#Greek stringed instrument professional#

Sometimes percussion instruments like a defi or daouli might be played to accompany the lyra. Since the instrument was often played alone, the tuning was often done according to the preference of the musician and his voice’s range. Common tunings include: a-a-d, e-a-d, and many others. They sometimes even dance in front of the dancers while holding the lyra in that way. Sometimes they rest the instrument on their knee when they are sitting, and sometimes it is held out in front of them. It is played like a violin (violi) with a primitive style bow, but the musicians hold the lyra in an upright position. In the Greek world there are three variants characterised by their differing size and tuning with the Steriano (mainland Greece), the Cretan Laouto also known as (lagouto) and the Cypriot laouto as the main variants.The LYRA of the Greeks of Pontos (Black Sea region of Asia Minor) is also known as the Kementse. It has evolved into the present variant of 11 moveable frets along the neck and up to nine fixed wooden frets on the sound board.

The laouto or lute is another descendant of the Tabouras family of long-necked stringed instruments. An 18th century illustration shows a Greek playing a tamboura – a stringed instrument of which the bouzouki is but one descendant. In the last century, Musicians playing the bouzouki or its smaller cousin, the baglamas were often persecuted and their instruments smashed by the police. It became central instrument of the rebetiko music and despite the best efforts of the authorities, it has since become the key instrument of Greek laiko/popular music. The bouzouki has 27 frets along its neck. There are two types: the Trichordo with three pairs of strings and the tetrachordo (four pairs) which was developed in 1950s and made popular by Manolis Chiotis. It’s steel strings are played with a plectrum. The bouzouki was brought into Greece in the early 20th Century by immigrants from Asia Minor. It is derived from the plucked musical instrument family of the thabouras (tambouras) instruments dating back to Ancient Greece from which the lute is derived. The bouzouki is the king of long-necked stringed musical instruments of modern Greece. The lyre was the popular four-string version of the Kithara that was easier to play and was mostly used as a folk instrument in rustic events. In mythology it was Hermes who is credited with creating the kithara from tortoise shell which Apollo the god of music adopted as his chosen instrument. Yet another native of Lesvos, Phrynis, is the first man to have played the kithara in Athens. The poetess Sappho was a virtuoso of the instrument and composed many songs. However, the instrument is thought to have originated from Anatolia. Some consider that Terpander of Lesvos (the father of Greek music and lyric poetry) to have invented the instrument in the 7th Century BC. It was the instrument for the big occasion and was played solo at receptions, dances, recitations of epic poems and lyric songs, banquets and other major events.

#Greek stringed instrument professional#

The ancient kithara, would have been played by professional musicians using a stiff plectrum of dried leather. While modern Greeks have used the word “kithara” to describe the guitar of today, the ancients would have used the word to describe the seven-stringed instrument of the harp family of stringed instruments.