Mohamed Lotfi
Consistency Creates Exceptional Musicians
At the School of Oud Online, Mohamed Lotfi stands out for his remarkable consistency, curiosity, and commitment to developing his musicianship.
Mohamed is a participant in the Maqam Program, an innovative program designed to develop a practical understanding of the Maqam system—not only through theory, but through listening, recognition, application, and performance on the Oud.
Mohamed’s Maqam Program Submission
The video featured in this showcase is one of Mohamed’s official Maqam Program submissions.
In this performance, Mohamed demonstrates several Maqamat on the Oud, applying what he has learned and showing his developing understanding of how each Maqam is recognized, organized, and performed.
The purpose of the submission goes beyond playing notes. It demonstrates the participant’s ability to understand the musical character of different Maqamat and translate that knowledge into actual performance.
Building His Own Musical Voice
Mohamed’s vision goes beyond simply learning songs. He is developing himself as a well-rounded Oud player who can understand different Maqamat, techniques, and schools of Oud performance.
He continuously challenges himself to expand his technical ability, musical expression, and knowledge of the instrument. His progress reflects what can happen when curiosity is combined with discipline and the determination to keep learning.
The Power of Consistency
What we particularly admire about Mohamed is his consistency.
Progress in music is built by returning to the instrument again and again—to practice, listen, correct, understand, and improve. Mohamed demonstrates this mindset through his continued participation and submissions.
When something is difficult, he keeps working. When there is something new to understand, he approaches it with curiosity. When a technique or Maqam requires more time, he gives it the attention it deserves.
That consistency is creating something special.
A Musician Who Continues to Step Up
Mohamed continues to expand his understanding of the Oud and the musical traditions surrounding it. His goal is not simply to play better, but to develop the knowledge, technique, and musical understanding necessary to build his own identity as an Oud player.
This showcase captures one stage of that continuing journey.
Mohamed Lotfi demonstrates what consistent learning can become when musical knowledge is transformed into performance.
Ethan Wickman Becomes the First Graduate of the School of Oud Online
An American composer completes the School’s full four-year program online and earns his certificate as a soloist oud player, signed by master Ramy Adly.
When Ethan Wickman lifted his oud for his graduation concert, he was closing a chapter no one had written before. A professor of music composition at the University of Texas at San Antonio, Wickman has completed every stage of the School of Oud Online’s four-year program. In doing so, he has become the School’s very first graduate, and the first oud player in the world to finish such a complete curriculum entirely online.
The video accompanying this article captures that achievement. It features one of Wickman’s own compositions for the oud, played by a musician who did not grow up with the instrument, was not raised in a country where it is part of everyday life, and had never played it until he chose to begin.
An American composer meets the oud
Long before he picked up the oud, Wickman had built a distinguished career in Western concert music. The New York Times has called him “a composer of facility and imagination.” He holds degrees from Brigham Young University and Boston University and a doctorate in composition from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and his works have been performed by orchestras, chamber ensembles and choirs across the United States and abroad.
Raised in Southern California, he grew up on piano, guitar and voice. Nothing in that upbringing pointed toward the oud, the ancient short-necked lute at the heart of Arabic, Turkish and Persian music. Yet once he heard it, he loved it, and he decided to learn it properly, from the ground up, the way a professional learns an instrument.
Four years, every lesson
Wickman began at the School of Oud Online and stayed for the full journey. The program is built on Ramy Adly’s 7-Layer Sheet Music, a notation that sets ornament, inflection and the intervals that fall between the keys of a piano directly on the page, so that the subtleties once passed only from master to disciple in the same room can be studied anywhere.
Over four years, Wickman learned a full repertoire spanning the Iraqi and Egyptian traditions and the music of other nations of the region: the maqam system, the classical forms, the improvisational language and the techniques that give the oud its voice. He did it alongside a demanding career of teaching and composing, through real, consistent practice, session after session, year after year.
His path shows what dedication does in music. There was no shortcut in the curriculum and none in his work. Each level had to be earned before the next could begin.
A historic first for the oud
For most of its history, the oud could only be learned one way: a master played a phrase and a disciple sitting in front of him answered it. If the two were not in the same room, nothing passed between them.
