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See, Hear and Sing Uncommon Instruments
 
Mary Goshtigian playing the oud.
A woman plays Armenian songs on an oud in 1939

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Mary Goshtigian performing "I take Maral in my arms" on April 17, 1939

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Stringed Instruments
Rock and roll music, as we know it, wouldn't exist without the guitar, but would it have existed without the oud? The oud is an Arabic instrument that, as you can see from the picture, looks a lot like a round guitar. The oud was brought to Spain and eventually turned into the lute. The lute is the instrument that evolved into the guitar. Today the oud is still played in Arab countries. Listen to the recording of the oud made in California in 1939. Does it sound like a guitar?
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CREDIT: "Mary Goshtigian playing the oud, seated, portrait, photograph." California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties, Collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell, Library of Congress.
AUDIO CREDIT: Goshtigian, Mary, performer; "I take Maral in my arms." April 17, 1939. California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties, Collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell, Library of Congress.