the ud

About the ud

The oud ( OOD; Arabic: عُود, romanized: ʿūd, pronounced [ʕuːd]) is a Middle Eastern short-neck lute-type, pear-shaped, fretless stringed instrument (a chordophone in the Hornbostel–Sachs classification of instruments), usually with 11 strings grouped in six courses, but some models have five or seven courses, with 10 or 13 strings respectively. The oud is similar to other types of lute, and to Western lutes which developed out of the Medieval Islamic oud. Similar instruments have been used in the Middle East, some predating Islam, such as the barbat from Persia. Different versions of the oud are used in Arabia, Turkey, and other Middle Eastern and Balkan regions. The oud, as a fundamental difference with the western lute, has no frets and a smaller neck. It is the direct successor of the Persian barbat lute. The oldest surviving oud is thought to be in Brussels, at the Museum of Musical Instruments. An early description of the "modern" oud was given by 11th-century musician, singer and author Al-Hasan Ibn al-Haytham (c. 965–1040) in his compendium on music Ḥāwī al-Funūn wa Salwat al-Maḥzūn.

Discography