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About the 'Ud

     The 'ud (also known as the oud--see here for a note about spellings) is a musical instrument common to all Arab cultures. It is also an important part of the Turkish musical tradition and may have originated from Persia, where it is known as the "barbat". It is a stringed instrument slightly smaller than a guitar, with eleven strings in six courses. Some 'ud's may have more or fewer strings; 13 strings in 7 courses (popularized, I believe, by the Iraqi 'ud player Munir Bashir), or 10 strings in 5 courses. It is tuned differently in Arabic music than in Turkish; the Arab tuning is usually (low to high) C' (or D') F' or (G') A' D G c. The Turkish tuning is usually a whole step higher—D' (E') G' (A') B' E A d, with some players using all fourths (C#' F#' B' E A d). Occasionally, the lowest string will be placed next to the highest string. The 'ud is the ancestor of the European lute ("al 'ud" became "lute"), and ultimately of the guitar as well. Unlike the lute and guitar, however, the 'ud has no frets; this enables the musician to play the quarter-tones (in between the half-steps of a 12-note chromatic scale) necessary for most Arabic and Turkish music. Arabic music does sometimes use a stringed instrument with frets called a buzuq (saz is a similar Turkish instrument), but the frets are movable and can accomodate more than 12 tones to the octave.