The oud or ʿūd (عود) is a short-neck lute-type, pear-shaped, fretless stringed instrument. It is classified as a plucked chordophone belonging to the lute family. Typically, it is fitted with eleven strings arranged in six courses.
Middle East | The Middle East lies between North Africa, Southern Europe, Central Asia, and Southern Asia. | Wikimedia Commons
History of the Oud
Historical records and artifacts from tombs indicate lute prototypes existed in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia for thousands of years. For example, the Tomb of Djeserkareseneb at Thebes (c. 1400–1390 B.C.), contains a depiction of female musicians playing musical instruments, including a long necked lute:
Ancient Musical Troupe | Egyptian musicians depicted at Thebes (c.1400–1390 BCE) | Metropolitan Museum of Art
Arabic Oud عود
There is perhaps no more iconic instrument of the Islamic world than the oud. For untold centuries it produced music for banquets, royal courts, celebrations and festivals. Today, the oud remains popular in both traditional and popular music.
The oud is both the descendant and successor of the ancient Persian barbat* (Persian: بربط ), a lute family instrument with a 3500 year legacy. Although the ancient barbat appears similar to the oud in shape, size and stringing, the top is made of stretched animal skin, whereas the oud is wholly constructed of wood. Indeed, oud or ʿūd (عود) is the Arabic word for wood. There are no surviving ancient barbat, although it is depicted in artwork and literature across millennia.
Barbat | Decorative bracket with musicians playing barbat and cymbals, India, (1st century-320) | Cleveland Museum of Art
The oldest historical accounts of the oud date from sixth century Mecca, albeit it probably existed earlier. Its four courses of strings were tuned in fourths, and eventually two more courses were added as the instrument's technique and repertoire increased in sophistication. The North African musician, Ziryab (789–857), the founder of a music school in Andalusia, Spain, is thought to be among the first to add a fifth course to his oud.
*The modern "recreated"Persian barbat is all wood and simply a smaller version of the Arabic oud.
Rebab and Oud | Europeans depicted in Cantigas de Santa María (c. 13th century) playing instruments introduced by the Moors. | Patrimonio Nacional
The Silk Road
The oud and similar instruments spread from Central Asia along the trade routes, i.e., the Silk Road, eventually appearing in Europe, China, Vietnam, Korea and Japan. The oud, made from sandal wood and exquisitely decorated with mother of pearl, was often used as a diplomatic gift.
Prince in a Garden Courtyard (c. 1525, Iran) | Persian prince with court musicians performing on oud and tambourine. | Metropolitan Museum of Art
Europe
During the Moorish occupation of Spain (711-1492), the oud was introduced to the Iberian Peninsula en masse, eventually spreading to the rest of Europe by the thirteenth century. Thus, the European lute, like the Japanese biwa and Chinese pipa, is a direct descendant of the oud.
Across the centuries, descendants of the oud took on new characteristics, adapting to local musical needs and construction materials. The most obvious difference is the lute, biwa and pipa have frets on the fingerboard, whereas the oud is fretless like a violin or cello. Additionally, the fingerboard of the European lute became considerably wider to facilitate plucking the strings with the fingers rather than using a pick (plectrum).
Oud (c. 1900, Saudi Arabia) | A more typical example of an oud than the fancy Venios oud depicted near the top of this page. | Metropolitan Museum of Art
Oud Music
Oud solo and ensemble repertoire stretches from ancient to modern times. The repertoire is often both virtuosic and highly improvisatory, relying on the player's ability to create music anew within the boundaries of the style. The oud shares many of the same left-hand techniques as the guitar: vibrato, portamento, tremolo, glissando, natural harmonics, artificial harmonics and string bending. Like East Asian music, music of the Middle East is microtonal. In other words, scale tones are smaller than the half steps of Western scales, hence the lack of frets. Rather than being plucked with the fingers like a European lute, the oud is plucked with a pick, known as risha in Arabic.
The Arabic Oud | Mr. Acker talks about oud technique and music (11:07)
Listen to a traditional oud solo, Chahar Mezrab Abu Ata, composed by Hossein Alizadeh, and performed by Negar Bouban.
Chahar Mezrab Abu Ata | Negar Bouban, oud (4:37)
East-West Fusion
Perhaps due to the recent popularity of World Beat, players of the oud have stepped out of their traditional settings, mixing freely with Western idioms and creating original works. Listen to an East-West fusion work, Malahide, by Yemen composer and oud virtuoso, Ahmed Alshaiba.
Malahide by Ahmed Alshaiba مالاهايد - من الألبوم الجديد | (4:50)
Alshaibawas inspired by a trip to Dublin in 2018 to write Malahide (a castle in Dublin), integrating Irish folk elements with Yemen music. Oddly, he never actually made it out of the Dublin airport as his Visa wasn't approved. Sadly, Alshaiba perished in a traffic accident in 2022, shortly after releasing this video and a new album of original works. Ahmed was only 32.
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History of the Oud
Oud Music
East-West Fusion
