Speaking as an Arabic-style 'oudist and former jazz guitarist... For a standard guitar tuning, E-A-D-G-B-E, I would suggest a common Turkish ud
tuning as the most compatible, D-GG-BB-EE-AA-DD. One can tune a Turkish ud down to Arabic tuning (I do this myself, being an Arabic-style player),
but you can't tune an Arabic 'oud up to Turkish tuning without creating excessive string tension. (Whether a Turkish ud sounds "good" tuned down to
Arabic tuning is another debate!) The most common Arabic 'oud tuning, C-FF-AA-DD-GG-CC, is less compatible. I once turned down an invitation to join
a band in part (there were other reasons of course, e.g., I didn't want to be their "token 'authentic'" ME/NA instrument/player) because the scores
they sent me were all in crappy keys for Arabic 'oud, e.g., E Major. If you want to play songs together, you may want to go on-line and look for
scores of Turkish and/or Arabic scores with chords called out. This would mean leaning toward modern, rather than traditional (monophonic) pieces.
If you as a guitarist want to jam with an Arabic 'oud player, maybe have a conversation first about songs and keys; as the fretted instrument, you are
most flexible one.
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