The bouzouki (,
also ; el, μπουζούκι ;
alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a
musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...
popular in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...
. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and a long neck with a
fretted fingerboard. It has steel strings and is played with a
plectrum
A plectrum is a small flat tool used for plucking or strumming of a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick and is held as a separate tool in the player's hand. In har ...
producing a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a
mandolin
A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of ...
but pitched lower. There are two main types of bouzouki: the ''trichordo'' (''three-course'') has three pairs of strings (known as courses) and the ''tetrachordo'' (''four-course'') has four pairs of strings. The instrument was brought to Greece in the early
1900s by
Greek refugees from
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, and quickly became the central instrument to the
rebetiko genre and its music branches. It is now an important element of modern
Laïko pop
Greek music.
Etymology
The name ''bouzouki'' comes from the
Turkish word , meaning "broken" or "modified", and comes from a particular
re-entrant tuning called , which was commonly used on its Turkish counterpart, the . It is in the same instrumental family as the
mandolin
A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of ...
and the
lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
. Originally the body was carved from a solid block of wood, similar to the
saz, but upon its arrival in Greece in the early 1910s it was modified by the addition of a staved back borrowed from the
Neapolitan mandola, and the top angled in the manner of a Neapolitan mandolins so as to increase the strength of the body to withstand thicker steel strings. The type of the instrument used in
rebetiko music was a three-course instrument with three pairs of strings, but in the 1950s a four-course variety was developed and was made popular by
Manolis Chiotis.
Construction
200px, Bouzouki player in , July 2018">Athens, July 2018
From a construction point of view, the bouzouki can have differences not only in the number of strings but also in other features, e.g. neck length, width, height, depth of the bowl or main body, the width of the staves (the wooden
gores or slices of the bowl) etc. These differences are determined by the manufacturer, who in his experience and according to the sound that the instrument should make, modifies his functional elements to achieve a more piercing, deeper or heavier sound.
The size and type of the resonating body largely determine the instrument's timbre, while the length of the neck, and by extension the strings, determines the instrument's pitch range, as well as influencing the timbre. While neck length can vary from instrument to instrument, most bouzoukis have the same number of frets (27), spaced such as to provide a chromatic scale in 12-tone equal temperament. On modern instruments the frets are metal, and set into a fixed position in the fingerboard (in contrast to early instruments and the related baglama, in which frets were of gut or cord tied onto the neck, and moveable.) The quality of the wood from which the instrument is made is of great importance to the sound. For the construction of the bowl, mulberry, apricot, cherry, acacia, and elm are considered to be the best woods, with walnut, plane, and chestnut being slightly inferior. The wood must be solid and sourced from slow-growth trees. The top or soundboard should be cedar or spruce (preferably spruce) if possible, cut in one piece. The top plays a major role in the sound because it resonates and strengthens and prolongs the vibration of the strings. Another factor that affects the quality of the sound is the varnish and the method of its application. The best varnish is a natural one made of
shellac, which is applied by hand in many layers in the traditional way, for both acoustic and visual effects. The neck must be of very dry hardwood in order not to warp and increase the distance of the strings from the fret board (the action height) which makes playing the instrument more laborious. Manufacturers use different techniques to achieve this, each one having its own secrets. Many modern instruments have a metal rod or bar (truss-rod) set into a channel in the neck, under the fingerboard, which adds some weight but increases rigidity, and allows adjustment of the neck should it begin to warp.
History
The Greek bouzouki is a plucked musical instrument of the lute family, called the
thabouras or tambouras family. The tambouras existed in
ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cu ...
as the
pandura, and can be found in various sizes, shapes, depths of body, lengths of neck and number of strings. The bouzouki and the
baglamas are the direct descendants. The Greek marble relief, known as the
Mantineia Base (now exhibited at the
National Archaeological Museum of Athens
The National Archaeological Museum ( el, Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο) in Athens houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity. It is ...
), dating from 330–320 BC, shows a muse playing a variant of the pandoura.
From
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
times it was called first ''pandoura'' and then ''tambouras''. On display in the
National Historical Museum of Greece
The Old Parliament House ( el, Μέγαρο της Παλαιάς Βουλής, ''Paleá Voulí'') at Stadiou Street in Athens, housed the Greek Parliament between 1875 and 1935. It now houses the country's National Historical Museum.
History
...
is the tambouras of a hero of the
Greek revolution of 1821,
General Makriyiannis.
Other sizes have appeared and include the Greek instrument
tzouras, an instrument smaller in size than standard bouzoukia.
The bouzouki arrived in Greece following the
1919–1922 war in Asia Minor and the subsequent
population exchange between Greece and Turkey
The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey ( el, Ἡ Ἀνταλλαγή, I Antallagí, ota, مبادله, Mübâdele, tr, Mübadele) stemmed from the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" signed at ...
