is a composer, vocalist, and oud player. He has been living and working in various European countries since 1990. During this time he had the opportunity to perform his music on stages in Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and other countries as well as his native Tunisia ....
Ali Es-Sriti
Khmaies Tarnen

In Turkey
Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....
:

Ismail Fencioglu
Münir Nurettin Beken
Necati Çelik
Misir'li Ibrahim Efendi (1872-1933)
Samim Karaca
Udi Hrant Kenkulian
Udi Hrant Kenkulian

Udi Hrant Kenkulian , often referred to as Udi Hrant or as Hrant Emre was an oud player of Turkish classical music, and a key transitional figure in its transformation into a contemporary popular music....
(1901-1978) (ethnic Armenian)
Udi Bogos Kireciyan (ethnic Armenian)
Ûdi Nevres Bey (1873-1937)
Coskun Sabah
Coskun Sabah

Coskun Sabah is a Turkish musician. An ethnic Syriacs, originally from Diyarbakir, he has composed more than one hundred Turkish songs and from the late 1980s to the early 1990s he attracted a large following....
Cinuçen Tanrikorur
Çinuçen Tanrikorur

Cinu?en Tanrikorur was an oud master, prolific composer of Turkish classical music, musicologist, and music journalist.He served as the director of Turkish Music at Ankara Radio, and taught music at Sel?uk University....
(1938-2000)
Serif Muhiddin Targan
Serif Muhiddin Targan

Serif Muhiddin Targan , also known as Sherif Muhiddin Haydar or Serif Muhiddin Haydar, was a Turkish classical musician and oud player....
(1892-1967)
Ilyas Tetik
Yurdal Tokcan
Gülçin Yahya

In Yemen
Yemen

Yemen , officially the Republic of Yemen is an Arab country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia. Yemen has an estimated population of more than 23 million people and is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the North, the Red Sea to the West, the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden to the South, and Oman to the east....
:

Abu Baker Salem
Ali Alanisi
Ahmed Fathy
Ali Einaba
Alshameeri
Fasel Alawei
Fuad Alkibsy
Najiba Abdullah
Jamil Ghanim (Jemen/Baghdad)

In United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....

Robin Williamson
Robin Williamson

Robin Williamson is a Scotland multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, songwriter and storyteller, who first made his name as a founder member of The Incredible String Band....
(1943-)

In United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...

Daron Malakian
Daron Malakian

Daron Vartan Malakian was the lead guitarist, songwriter and vocalist in System of a Down until their hiatus in 2006 and is now the lead singer and guitarist in Scars on Broadway....
(Armenian)
Ahmed Abdul-Malik
Ahmed Abdul-Malik

Ahmed Abdul-Malik was a jazz double bassist and oud player of Sudanese descent. He is noted for integrating Middle Eastern and North African music styles in his jazz music....
(United States/Sudan)
Saadoun Al-Bayati (United States/Iraq)
Hamza El Din
Hamza El Din

Hamza El Din was a Nubian composer, oud player, tar player, and vocalist....
(Egypt/Sudan/United States)
Sandy Bull
Sandy Bull

Sandy Bull was an American folk musician who was active from the late 1950s until his death.Born in New York City, he was the only child of Harry A....
(United States)
Rachid Halihal (United States/Morocco)
Naji Hilal (United States/Lebanon)
Naser Musa (Palestine/Lebanon)
Levent Firat (born in Turkey)
David Lindley (United States)
Gayle Ellett (United States)
Basil Samara (United States/Lebanon)
Scott Wilson (United States)
Mavrothi T. Kontanis (United States/Greece
Majed Abu Ajameyeh (born in Palestine)

of Armenian descent:

John Berberian
John Berberian

John Berberian is an United States musician known for his virtuosity on the oud, the Middle Eastern stringed instrument.His parents were Armenian immigrants....
Richard Hagopian
Richard Hagopian

Richard Hagopian is an United States Oriental-style oud player, and a well-known world music and traditional music of Armenia from the small town of Fowler, California near Fresno, California....
Roupen Altiparmakian
Roupen Altiparmakian

Roupen Altiparmakian was born in Adana, Western Anatolia.when he was a child his family moved to Athens, Greece, He's the master of the violin and oud, has a unique musical style rhythm that has earned him a respected reputation in Greece, he got his first violin when he was eight years old from his father....
(United States/Greece) (born in Adana, Turkey)
John Bilezikjian
Ara Dinkjian
Ara Dinkjian

Ara Dinkjian is an Armenian-American musician. He is the founder of the band Night Ark. Ara Dinkjian is considered one of the top oud players in the world, his compositions have been recorded in thirteen different languages, which include the multi-platinum hit Dinata Dinata , it was performed in the closing ceremonies of the 2004 Olympic Ga...
Charles "Chick" Ganimian
Marty Kentigian
Haig Manoukian
Marko Melkon (Melkon Alemsharian) (born in Izmir, Turkey)
George Mgrdichian
Harry Minassian
Antranig Kzirian

Others:

Ahmad Firdaus Baragbah (Jambi/Indonesia)
Zulkarnain Yusof (Johor/Malaysia)
Samir Zaki (Jordan)
Ali Bin Rogha (United Arab Emirates)
Joseph Tawadros
Joseph Tawadros

Joseph Tawadros is an Oud Virtuoso.Tawadros has participated in a string of national and international concerts; more recently completing a national tour with the Australian Chamber Orchestra ....
(Australia)
George Farahat (Jordan)

External links

Learn to Play the Oud by ear (For beginners, DVD)].
Egyptian oud gallery.
Alsiadi's classical Arabic & Middle Eastern music scores
a website by Dr David Parfitt
a website by Majid Yahyanejad
a website by Johnny Farraj, Najib Shaheen, Sami Abu Shumays and Tareq Abboushi
An American music group that uses ouds in their music.
, an educational website dedicated to the practical techniques of Oud playing and the performance of Ottoman classical and Aegean traditional music