Taqsim (Arabic: تَقْسِيم‎/ALA-LC: taqsīm; Greek: ταξίμι taksimi, Turkish: taksim), is the name of a melodic improvisation style that could be metric or non-metric, which usually precedes a composition in Arabic, Greek, Middle Eastern or Turkish music. The taqsim is usually performed by a solo instrument, yet sometimes the soloist can be backed by a percussionist or an instrumentalist playing a drone on the tonic of the maqam. In vocal music, a similar style is called layali.

It is widely seen as an art of improvisation in a specific maqam, but usually modulation to other maqams are present in a taqsim.

Taqsim traditionally follows a certain melodic progression. Starting from the tonic of the maqam, the first few measures of the improvisation remains in the lower ajnas of the maqam, by that introducing the maqam to the ear of the listener. Following the introduction, the improviser is free to move anywhere in the maqam and even modulate to other maqams, as long as he returns to the original. Taqsim is considered by many to be a connection to the spiritual world.

Karim Nagi is an Egyptian musician, composer, music arranger and DJ. He specializes in traditional Arabic music but is widely known for his innovative approach.

Also known as Turbo Tabla, Karim Nagi has released two CDs distributed Internationally by Universal Records: Belly Dance Overdrive and the Belly and the Beat. These CDs are pioneers mixing traditional Arabic sounds with Hip Hop, Techno and House. He has also recorded music for Bellydance Superstars, Bellyqueen, and the Bellytwins, as well as mainstream artists like Alicia Keys, and The Urban Griot Project.

He is also the director of the Sharq ensemble, a group the has revived the traditional Arabic music and has performed, toured and released one CD with the Boston Camerata.

Karim Nagi started the program Arabiqa, aimed to educate children and adults alike on Arabic culture through music and arts rather that through religion and politics.

Born in Kuwait, Karim Nagi lived in Egypt until his father received an offer to complete his residency in England. When Karim was 7, his father moved to the United States to work as a doctor.

Munir Bashir (Arabic: منير بشير‎, Syriac: ܡܘܢܝܪ ܒܫܝܪ) (1930 – September 28, 1997) was an Iraqi musician and one of the most famous musicians in the Middle East during the 20th century and was considered to be the supreme master of the Arab maqamat scale system.

He created different styles of the Arabian short scaled lute, the oud. He was one of the first middle eastern instrumentalists known to Europe and America. Bashir’s music is distinguished by a novel style of improvisation that reflects his study of Indian and European tonal art in addition to oriental forms. Born in Iraq, he had to deal with numerous disruptions of violent coup attempts and multiple wars that the country went through. He would eventually exile to Europe and become noticeable first in eastern nations such as Hungary and Bulgaria.

Munir Bashir was born in Mosul, situated in northern Iraq. According to different references he was born in a period of time from 1928 to 1930. Bashir is descended from a family of Assyrian heritage. His father Abd al-Aziz and his brother Jamil had good reputations as oud-soloists and vocalists; Jamil wrote an important textbook for the oud. The family started musically educating young Bashir at his age of five, Bashir's father began to instruct him and his older brother Jamil in the basics of ud. His father, who was also a poet believed that a pure tradition of Arab music had devolved in Baghdad. He first learned to play the violoncello, a European instrument that had become a popular bass-instrument in Arabian music during the end of the 19th century. He simultaneously was taught playing the oud. The lute plays a similar role in Arabian music as the piano does in European music: it is the instrument used to impart the most important theoretical aspects in music.

Dimitrie Cantemir (Romanian: [diˈmitri.e kanteˈmir]; 1673 – 1723) was twice Prince of Moldavia (in March–April 1693 and in 1710–1711). He was also a prolific man of letters – philosopher, historian, composer, musicologist, linguist, ethnographer, and geographer.

His name is spelled Dimitrie Cantemir in Romanian, Dmitriy Konstantinovich Kantemir (Дми́трий Константи́нович Кантеми́р) in Russian, Dimitri Kantemiroğlu in Turkish, Dymitr Kantemir in Polish, Dimitrios Kantemiris (Δημήτριος Καντεμίρης) in Greek and Demetre Cantemir in several other languages.

Born in Silişteni (renamed Dimitrie Cantemir and now located in Vaslui County, Romania), Dimitrie was the son of Moldavian Voivode Constantin Cantemir (and brother to Antioh Cantemir, himself Prince), of the low-ranking boyar Cantemireşti family. His mother, Ana Bantăş, was a learned woman of noble origins. (Cantemir never forgot his paternal ancestry, but while in Constantinople because of his name similarity locals inspired him to claim descent from Khan Temir, an early 17th century khan of the Budjak Tatars – see Moldavian Magnate Wars on some occasions.)