. The early bouzoukia mostly had three courses (six strings in three pairs, known as ''trichordo'') and were tuned in different ways, according to the scale one wanted to play. At the end of the 1950s, four-course (tetrachordo) bouzoukia started to gain popularity. The four-course bouzouki was made popular by
Manolis Chiotis, who also used a tuning akin to standard guitar tuning, which made it easier for guitarists to play bouzouki; this angered purists, but allowed for greater virtuosity and helped elevate the bouzouki into a truly popular instrument capable of a wide range of musical expression. Recently the three-course bouzouki has gained in popularity. The first recording with the four-course instrument was made in 1956.
The
Irish bouzouki, with four courses, a flatter back, and differently tuned from the Greek bouzouki, is a more recent development, stemming from the introduction of the Greek instrument into Irish music by
Johnny Moynihan around 1965. It was subsequently adopted by
Andy Irvine,
Dónal Lunny, and many others, although some Irish musicians, such as the late
Alec Finn, continued to use the Greek-style instruments.
Three-course bouzouki (trichordo)
This is the classic style of bouzouki, introduced around 1900, that was the mainstay of most rebetiko music. It has fixed frets and 6 strings in three pairs. In the lower-pitched (bass) course, the pair consists of a thick wound string and a thin string, tuned an octave apart. The conventional modern tuning of the ''trichordo'' bouzouki is D
3D
4–A
3A
3–D
4D
4. This tuning was called the "European tuning" by
Markos Vamvakaris
Márkos Vamvakáris ( el, Μάρκος Βαμβακάρης; 10 May 1905 – 8 February 1972), was a ''rebetiko'' musician. He is universally referred to by ''rebetiko'' writers and fans simply by his first name, Márkos. The great significance ...
, who mentioned (but failed to describe) several other tunings, or ''douzenia'', in his autobiography.
The illustrated bouzouki was made by
Karolos Tsakirian of Athens, and is a replica of a ''trichordo'' bouzouki made by his grandfather for
Markos Vamvakaris
Márkos Vamvakáris ( el, Μάρκος Βαμβακάρης; 10 May 1905 – 8 February 1972), was a ''rebetiko'' musician. He is universally referred to by ''rebetiko'' writers and fans simply by his first name, Márkos. The great significance ...
. The absence of the heavy mother-of-pearl ornamentation often seen on modern bouzoukia is typical of bouzoukia of the period. It has tuners for eight strings, but has only six strings, the neck being too narrow for eight. The luthiers of the time often used sets of four tuners on trichordo instruments, as these were more easily available, being also used on mandolins.
Four-course bouzouki (tetrachordo)
This type of bouzouki has 8 metal strings, which are arranged in 4 pairs, known as courses, typically tuned C
3C
4–F
3F
4–A
3A
3–D
4D
4 (i.e., one whole step below the four high strings of a
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...
). In the two higher-pitched (
treble) courses, the two strings of the pair are tuned to the same note. In the two lower-pitched (
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
) courses, the pair consists of a thick wound string and a thin string tuned an
octave
In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...
apart. On the bouzouki the lower-pitched string comes first in these courses, the reverse of most other instruments with octave-paired courses (such as the
12-string guitar,
charango
The charango is a small Andean stringed instrument of the lute family, from the Quechua and Aymara populations in the territory of the Altiplano in post-Colonial times, after European stringed instruments were introduced by the Spanish during co ...
or
bajo sexto
Bajo sexto (Spanish: "sixth bass") is a Mexican string instrument from the guitar family with 12 strings in six double courses. A closely related instrument is the bajo quinto (Spanish: "fifth bass") which has 10 strings in five double courses ...
). These 'octave strings' add to the fullness of the sound and are used in chords and bass drones (continuous low notes that are played throughout the music). The guitar-like tuning was introduced by composer and soloist
Manolis Hiotis, who found it better suited to the kind of virtuoso playing he was famous for. Today, the tetrachordo is the most common bouzouki used in Greek music, though a few traditionalists still prefer the trichordo, particularly for the older ''rebetiko'' style of playing.
Amplification
In addition to developing the modern tetrachordo bouzouki, Manolis Hiotis was a pioneer of the use of amplification for the instrument, which he may have been using as early as 1945. However, the earliest documented use of amplification for the bouzouki comes from a 1952 photograph, showing Vasilis Tsitsanis and Yiannis Papaioannou playing bouzoukis, each with an electric guitar-style pick-up attached in the soundhole. There are also numerous photographs between 1953 and 1959 showing bands in which both vocalists and bouzouki players are using microphones for amplification.
[Petropoulos, Ilias; ''Rebetika tragoudia'', 2nd ed.; Athens: Kedros, 1979. p. 488.] By 1960 special bouzouki pickups (such as the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
"Ideal") were being produced and permanently mounted in the instruments.
