Ibrahim Abdel-Wahab Abdel-Azeem is one of the last traditional craftsmen in Egypt making the oud , the guitar-like instrument heard in so much Arabic music . He is one of only six or seven oud makers still working in the historic Mohamed Ali Street in Cairo . It takes him a week to make one oud for sale , molding it from thin layers of wood that are joined together without using nails . `` We bring big chunks of wood and then we cut it into thin layers , '' said Abdel-Azeem . `` First we put those layers on the hot iron . Later we bend it . When it comes out we glue it together because the Oud does n't not have any nails . '' Abdel-Azeem , 62 , inherited his art from his father and started out in his workshop while he was still at school . `` The profession is originally Egyptian and moved to Syria and Turkey , but my father brought it back to Egypt , '' said Abdel-Azeem . Abdel-Azeem was only 14 when his father died and he took over his workshop . It is not just a job to him , but a way of life . `` Oud is the Sultan of music and songs , '' said Abdel-Azeem . `` Without oud there 's no music . It 's the base to any other instrument . `` Making an oud requires artistic talent . It 's not only a trade because when the oud is not made properly or the sound coming out of it is not right we become emotionally depressed . '' See also : Egyptian student sends spiders in to space . But he worries that the trade will die out . `` The only people left making ouds are only six or seven people in the country . No one is interested in learning it anymore . `` If it continues this way this profession will die . Other instruments took over . We used to take oud classes in school . They do n't teach oud anymore except in colleges of music . '' Another man working hard to keep the tradition of the oud alive is Naseer Shamma , one of the most famous musicians in the Middle East . Shamma , 47 , is a composer , performer , poet and now a teacher . He left his native Iraq during Saddam Hussein 's rule and moved to Cairo where he now runs a `` House of Oud '' music school with branches in Egypt , Algeria and the United Arab Emirates . `` I think if anybody needs to change the life around him he needs to do something really in education , '' said Shamma . `` For example , not just composition or just concerts ; we need another line to continue with the new generation for that this is my project for all my life . '' Also on Inside the Middle East : Gaza music students find smart ways around travel ban . Among his students is Ahmed Al-Sheikh , an 11-year-old Syrian boy who has just passed his final exams at Shamma 's House of Oud school in Abu Dhabi . `` My dream is to be a big artist , '' said Ahmed . `` When I close my eyes , I dream of being on stage and hearing people applaud for my music . '' It is teaching children like Ahmed that keeps Shamma believing in his work . `` I need to change the life in Arab world , but if we need to change we need to start with the boys , with the small girls , with the culture in the beginning , '' he said . Together , they are ensuring this centuries-old tradition will be passed on to generations to come . Follow the Inside the Middle East team on Twitter : Presenter Rima Maktabi : @ rimamaktabi , producer Jon Jensen : @ jonjensen , producer Schams Elwazer @ SchamsCNN and writer Catriona Davies @ catrionadavies .
The guitar - like instrument is used widely in Middle Eastern music . Only a handful of traditional oud makers still exist in Iran . Performer and composer Naseer Shamma runs oud music workshops in several countries .