Drag to turn

Arabic · Plucked strings

Oud

عود

The oud has no frets, so its board does the job frets would do. It marks every semitone and the half-flat notes that maqam music needs, and the course is taught in Arabic and English.

Start free lessonsSee the board
Courses
F A D G C
LEDs
33
Quarter tones
9
Lessons
64

The board

Thirty-three lights, nine of them quarter tones.

Five rows follow the F, A, D, G and C courses from the nut down the neck. Nine LEDs sit on half-flat positions, the notes behind maqam Rast and Bayati, and they glow amber so you can tell them apart.

LEDs
33, in 5 rows (9 quarter tones)
LED
XL-1010RGBC-2812B
Size
1.0 × 1.0 mm
Type
Addressable RGB
Controller
ESP32-S3
Connection
Bluetooth LE or Wi-Fi
Fit
Flex PCB on the fingerboard, pogo-pin contacts

Lessons work without the board too. Every position is also shown on screen.

Every note

Tap a note to light it.

This is the board the way the app draws it. Each dot is one LED, and amber dots are quarter tones, written with ¼ as they are in the lessons. Tap a dot to hear it on the oud.

  • Open course
  • Note
  • Quarter tone

Light up a maqam

    Rast on C, with E and B half-flat. Each maqam runs up and back down, spelled the way the curriculum spells it. The ringed dot is the note now, the numbers are the next three.

    A lesson

    Learn it, practise it, then perform it.

    1. LearnNawa plays each note, then waits until you play it right. It tells you when to go higher or lower.
    2. PracticeThe piece runs at 75% tempo, looping, with the metronome on. Every pass gets a score.
    3. Play alongThe melody plays while the guide shows each note as it comes.
    4. PerformNo melody and no hints. Score 80% or more to complete the lesson.

    Nawa listens through the microphone and checks pitch on a 24-tone scale: within ±35 cents for notes and ±20 cents for quarter tones.

    The course

    What you learn on the oud.

    2Levels
    13Units
    64Lessons
    192Exercises

    A maqam-based curriculum written in Arabic and English. Note spellings follow each maqam, so Hijaz is written with E♭ and F♯, Kurd with B♭ and Nahawand with E♭ and A♭. Note names also appear in Arabic, like سي نصف بيمول.

    • The first lesson of every unit is open without an account
    • Pitch is checked within ±20 cents on quarter tones
    • A tuner that understands quarter tones
    • Ask the assistant to light a maqam on the board

    Plans

    Start with the oud.

    Every account starts with a 3-day free trial, no card required.

    Oud only

    The Single Instrument plan, with the oud chosen at checkout.

    $15/ month

    or $144 / year, save 20%

    • Every oud lesson, song and exercise
    • Music theory included
    • 50 assistant messages a month
    • Pitch feedback in every lesson
    Start free trial
    Recommended

    All instruments

    The oud and every other instrument, one subscription.

    $20/ month

    or $192 / year, save 20%

    • Every instrument on Nawa, the oud included
    • Music theory included
    • 50 assistant messages a month
    • The maqam and quarter-tone curriculum
    Start free trial

    Schools and teams can ask for a custom plan on the contact page. The LED fingerboard is a separate device and isn’t included in any plan. An internet connection is required.

    Other instruments

    Keep exploring.

    Western · Bowed stringsViolinكمانFour strings, thirty lights. Western · Bowed stringsCelloتشيلوA long reach, mapped in light. Western · KeyboardPianoبيانوNo device. The screen lights the way.