Greek songwriter and bouzouki player Vassilis Tsitsanis. He was widely considered one of the founders of the modern rebetiko and laiko musical genre.
The “zeibekiko” dance and the popular musical instruments “bouzouki”, “tzouras” and “baglamas” have been inscribed on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Greece, the Greek Ministry of Culture recently announced.
“Zeibekiko dance, bouzouki and similar musical instruments identify with Greece and its popular tradition. They played a leading role in Greek folk music in the 20th century,” said the Minister of Culture. Lina Mendoni said.
According to Mendoni, “bouzouki”, “tzouras” and “baglamas” are the best-known Greek musical instruments abroad.
Zeibekiko dance
Zeibekiko developed in the large urban centers of Greece, mainly in port cities including Piraeus, Patras, Syros, Thessaloniki, Volos, Chania And Kavala among others, and the eastern islands of the Aegean Sea.
The bouzouki instrument
The bouzouki was introduced to Greece in the early 1900s by Greek refugees from Anatolia and quickly became the central instrument of the rebetiko genre and its musical branches. It is now an important element of modernity laiko Greek pop music.
Mary Linda is a Greek singer of laika music. Manolis Chiotis was a Greek composer, singer and bouzouki player of rebetiko and laiko.
There are two main types of bouzouki: the trichord (three courses) has three pairs of strings (called courses) and the tetrachord (four courses) has four pairs of strings.*
Tzoura and baglama instruments
Also added to the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Greece are: tzouras And baglamas. The two musical instruments are both linked to the Greek folk tradition and associated with the zeibekiko dance.
Tzouras is related to bouzouki. It is made in six and eight string varieties.
The baglamas is a smaller version of the bouzouki pitched an octave higher, with unison pairs on the four highest strings and an octave pair on the lower D. Musically, the baglamas most often support the bouzouki in the rebetiko style of the city of Piraeus*. .
All these musical instruments are an integral part of daily life in Greece and express moments of happiness and sadness.
*With information from Wikipedia. Photos: Ministry of Culture
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