Kitāb Adab al-ghināʾ

George Dimitri Sawa, Ph.D. (1983), University of Toronto, independent scholar in Arabic music theory, performance and literature. He taught medieval, modern and sacred music at the University of Toronto and York and published nine books and over seventy articles.

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbbreviations[Short Descriptive] List of All the Chapters of the Manuscript Called the Completion of Musical Knowledge (Kamāl Adab al-ghināʾ)Introduction1 Ṭarab2 On the Virtues of Melodies3 The Meanings of Melodies4 The Effects of Melodies5 The Superiority of Older Singing6 The Superiority of Older Poetry7 The Superiority of Music8 The Characteristics of Melodies9 The Resemblance between the Soul, the Melodies, and the Celestial Sphere10 The State of the Notes11 [The Causes or Mechanics of] Sound Production (Taṣwīt)12 [The Meaning of the] Word Music13 The Delimitations of the Notes14 The Divisions of the Frets of the Pandore15 Melodic Modes (Ajnās al-nagham)16 The Fundamentals of Melodies17 Voiced Letters18 Planning and Determining [Where and How Much to Breathe]19 The Poetic Meters20 The Structure of the Melody21 The Qualification of Melodies22 Composing Melodies that Suit the Poems23 Specific Places in Melodies [to Beautify with Specific Techniques]24 Specific Places in the Playing of Instruments [to Beautify with Specific Techniques]25 What It Is Preferable to Highlight in Melodies26 What It Is Preferable to Hide in Melodies27 Opening Songs28 Rhythms and Rhythmic Modes29 Being in Rhythm30 The Theft of Melodies (al-Sariqāt)31 The Strings32 The Names of the Melodic and Rhythmic Modes (Ṭarāʾiq)33 The Qualities of the Singer34 Good Qualities [to Have While Singing]35 The Qualities of the Throats36 The Arrangement of Singing37 Praise and Requests for Repetitions38 Testing39 Things that Are Beneficial to the Throats40 The Dimensions of Instruments, Arrangements of Frets, and Choice of Strings41 Music Education42 Addenda43 The Sources (al-Irshād)GlossaryChartsBibliographyIndex of People and PlacesIndex of Terms and Subjects