Bouzouki
The bouzouki (gr. το μπουζούκι; pl. τα μπουζούκια) (plural sometimes transliterated as bouzoukia) is the mainstay of modern Greek music, and is also found in Irish music. It is a stringed instrument with a pear-shaped body and a very long neck. The bouzouki is a member of the 'long neck lute' family and is similar to an oversized mandolin. The front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound.
There are three main types of bouzouki:
- Trichordo having three pairs of strings (courses).
- Tetrachordo having four pairs of strings.
- Irish.
The trichordo bouzouki
This was the original form of the bouzouki, and has 6 strings in three pairs. It is this type of bouzouki that is used for Rebetiko.
The tetrachordo bouzouki
This most popular bouzouki has 8 metal strings which are arranged in 4 pairs, known as courses. In the two higher-pitched (treble) courses, the two strings of the pair are tuned to the same note. These are used for playing melodies, usually with the two courses played together. In the two lower-pitched (bass) courses, the pair consists of a thick string and a thin string tuned an octave apart. 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 original tuning for the four-course bouzouki is C3 F3 A3 D4 (where C4 is Middle C). This makes it the same tuning pattern as the first four strings on a guitar, but pitched down a whole tone. In recent times, some players have taken to tuning their bouzoukis up in pitch to D3G3B3E4, which is the same exactly as the first four strings of the guitar, making it easier to play both instruments.
History
Despite being nearly synonymous with Greek music, bouzoukis have not been around in Greece all that long. As recently as 1920, they were relatively unknown, used exclusively in Rembetiko music - a sort of urban blues in mainland Greece. They belong to a tradition of long neck lute instruments bearing various names such as Saz, Tanbur and Bouzouk. In fact the name "Bouzouki" derives from "Bozuk" which means "broken", referring to the alteration of the tuning of this instrument from the Anatolian/ Central Asian originated Saz or Baglama in Turkish.
Following the 1919-1922 war in Asia Minor and the subsequent exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey, the ethnic Greeks fled to Greece. The refugees brought with them the music known as Smyrneika, which made use of the arabic lute (al ud or 'outi' as the Greeks called it). Soon the outi was replaced by the bouzouki and the Smyrneika style fused into the Rembetika.
The early bouzoukis were Trichordo, with three courses (six strings in three pairs) and were generally tuned to D3/D4 A3 D4. This tuning fits in well with the music of the Middle East, as an open chord is neither major nor minor, allowing great flexibility with the melody. Trichordo bouzoukis are still being made, and are very popular with aficionados of Rembetika.
After the Second World War, Tetrachordo (four-course) bouzoukis started to appear. It is not known who first added the fourth course. Possibly Stefanakis or Anastasios Stathopoulos. The tetrachordo was made popular by Manolis Chiotis.
Bouzoukis in Irish Music
The Greek bouzouki was introduced into Irish Traditional Music in the 1960s by Johnny Moynihan and was quickly taken up by Andy Irvine. Soon after, the Irish bouzouki began to develop into something like its current form. Today, the Irish bouzouki is an important part of the Irish trad scene, most often (though not always) playing accompaniment (mostly a mix of two note chords, basslines, and bits of countermelody) rather than the melody. Perhaps the best known exponent of the Irish bouzouki is Donal Lunny.
The Irish bouzouki generally has a flat or lightly arched back (like that of a guitar or an Irish, American, or Portuguese style mandolin) in place of stave-built round back of the Greek bouzouki, and unlike the Greek instrument is usually tuned to GDAD or GDAE (an octave below the mandolin). For all intents and purposes, the modern Irish bouzouki is a member of the mandolin family, and a bouzouki in name only. Like mandolins, Irish bouzoukis are variously made with flat, carved (arched) and bent tops. Hardly anyone uses the Greek bouzouki for Irish music today; Alec Finn is the only professional of any consequence to continue in playing one.
The typical scale length of the Irish bouzouki is 22 to 24 inches (550 to 610 mm), although some are as long as 26 inches (660 mm); an instrument in the same tuning with a scale length of 20 inches (500 mm) or less is generally termed an octave mandola (Europe, Ireland, and the UK) or octave mandolin (US and Canada).
The first Irish bouzouki was probably one built by Peter Abnett, an English luthier who continues to build bouzoukis and other mandolin family instruments to this day. Luthiers Stefan Sobell and Joe Foley have also been major figures in the development of the instrument.