I was a regular at The Middle East restaurant in Philadelphia back in the 1960's. The owner, Slimon Tayoun, played the oud but his son, Edmond, was the real musician. I often sat in with the band, imitating the sound of the oud on a nylon strung guitar. I learned enough oud to play three Lebanese tunes, an Arabic arrangement of a Greek dance and the damnedest sounding Hava Nagila you can imagine.
A few years later, when I was living in Israel, I sat in with some oudists in an open air cafe in Jerusalem. My chaverim were impressed, as were the Arab musicians and, needless to say, I skipped the Hava Nagila. No one can say that I'm not sensative.

                         Mike