The qanún is a musical string instrument used in Middle-Eastern music. It consists of a trapezoidal sounding board, the right side of which is parallel to the bottom. The strings are stretched over a single bridge on the right of the instrument, with tuning pegs on the left. It is played by plucking the strings with two tortoise-shell picks, one in each hand, and usually has a range of three octaves.

It is a descendant of an old Egyptian harp, and is related to the psaltery, dulcimer and zither. Begoña Olavide is a present day exponent of this instrument.

External links

• Arab musical instruments (http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/700/780/fairuz/legend/instruments.html)
• Qanún (table zither) (http://www.salamatmusic.com/instruments/qanun.htm)
• Topic map representation (http://trumpet.sdsu.edu/M345/Knowledge_Webs/2Arab_MusicY/qanun.htm)