Nisiotika (, meaning "insular (songs)") are the songs and dances of the Aegean islands with a variety of styles. Outside of Greece, it is played in the

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

in countries such as

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, the

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and elsewhere. The

lyre The lyre () (from Greek λύρα and Latin ''lyra)'' is a string instrument, stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the History of lute-family instruments, lute family of instruments. In organology, a ...

is the dominant

folk instrument A folk instrument is a traditional musical instrument that has remained largely restricted to traditional folk music, and is not usually used in the classical music or other elite and formal musical genres of the culture concerned, though relate ...

along with the laouto,

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

tsampouna The tsampouna (or tsambouna; ) is a Greek musical instrument and part of the bagpipe family. It is a double- chantered bagpipe, with no drone, and is inflated by blowing by mouth into a goatskin bag. The instrument is widespread in the Greek isla ...

, and souravli with widely varying Greek characteristics. The

and

are typically played in a microtonal manor through the usage of specific articulations and string bending. Representative musicians and performers of Nisiotika include: Mariza Koch, credited with reviving the field in the 1970s, Yiannis Parios, Domna Samiou and the Konitopoulos family (Giorgos and Vangelis Konitopoulos, Eirini, Nasia and Stella Konitopoulou). There are also prominent elements of Cretan music on the Dodecanese Islands and

Cyclades The CYCLADES computer network () was a French research network created in the early 1970s. It was one of the pioneering networks experimenting with the concept of packet switching and, unlike the ARPANET, was explicitly designed to facilitate i ...

Notable artists

Composers

* Giorgos Konitopoulos * Vangelis Konitopoulos * Stathis Koukoularis * Yiannis Parios * Nikos Ikonomidis * Stamatis Hatzopoulos

Singers

Glykeria Glykeria (born Glykeria Kotsoula, ; born 16 November 1953 in Agio Pnevma, Serres) is a Greek singer active in Greece and Cyprus, while also gaining fame in Israel, France, Turkey, Spain, and England. Her career has spanned over 30 years and is m ...

* Vagelis Konitopoulos * Stella Konitopoulou * Yiannis Parios * Domna Samiou * Mariza Koch * Nasia Konitopoulou

Folk dances

The Aegean Islands have a rich folk dance tradition. For example; syrtos, sousta and ballos. * Ballos * Ikariotikos * Kamara * Kalymnikos * Karavas of

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

* Lerikos of

Leros Leros (), also called Lero (from the Italian language), is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by a nine-hour ferry ride or by a 45-min ...

* Mihanikos * Parianos * Pentozalis * Pirgousikos of

Chios Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...

* Pidikhtos * Rhoditikos * Sousta (Sousta Lerou, Sousta Tilou) * Syrtos (Syrtos Kythnou, Syrtos Serifou, Syrtos Naxou) * Trata

References

External links

Musipedia: Νησιώτικα
{{Music of Southeastern Europe (the Balkans) Greek dances