Preface Acknowledgments Abbreviations Part 1: The Theoretical Arts Introduction Chapter 1: The Preference of Speech over Muteness Chapter 2: The Gems of Philosophers'' Aphorisms Chapter 3: On the Sophistication of Melodies Chapter 4: The Meanings of Melodies Chapter 5: Composing Melodies That Suit the Poems Chapter 6: The Definition of Singing and Its Components Chapter 7: The Definition of the Voice and Its Production Chapter 8: Poetic and Musical Divisions Chapter 9: The Origin of Arabic Singing Chapter 10: Favoring Older Poetry over the Modern Chapter 11: Favoring Older Singing over the Modern Chapter 12: The Character, Effects, and Types of Melodies Chapter 13: The Names of the First Male Singers in the Jahiliyya Chapter 14: The Names of the First Songstresses in the Jahiliyya Chapter 15: The Names of the First Male Singers in Early Islam Chapter 16: The Names of the First Songstresses in Early Islam in addition to the Ones I Have Already Mentioned Chapter 17: The Names of the Effeminates in Early Islam Chapter 18: The First to Notate Songs Chapter 19: The Grand, Medium, and Smaller Compositions Chapter 20: arab and Its Causes Chapter 21: The Tonalities in Singing, Their Arrangements and Types Chapter 22: Vowels and Consonants Chapter 23: Testing the Essences of the Voices Chapter 24: Tricks Used to Bring Throats in Tune with the Strings Chapter 25: The Names of Voices ( alq ), Their Good and Bad Qualities Chapter 26: Beautiful ( mula ) Vocal Music, Techniques, and Qualities Chapter 27: Tricks Used in Stealing Songs and Precautions to Prevent This Chapter 28: Food and Drinks That Are Beneficial to the Throats and Those That Are Not Chapter 29: Locations That Are Beneficial for Voices and Improve Them, and Those That Diminish and Spoil Them Chapter 30: The Ranks of Boon Companions and Singers Chapter 31: Instruments That Overwhelm the Voices and Other Factors Chapter 32: The Care of Throats in General, and before and after Puberty Chapter 33: On Knowing the Reasons Musicians Get Off Rhythm Chapter 34: Approaches to Teaching and How to Apply Them Chapter 35: The Reasons for Poor Intonation and Its Characteristics Chapter 36: Planning and Determining Where and How Much to Breathe Chapter 37: Murasala , mubayana , and mumathala Chapter 38: Syncopation and Guidance to It Chapter 39: Twittering and Its Derivation Chapter 40: The Definition of tarkhim Chapter 41: Tarji and Its Characteristics Chapter 42: Nashid s and Their Types Chapter 43: What Stimulates the Singer To Be Active and What Makes Him Sluggish Chapter 44: Opening Songs in the Company of Kings Chapter 45: How to Arrange and Order the Songs in the majalis Chapter 46: Good Qualities [to Have] While Singing Chapter 47: Good and Bad Song Themes Chapter 48: Who Are Better: The Singers of Persia, India, or Byzantium Chapter 49: Mention of the Male Singers in the Umayyad Era Chapter 50: Mention of the Songstresses in the Umayyad Era Chapter 51: Mention of the Male Singers in the Abbasid Era Chapter 52: Mention of the Songstresses in the Abbasid Era Chapter 53: Mention of the Slave Singers and Songstresses in the Abbasid Era Chapter 54: Mention of the Male Singers and Songstresses in the Ikhshidid Era in Egypt Chapter 55: Mention of the Male Singers in the Alawid Era in Egypt Chapter 56: Mention of the Songstresses in the Alawid Era in Egypt Chapter 57: Mention of the Male Slave Singers in the Alawid Era in Egypt Chapter 58: Mention of the Male Syrian Singers Chapter 59: Mention of the Syrian Songstresses Chapter 60: Mention of the Umayyad Caliphs Who Sang Chapter 61: Mention of the Abbasid Caliphs Who Sang Chapter 62: Mention of the Abbasid Caliphs'' Sons