Encompassing a history for more than two thousand years, the music of the Arabs is unique among the world's various musical cultures. Based on a modal tone system - one of the few autonomous tone systems of our time - Arab music is characterized by the maqam phenomenon, an original type of improvisation that is common to both secular and sacred Arabian art music. Arab countries throughout North Africa and the Middle East share musical forms, rhythms, modes, and techniques.

The book presents an overview of the musical life of the Arabs throughout their cultural history and examines the artistic output of musicians involved in performing and nurturing Arabian art music today. Covering secular and sacred, instrumental and vocal, improvised the composed music, the book elucidates the maqam phenomenon and other musical structures typical of Arab music.

The author examines traditional musical genres and instruments and discusses the problem of cultural identity facing musicians and composers in Arab society. Written in a clear, unassuming style, and illustrated with numerous transcriptions of maqam scales and rhythmic patterns, the book serves as a useful introduction to Arab music in its cultural context.

1. The book is complete with a detailed bibliography, a discography (mainly covering the last fifty years), and a guide to the Arabic alphabet for English speakers. Also available separately to accompany the book is a CD of seven traditional Arabic pieces, performed by contemporary Arab musicians, which represent rare gems of Arab music from the Arabian Gulf and Iraq.