This book contains the sheet music for a wide repertoire of 166 pieces of tropical music. The genres of music it encompasses provide common ground and a shared language for those who play traditional instruments of the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as for any musician interested in exploring this repertoire, regardless of the instrument they play.

It primarily features musical pieces from the islands of the Eastern Aegean, Asia Minor, Thrace, and Crete, including early rembetiko, Smyrnaic and Constantinopolitan schools, the classical music of Istanbul, the religious musical tradition of the Sufis (ilhaqi and nefes), and works by contemporary composers.

The material is organized into thirteen sections, based on the makam to which they belong. It includes pieces that are simple for beginners as well as those of increased difficulty for all subsequent levels.

Additionally, it includes the translation/adaptation into Greek of the songs whose lyrics are either in Turkish or in a mixed Arabic-Persian Ottoman language.