Oud Method by Hal Leonard Corporation (2006, Package)

John Bilezikjian is, without doubt, an excellent musician. Equally doubtless is the uselessness of his introductory course on the oud. If you are an absolute beginner (as in you've never played a plucked-string instrument before) you might get something out of this book, especially if you don't know much about reading music. However, if you are looking for instruction on how to play the oud as opposed to some other plucked instrument, keep looking. I am an experienced guitarist, and except for the cursory historical material, virtually nothing in this book was new to me; the author explicitly states that he will not deal at all with the Turkish makam system (which is a MAJOR element in Turkish oud playing--kind of like Western scales and key signatures are a basis for occidental music). I recommend looking for documentation on the internet rather than buying this book. You'll learn just as much history, and you'll also pick up some of the actual middle-eastern music, not just lessons in how to tune the instrument and where to stop the strings.

I found the book and CD that came with it totally useless. It does not teach any of the oud techniques that separates it from all other instuments especially western string ones.