[Gauntlett, Stathis; "Orpheus in the criminal underworld. Myth in and about rebetika"; ''Mandaforos deltio neoellinikon spoudon''; Canberra: Australian Folk Trust; 34:Dec. 1991b. pp. 7–48] Similar pickups are widely used by several Greek artists today and come in active and passive versions.
Related instruments
The Greek
baglamas ( el, μπαγλαμάς) or
baglamadaki ( el, μπαγλαμαδάκι) is very different from the Turkish
bağlama
The ''bağlama'' or ''saz'' is a family of plucked string instruments, long-necked lutes used in Ottoman classical music, Turkish folk music, Turkish Arabesque music, Azerbaijani music, Kurdish music, Armenian music and in parts of Syria, I ...
. It is tuned the same as the trichordo bouzouki but pitched an octave higher (nominally D–A–D), with unison pairs on the four highest strings and an octave pair on the lower D. Musically, the baglamas is most often found supporting the bouzouki in the
Piraeus
Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saro ...
style of rebetiko.
*
Tzouras
*
Irish bouzouki
*
Balkan tambura
The tambura is a stringed instrument that is played as a folk instrument in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia,
and Serbia (especially Vojvodina). It has doubled steel strings and is played with a plectrum, in the same ...
*
Lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
*
Mandolin
A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of ...
*
Pandura
*
Bağlama
The ''bağlama'' or ''saz'' is a family of plucked string instruments, long-necked lutes used in Ottoman classical music, Turkish folk music, Turkish Arabesque music, Azerbaijani music, Kurdish music, Armenian music and in parts of Syria, I ...
*
Šargija
Notable players
*
Angelo Avramakis
Angelo Avramakis (Greek: Βαγγέλης Αβραμάκης) is a Greek musician and bouzouki player. Born in Serres, Greece, he has spent most of his life in Australia. He is considered the leading bouzouki player in Australia and among the top ...
*
Manolis Chiotis
*
Anestis Delias
Anestis Delias ( el, Ανέστης Δελιάς ''c''. 1912 – 31 July 1944) was a Greek bouzouki player, composer and singer of ''rebetiko''. Delias was from a musical family of Smyrna in Anatolia, who arrived on the Greek mainland as a yo ...
*
Alec Finn
*
Dimitris Gogos
Dimitris Gogos ( el, Δημήτρης Γκόγκος; 28 February 190318 November 1985) was one of the most influential singers and composers of rebetiko music. Also called Bayianteras ( el, Μπαγιαντέρας), a nickname that was given ...
*
Apostolos Kaldaras
*
Charis Lemonopoulos
*
Colin Meloy
Colin Patrick Henry Meloy (born October 5, 1974) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and author best known as the frontman of the Portland, Oregon, indie folk rock band The Decemberists. In addition to vocals, he performs with an acou ...
*
Giannis Papaioannou
Giannis Papaioannou ( el, Γιάννης Παπαϊωάννου; January 18, 1913 – August 3, 1972) was a famous Greek musician and composer born in Kios, Ottoman Empire (now Gemlik, Turkey). In English his name is sometimes romanticized as ''Y ...
*
Spyros Peristeris Spyros Peristeris ( el, Σπύρος Περιστέρης; 1900 – 15 March 1966) was a Greek ''rebetiko'' composer and a skillful mandolin and bouzouki player.
Biography
Peristeris was born in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire. His parents were Aristides, ...
*
Giannis Tatasopoulos
*
Vangelis Trigas
*
Babis Tsertos
Haralambos (Babis) Tsertos (Greek: Μπάμπης Τσέρτος; born October 27, 1956) is a Greek musician. His sister is the singer Nadia Karagianni and his father was also a musician who played the mandolin. At the age of 17, he settled perm ...
*
Vassilis Tsitsanis
*
Markos Vamvakaris
Márkos Vamvakáris ( el, Μάρκος Βαμβακάρης; 10 May 1905 – 8 February 1972), was a ''rebetiko'' musician. He is universally referred to by ''rebetiko'' writers and fans simply by his first name, Márkos. The great significance ...
*
Nikos Vrachnas
*
Giorgos Zambetas
Giorgos Zampetas (Pronounced 'Zabetas', el, Γιώργος Ζαμπέτας, sometimes romanized as George Zambetas / George Zabetas / Giorgos Zabetas; 25 January 1925 – 10 March 1992) was a Greek bouzouki musician. He was born and died in A ...
*
Phil X
*
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity and satire of ...
See also
*
Celtic music
Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considera ...
*
Cittern
*
Greek folk music
*
Greek music
*
Irish folk music
*
Laiko
*
Laouto, another Greek lute
*
Lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
*
Mandola
*
Mandolin
A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of ...
*
Octave mandolin
*
Rebetiko
*
Stringed instrument tunings
*
Tzouras
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
*
Greek Bouzouki musical instrumentat britannica.com
{{Authority control
Greek musical instruments
Cypriot musical instruments
String instruments
Necked bowl lutes
Turkish words and phrases