Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge and thank my friends: Tricia Postle for her kindness and patience typing all 323 musical examples; David Krysko for the cover photo of me playing the qanun; Pedro Bonatto de Castro for the photos of the qanuns on the cover; Shauna Rae for the graphic design of the cover; Remond Sarweh for supplying me with recordings of his brother Selim Sarweh, the famous Syrian qanun virtuoso. Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Suzanne Meyers Sawa, for suggesting that I undertake this project, and for her support and encouragement in all my scholarly endeavors over many years.