Ud

Choosing

The Oud has around 11 nylon or gut strings and no frets. Turkish ouds are slightly smaller and tuned G,D,A,E,B,F# while the arabic ones have a slightly larger body and are usually tuned G,A,B,E,A,D. Usully Uds have a fixed bridge as do lutes, Iraqi style Ud has a floating bridge with the strings going to the tail.

Musical Styles

Arabic and Turkish tunings are different, lots of variations in tuning, often tuned to suit a piece of music.
Follows the vocal style of music, which has more subtleties and nuances than Western style of music (which is constrained by frets)