Wickman’s graduation marks a turning point in that story. He completed the entire four-year program online, then successfully performed his graduation concert, demonstrating command of the repertoire, technique and musicianship the program requires. Master Ramy Adly personally signed his certificate of completion as a soloist oud player, the first certificate of its kind the School of Oud Online has awarded.
For the School, it is a historic achievement for the instrument itself: proof that the oud’s tradition can travel across distance without losing its depth, and that a musician raised far from the instrument’s homeland can carry it forward with authority.
A rising star on the American oud scene
Today Wickman is building a career as a soloist oud player and is quickly becoming one of the rising stars of the oud in America. He is touring with his band, performing his own compositions, music that brings together his background as a concert composer and the language of the oud he spent four years mastering.
The composition in the accompanying video is one of those works. Listening to it, it is hard to imagine that the musician playing grew up without this instrument. That is exactly the point.
What dedication makes possible
Ethan Wickman’s graduation is a personal triumph, and it is also a door opening for everyone who comes after him. Participants at the School of Oud Online now study in many countries, from many backgrounds, in their own hours. Wickman has shown them where that road can lead: from a first lesson to a graduation concert, and from a certificate signed by the master to a stage of one’s own.
Congratulations, Ethan, from master Ramy Adly and the entire School of Oud Online community.
Advancing through elite soloist-level repertoire, Andrew stands on the threshold of performance graduation. As a soloist candidate, he is refining the artistic vision and virtuosity required to command international stages
There was a time when Andrew had never so much as tuned a single string on an oud. Born and raised in America, he approached this ancient instrument the way many curious students do: standing at the base of a steep mountain, completely unsure of the terrain ahead.
What followed over the next four years was not a story of luck or effortless talent; it was a masterclass in relentless self-discipline, unwavering curiosity, and an unbelievable dedication to artistic excellence.
Working around the clock, Andrew committed himself entirely to the School of Oud Online curriculum. Starting from absolute zero—learning how to hold, tune, and care for the instrument—he steadily conquered the toughest, most extensive, and technically demanding oud repertoire in the world.
Today, whether executing intricate Iraqi pick techniques or feeling the deep, soulful tarab of Egyptian masterworks, Andrew performs with a degree of nuance so profound it sounds as if he were born in the heart of Baghdad or Cairo.
Progress at this level demands a hero’s mindset. Where others might have plateaued or bowed to difficulty, Andrew never gave up. He embraced every piece of feedback, refined his fingerings through endless practice, and transformed daily discipline into pure cultural fluency.
He proved that an American student with no prior background can rise to represent the very highest standard of Middle Eastern musical art on the global stage.
Andrew’s journey embodies the ultimate arc of the School of Oud Online. Driven by a tremendous hunger to succeed, he didn’t just master the instrument—he evolved into an exceptional, world-class performer.
Recognizing his phenomenal growth, dedication, and value, the school proudly welcomes Andrew into its legacy as a top instructor and global ambassador.
Andrew stands as living proof of what happens when a student steps up to meet elite standards: he arrived as a beginner and emerged a certified master, ready to inspire the next generation of players worldwide.
Even for an advanced player coming out of the prestigious Arab Oud House in Cairo, Egypt—under the legendary lineage of Naseer Shamma—the search for absolute perfection never stops. Steven, a remarkably gifted Egyptian oud player, already carried the rich tradition of his cultural heritage. Yet, seeking an even higher level of technical precision and notation clarity, he chose to join the School of Oud Online to continue his high-level refinement.
At the School of Oud Online, Steven immersed himself in RAMY’s 7-Layer Sheet Music System, discovering a level of detailed accuracy and structural depth that surpassed normal instruction. Combining his solid foundation from Cairo with Ramy Adly’s precision-driven methodology, Steven honed his pick technique, sight-reading, and execution to an extraordinary standard.
Steven’s dedication culminated in successfully completing the Distinctive Program (Level 7) at the School of Oud Online. As a proud Egyptian musician, his flawless technique and deep cultural fluency position him to become a true ambassador for Egyptian music on the world stage. Steven’s story demonstrates that even graduates of traditional conservatories find their ultimate precision and mastery when their craft is elevated by the School of Oud Online.
