Salah Eddin Maraqa Qanun

The Qānūn (tr. Kanun, gr. Kanonaki) is a plucked box zither or psaltery of the Middle East, North Africa and parts of Asia. It is trapezoidal in shape, two of the sides forming a right angle. It consists of a flat box, 3 to 6 cm (or even 10 cm) thick, made of walnut or maple wood (formerly mahogany or plum). The Turkish Kanun is made of walnut, plane, pine or ebony. The longer side varies in length between 75 and 100 cm. The perpendicular section is always on the player’s right.

About one fifth of the surface consists of a narrow section covered in skin (formerly fishskin, now sheepskin or more often an artificial fabric) which runs the length of the instrument. Hereupon rests the bridge.

On the left, the soundboard has a number of round soundholes. In Order to the left follow the levers (mostly made of brass or an alloy of iron and alpaca), nut, pins and pegbox, which is affixed to the soundbox. Intervals can be minutely adjusted by raising or lowering the levers, which control the tension and alter the length of the strings. There are two to ten for every three strings on the modern Arab Qānūn and six to twelve on those from Turkey.

The number of strings − once of gut, now of nylon − has always varied. Nowadays there are about 26 courses of strings, with three strings per course for the Arab type and 24 to 26 courses for the Turkish, ranging from three to four octaves.
For playing, the instrument is rested on the player’s lap or on a special table. The technique and playing style seem to be the product of continuous evolution. The strings are plucked with plectra made out of horn or a tortoise shell. Modern players however use their ten fingers and their both hands independently; which encouraged the development of virtuoso technique and also facilitated the application of harmonic and polyphonic textures.