“Musicians have it tough, so they ... /... have to be friendlier than everyone else.”/Ziad Khawam was born in Aleppo. He’s the middle of nine siblings./He’s always loved music, so his father sent him to an Arabic music school at the age of ten./“How do you play that?”/His music instructor shows him the Kanun./The Kanun is an oriental zither. It’s the instrument used in the Arabic improvisational arts./The Kanun player leads the orchestra, thereby enjoying great esteem. With his right hand, Ziad plucks the base melody./His left hand takes care of the ornamentation. Metal picks are attached to his pointers like thimbles.
