Oud tuner – Arabic (CFADGC)
C-F-A-D-G-C · Standard
Press “Start tuner” – the browser will ask for microphone access. Sound is analysed on this device and never uploaded.
This free online tuner listens through your microphone and shows how close each string of your Oud is to Arabic (CFADGC) tuning (C-F-A-D-G-C). Play a string, watch the needle, and turn the peg until the meter glows green. If you prefer tuning by ear, tap any string card to hear its reference tone.
About Arabic (CFADGC) tuning
Arabic (CFADGC) is the reference tuning for the Oud – the pitch the instrument normally ships at, and the starting point every other tuning on this page is measured from.
Played open, the strings sound C-F-A-D-G-C – from C2 at the bottom to C4 at the top, a span of 2 octaves. Step by step across the neck the intervals are a fourth, a major third, a fourth, a fourth, a fourth, and that is what decides how chord shapes fall under the hand.
The Arabic oud has no frets, and that is the first thing its tuning has to accommodate: Arabic maqam uses intervals that fall between the semitones of a piano, so the instrument is tuned to fourths and the player places every other pitch by ear.
CFADGC is the most widespread Arabic tuning, with the lowest course acting largely as a drone. The oud is the direct ancestor of the European lute – the word itself passed into Spanish as "laúd" – and the fourths tuning is what the lute inherited from it.
History
Oud
The oud descends from the barbat, a short-necked lute of Sasanian Persia, and took its name from the Arabic al-ʿūd, “the wood”. In the 9th century the musician Ziryab, who moved from Baghdad to Córdoba in 822, is said to have added a fifth course and brought the oud's music to al-Andalus.
Through Spain and Sicily the oud reached Christian Europe, where it became the lute – the article al-ʿūd gave both the Spanish laúd and the English word lute. The oud itself remained fretless, which lets it play the microtonal intervals of the maqam system. Arabic and Turkish ouds differ in size, sound and tuning, and 20th-century masters such as Munir Bashir, Farid al-Atrash and Riad Al Sunbati made it a solo concert instrument.
Where the Arabic (CFADGC) tuning comes from
The Arabic oud tuning, with courses in fourths, is the standard of the Arab world. It developed over centuries; the six-course oud became common in the 20th century.
Other Oud tunings
Standard
Alternative
Chords for this tuning
How do I tune my Oud to Arabic (CFADGC)?
Allow microphone access, pluck a string, and the tuner will detect it automatically. The needle shows whether the string is flat or sharp – adjust until the reading is within ±5 cents (C-F-A-D-G-C).
Which notes are used in Arabic (CFADGC) tuning?
Arabic (CFADGC) tuning for Oud uses the notes C-F-A-D-G-C, listed from the lowest string to the highest.
Can I tune without a microphone?
Yes. Every string card plays a reference tone – tap it and match your string to the sound by ear.