Mariam was born in the United States, in a busy city full of traffic, skyscrapers, and fast food. But inside her family’s small apartment, there was another world. Her mother cooked koshari on Fridays. Her grandmother told stories about the Nile at sunset. And on Sunday afternoons, her father played old recordings of Egyptian singers, their voices rising and falling over the sound of an oud. Mariam loved that sound more than anything. Even as a little girl, she would sit next to the speaker with her eyes closed, trying to follow every note.
Her classmates at school did not know much about Egypt beyond pyramids and mummies. Mariam wanted to show them more. She wanted to show them the music, the poetry, and the heart of the culture her family carried with them.
When she was twelve, her parents found the School of Oud Online. Mariam joined her first session with a borrowed oud that was almost too big for her arms. On the screen, her teacher smiled and showed her how to hold the risha, the pick used to strike the strings. Mariam’s first notes were shaky and unsure. But when the session ended, she did not put the oud away. She kept playing until dinner.
From that day on, Mariam practiced with a steady, patient insistence. She practiced before school, after homework, and on weekends when her friends were at the mall. Some weeks, she felt like she was getting nowhere. Her fingers hurt, and a difficult passage would refuse to come out right. On those days, she thought about her grandmother’s stories and her father’s old recordings, and she reminded herself why she had started.
Year after year, Mariam finished one level at the School of Oud Online and then another. Each level asked more of her: new scales, new rhythms, new ways of reading music. She did not rush. She built her skills one careful step at a time, the way someone builds a house brick by brick.
Her teachers noticed her consistency most of all. Mariam showed up. Every session, every assignment, every performance, she was there and ready.
Along the way, something special began to happen. Mariam started to create her own sound. She respected the old Egyptian masters she had listened to all her life, but she did not simply copy them. The way she struck the strings, the way she shaped each phrase, the small pauses she placed between notes, all became uniquely hers. Her teachers began to say they could recognize Mariam’s hand as soon as she started playing.
Mariam also took part in every opportunity the school offered: group classes, recitals, and online performances with students from around the world. Each time she performed, she felt she was doing more than playing music. She was representing Egypt, the land of her parents and grandparents, even though she had grown up thousands of miles away. With every performance, that feeling grew stronger.
At her own school, Mariam once brought her oud to class for a cultural presentation. Her classmates had never seen the instrument before. When she finished playing, the room was silent for a moment, and then everyone clapped. Several students asked her questions for the rest of the day. Mariam realized that music could be a bridge between the two worlds she belonged to.
Today, after years of practice and study, Mariam is closer than ever to graduating from the School of Oud Online. Her education has been tremendous, and her love for the oud is even greater than when she started. She is no longer the nervous girl with an instrument too big for her arms. She is becoming an artist with her own voice, ready to take her place among the exceptional oud masters of the future.
When Mariam walks onto the graduation stage, she will carry her grandmother’s stories, her father’s recordings, and every hour she spent practicing. And when she plays, the whole room will hear what she has always known: a culture lives on in the people who love it.
Born and raised in Italy, Nicola arrived at the School of Oud Online without ever having heard an oud, a maqam system, or any musical tradition originating from the Arab world. Coming from a background completely outside Middle Eastern heritage, he stepped into a complex modal universe that has intimidated beginners for generations. What followed was a remarkable transformation built on curiosity, deep discipline, and continuous study.
Through RAMY’s 7-Layer Sheet Music System, Nicola unlocked the secrets of the instrument step-by-step. The system transformed complex microtones and intricate fingerings into a clear, precise map. Extremely detail-oriented, Nicola applied himself to mastering sight-reading, pick stroke precision, and regional ornamentations with rare focus. Today, when Nicola plays, his sound carries a profound level of authenticity and spiritual depth—capturing the true soul of the maqam as if he had studied it in traditional Middle Eastern courtyards his entire life.