Who Sang Chapter 63: Mention of the Abbasid Caliphs'' Daughters Who Sang Chapter 64: Mention of the Viziers, Princes, and Their Sons Who Sang Chapter 65: Mention of the Male and Female unbur Players Chapter 66: On the Proper Behavior to Praise Men and Women When They Reach a State of Arab Chapter 67: Mention of the One Hundred Chosen Songs Chapter 68: The Permissibility of Singing Chapter 69: The Qualities of a Skilled Singer Chapter 70: Tools to Use to Test the Person Who Pretends to Know the Science of Music Chapter 71: Bad Intonation among Men and Women Chapter 72: Higher and Lower Octaves Chapter 73: How to Choose Would-Be Singers [Girls and Boys] in Order to Teach Them Singing Chapter 74: Behavior before Kings and Their Subjects Chapter 75: Sayings and Poems of Praise about Male Singers and Songstresses in the Past Chapter 76: Satirical Poems about Male Singers and Songstresses in Earlier Times Chapter 77: Poems of Praise about Male Singers in Our Era Chapter 78: Satirical Poems about Male Singers [and Songstresses] in Our Era Chapter 79: The Compositional Output of Male Singers in Earlier Times Chapter 80: Stories about Male Singers in Earlier Times and Their Pedigree Part 2: The Practical Arts Chapter 1: The Meaning of the Word Music Chapter 2: The Inventor of the Lute and Differing Views about It Chapter 3: The Dimensions of the Lute, Its Material, Construction, and Names of Its Various Parts Chapter 4: The Frets, Their Names, Placements, Tying Them on the Finger Board, and Their Functions Chapter 5: The Strings, Their Characters, Names, Choosing Them, and Stringing Them on the Lute Chapter 6: The Names of Rhythmic Modes ( ariqa ), Their Types ( jins ), Their Cycles, and Number of Attacks Chapter 7: The State of the Notes, Their Qualities, Quantities, Numbers, and Placements on the Strings of the Lute Chapter 8: The Genuses of Notes Used at the Beginning of a Piece, and Types of Movements through the Frets Chapter 9: The Rhythmic Modes in Use, [and the Player''s] Motions and Required Matters Chapter 10: The Best Person to Have Played the Persian Lute, and the Number of Persian Modes Chapter 11: The Best Person to Have Played the Arabic Lute and to Have Sung Arabic Songs Accompanying Himself Chapter 12: The Description of the Lute, Its Praise, Preferring It to All Other Instruments That Accompany Singing, What It Resembles, and Poems Composed about It Chapter 13: The Reason for Setting the zir String at the Bottom, and the bamm at the Top Chapter 14: Tuning and Detuning the Strings Chapter 15: The Beautiful Techniques ( mula ) That Affect the Rhythms and Rhythmic Modes, Their Numbers and Types Chapter 16: On Dance, Its Types and Names [Ibn al-aan''s Passage Quoted by al-Tifashi] Chapter 17: [On the] Disagreement between [Isaq b.] Ibrahim al-Mawili and Ibrahim b. al-Mahdi about the Rhythmic Modes Chapter 18: The Definitions of al-surayji , al-makhuri , al-mujannab , and al-mukhalif Chapter 19: The Definitions of al-khusruwani , al-arkhani , al-umayri , and khafif hazaj Chapter 20: On Choosing the Proper Instrument to Fit Various Throats Chapter 21: Mention of the unbur , mizafa , rabab , mizmar , abl , urghun , qithara , sulyaq , duff , alikh , and kankala Chapter 22: On Which Particular Genuses of Modes Should be Used in Which Types of Melodies; Modes Used Plainly ( sadhij ) without Mixing ( tamzij ) and without Moving [from One to Another] are Unpleasant and Do Not Cause arab Appendix: Ibn Khurdadhbih''s Passage Quoted by al-Tifashi. The Number of Types of Dances, Nations, and Regions That Created Them Arabic-English Glossary Chart Bibliography Index of People and Places Index of Terms and Subjects.