Bouzouki

Bouzouki
Other namesBuzuki, trichordo, tetrachordo
Classification

Plucked string instrument

Hornbostel–Sachs classification321.321
(string instrument with a pear-shaped body and a long neck, played with plectrum)
Playing range
C3 – E6 (tetrachordo), D3 – E6 (trichordo)
Related instruments

The bouzouki (/bˈzki, bʊˈ-/,[1][2] also US: /bəˈ-/;[3] Greek: μπουζούκι [buˈzuki]; alt. pl. bouzoukia, from Greek μπουζούκια) is a musical instrument popular in Greece. 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 producing a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but pitched lower. It is the precursor to the Irish bouzouki, an instrument derived from the Greek bouzouki that is popular in Celtic, English, and North American folk music. There are two main types of Greek 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, and quickly became the central instrument to the rebetiko genre and its music branches.[4] It is now an important element of modern Laïko pop Greek music.

  1. ^ "Bouzouki". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins.
  2. ^ "bouzouki" (US) and "bouzouki". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2020-03-22.
  3. ^ "bouzouki". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  4. ^ "Bouzouki". Archived from the original on 2012-02-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)