Now preparing for his upcoming graduation in the final stages of the program, Nicola stands on the brink of a historic milestone. He is set to become the first Italian graduate of the School of Oud Online, establishing himself as a pioneer of the instrument in Italy, where few—if any—play with his degree of precision and cultural fluency. Nicola’s story is the ultimate proof that true art knows no borders: equipped with Ramy Adly’s 7-layer method, a student starting from zero can rise to represent an entire nation on the global stage.
The winters in Germany were long and gray. When Youssif first arrived, the cold seemed to follow him everywhere: on the walk to the bus stop, in the quiet apartment, and in the strange new language he heard all around him.
At school, he sat near the window and watched the snow, trying to understand words that moved too fast for him. He missed the warm streets of home, the voices of his neighbors, and the music that used to drift from open windows in the evening.
One night, his uncle handed him an old oud wrapped in a blanket. “This belonged to your grandfather,” he said. “Maybe it can keep you company.”
A few weeks later, Youssif found the School of Oud Online. The first time he logged in to a session, he held his grandfather’s oud carefully on his lap, unsure of himself. On the screen were students from many countries, each in their own small square.
Some were in cold places like him. Some were far from the lands where their families had first heard the oud. But when the teacher began to play, all of those little squares seemed to fill with the same warmth.
Youssif decided that night that practice would become his home.
He practiced every morning before school and every evening after dinner. On weekends, he practiced for hours, stopping only to eat. When his fingers grew sore, he rested them and began again. He played the same phrase ten times, then twenty, then fifty, until each note rang clearly.
Some days nothing seemed to improve, and he felt like giving up. On those days, he remembered his grandfather’s hands on these same strings, and he kept going.
Outside, snow fell on the rooftops. Inside, the room filled with sound.
Slowly, something changed. The strings of the oud began to sound like more than notes. They sounded like his grandmother’s songs, like the stories his father told, like the culture he carried inside him.
Each string became a resonance of where he came from. And the way Youssif struck the strings, with his own rhythm and feeling, became his signature. His teachers could recognize his playing before they even saw his face on the screen.
Youssif also learned to read sheet music, and he did it with remarkable dedication. In the Distinguished Oud Program, students read music with seven layers of detail: melody, rhythm, ornaments, dynamics, and more, all working together.
Youssif read quickly and applied every detail with exceptional precision. A small slide between two notes, a gentle pause, a sudden burst of energy: he noticed all of it and brought it to life.
For Youssif, reading this music was never a burden. It was joyful. Each new page felt like opening a door to a room he had never seen.
Many students in the program described the same feeling. Learning to read and play at this level did not just change their hands. It changed how they listened, how they thought, and who they were becoming.
The online classroom became a kind of family. Youssif traded tips with a girl in Canada, laughed with a boy in Brazil when both of their strings snapped during the same session, and cheered for classmates when they performed.
Even across oceans and time zones, they understood each other through music.
Youssif’s transformation went deep into his soul. The boy who had once felt lost in the cold now felt rooted, confident, and full of purpose.
Even at school, he began to speak up more, and his German improved as his confidence grew. He was no longer only a student following a teacher. He was on the path to becoming a master himself one day.
Youssif has a dream.
When he finishes his programs at the School of Oud Online, he wants to travel to the United States for the graduation ceremony. He imagines walking onto the stage, meeting in person the classmates and teachers he has known through a screen, and playing his grandfather’s oud for everyone in the room.
It will be a long journey. But Youssif has already learned the most important lesson: every hour of practice brings him one step closer to home.
Transposing Mastery, One Maqam at a Time
For so many players across the globe, the word maqam carries a heavy, almost insurmountable weight. It is a modal universe that shapes the very best of Arabic, Turkish, and Iraqi traditions, yet traditional oral instruction often leaves the door locked—especially when it comes to the complex art of transposing a maqam seamlessly across different root notes and regional nuances.
Daniel Masri, a dedicated student from Brooklyn, New York, is living proof that with the right system and an unyielding passion, that locked door swings wide open.
Daniel enrolled in the landmark Maqam Innovation Program at the School of Oud Online. Though currently progressing around the sixth lesson of the curriculum, he has reached a milestone that most players take years to achieve: the ability to speak—and play—with absolute authority.
Where transposing used to feel like an abstract puzzle, Daniel now confidently navigates the instrument, instantly identifying how a specific Segah microtone operates, which region’s phrasing it represents, and how to execute it with flawless pitch.
His breakthrough was unlocked through Ramy Adly’s revolutionary 7-Layer Sheet Music System. Rather than relying on rigid memorization, Ramy’s method decodes the instrument layer by layer, turning sheet music into a multi-dimensional map.
Guided by Ramy Adly—widely recognized as one of the absolute best figures in Arabic music education—Daniel applied himself with an unbelievable level of dedication and technical precision.
What makes Daniel’s presentation of maqamat on the oud so extraordinary is how completely he has embraced the challenge. Within a single, structured program, he didn’t just learn to reproduce notes; he mastered the regional colors of Arabic, Turkish, and Iraqi styles, executing complex transpositions that once seemed impossible.
Daniel’s journey is not a story of passive learning. It is a story of a hero who stepped up to meet an elite standard, using a groundbreaking system to transform hard work into pure artistic command.
Today, his playing stands as a phenomenal representation of what happens when world-class instruction meets relentless student dedication—proudly representing his country and showing the world what true maqam mastery looks like on the global stage.
Doctorate-Level Rigor: Gergis Attia’s Path from Cultural Heritage to Maestro
For Gergis Attia, joining the School of Oud Online from Egypt meant taking a profound journey back to his musical roots—not just to refine his physical skills, but to achieve a rare, scholarly depth of understanding.
Comparing his experience directly to earning a doctoral degree in music, Gergis evaluates the school’s curriculum alongside the world\’s highest elite academic institutions. He recognized early on that what sets this platform apart is not just mechanical instruction, but a master-level education in system, theory, and artistic nuance.
While studying with the School of Oud Online in America, Gergis has been pouring a tremendous amount of effort into his craft, building something truly extraordinary for his own artistic journey and for his home country of Egypt.
The practical application of his studies is already yielding high-level results: Gergis actively translates his advanced oud training to lead and develop his church chorale as a rising maestro, elevating their collective sound with the deep maqam structure and musicality he absorbs from his coursework.
Gergis’s progress proves that true mastery goes far beyond memorizing individual pieces; it requires an intellectual mastery of the entire instrument.
By immersing himself in lectures he describes as truly excellent, he continues to bridge traditional heritage with doctorate-level execution.
As he works steadily toward completing his remaining programs, only time will tell how far his trajectory will carry him—but his dedication has already established him as a true maestro in the making, standing proud on the global stage.
Refining Four Decades of Mastery: Hassan’s Legacy of Precision and Performance
For 40 years, Hassan played the oud as a self-taught musician, relying on instinct, passion, and personal repetition. Yet, driven by a relentless pursuit of excellence, he recognized that even four decades of experience could be elevated.
Choosing to refine his technique properly, Hassan enrolled at the School of Oud Online to advance his skills, correct subtle technical flaws, and master the instrument at the highest academic standard.
Through Ramy Adly’s 7-Layer Sheet Music System and the school’s multi-angle instruction, Hassan added tremendous value to his playing. His journey unlocked a new level of clean technique, precise pick direction, and structural mastery.
Known as the true “eyes and ears” of the School of Oud Online, Hassan combines artistic grace, a soft and wonderful personality, and meticulous precision in every note he plays.
Hassan’s dedication culminated in earning his official Certification of Completion after reaching Level 7—an exceptionally high milestone of technical and theoretical achievement.
Armed with 40 years of playing history enriched by the school’s rigorous methodology, Hassan possesses the exact precision required to guide new students, making him fully qualified to teach Levels 1, 2, and 3 of the School of Oud Online curriculum.
The school warmly welcomes him as a tremendous asset who will soon become directly involved in teaching as opportunities open.
Furthermore, the School of Oud Online extends a formal invitation to Hassan to travel to Washington, D.C., to join the live stage performance as one of the school’s premier advanced performers.
Hassan’s story is proof that true artists never stop learning—and that when decades of passion meet elite instruction, the result is legendary mastery.