This past Sunday night I heard a fine Greek trio with one man playing the
bouzouki. It looked like it had 8 strings in 4 pairs.
What is the tuning of that instrument?
This past Sunday night I heard a fine Greek trio with one man playing the
bouzouki. It looked like it had 8 strings in 4 pairs.
What is the tuning of that instrument?
Standard tuning of the tetrachordo is C3/C4 F3/F4 A3/A3 D4/D4
Roger Landes
http://rogerlandes.com
Lessons: https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/199670#199670
The Hal Leonard Irish Bouzouki Method:
https://www.halleonard.com/product/v...?itemid=696348
"Dragon Reels" 25th Anniversary Reissue
https://rogerlandes.bandcamp.com/releases
I may be the only owner of a Martin LXM tres which is three two course strings on a guitar body the size of a tenor guitar and a 23" scale. Since I don't play Cuban music, I am thinking of tuning it DAD. For those of you who play the tres (I'm looking at you Roger) are the strings in unison, doubled octave, mixed or whatever you want? Are there usable alternative tunings? String guages? I'm interested in this DAD "big comeback" even if it is in Greek music (although it should go well with ITM) as my son is married into a Greek family.
Sorry if I am hijacking the thread.
Mike Keyes
Funny, I play Greek Bouzouki and Cuban Tres!
The Tres has had several popular tunings over its history but for a while now (over half a century or more) the tuning has been:
Gg CC Ee, with BOTH the 3rd and 1st courses in octaves, this tuning making it easy to play the characteristic montuno figures that are the basis of many Afro-Caribbean music styles.
It's not really used to strum chords - you do play chords, but it's much more of a linear instruments, playing rhythmic melodies that set up chord changes.
I checked out that link, and Gonzales is a great tresero. Looks like a nice instrument.
As for the 3-string bouzouki making a comeback, well since the 50's the 8 string usually electric bouzouki has been the staple of the Greek restaurant and nightclub world, the bouzouki heard in "Zorba", etc.
But in the last 10-20 years the older 3 string version, along with the no-longer-underground Rebetika music, has had a big revival in popularity and may people are making and playing the 3 string instrument again.
I did a little research and I think that I can tune the LMX DD AA dd using existing octave mandolin strings from D'Addario or Pearse (with and extra E string unless I go with DD AA dd.) I'll give it a try this weekend and see what happens after I do the math with a string calculator.
Next stop, talk to the in-laws who dance the dance <G>
Mike Keyes
Just got a zouk (GDAD) and I've been listening to a lot of mountain dulcimer (DAD). I think that would be a good approach to bring the bouzouki into old-time American music --- think dulcimer.
I think it should be Dd -aa - dd for the 3 course.
I have a chance to buy a half bouzouki (μισομπούζουκο). Very old, not in a very good shape but can be restored.
It has the body of a mandolin with a very long fret board
Very strange frets spacing towards the end of the finger board
Is this tuned like the 3 course bouzouki? What's the scale length ? What are the strings gauges? Where can I find a book for beginners on line?
“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.”
― Victor Hugo
Probably so - this is not a Greek bouzouki, though, right?
Can you post a picture? There are a number of related bouzouki and bouzouki-mandolin like string instruments from the part of the world. The fretting thing makes me wonder which one it is.
I can't say I've heard "μισομπούζουκο" before - there's the baglama, tzouras, tamboura, etc.
http://www.rebetiko.org/
a link about the 3 course bouzouki
With my tetrachordo
some μισομπούζουκο music- it seems to be more popular than I thought....looks like a type of tzouras to me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXGfEdQbrog
http://www.music-instruments.gr/de/s...20090905232333
http://www.music-instruments.gr/de/s...20141010162138
Seems the half-bouzouki is almost like the tzouras
http://andrdellius.blogspot.com/
Made from an old mandolin shell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltjnutb7ncM
Sounds like a tzouras to me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH7UrHoJysY
The youtube video with Παρτιδες (μισομπουζουκο) is great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltjnutb7ncM
I wish I could find the score sheet for that. It might work well on the mandolin.
I'll go take some pics tomorrow. It's at an auction house. I'm trying to convince the person responsible to sell it to me before that auction
I bought a tenor banjo 19 frets from the same place a while back. Cost me 75 USD
But I am afraid I can't play anything that is not tuned in fifth. I had a wonderful failure with the guitar. Maybe I did not have enough learning material then (mid 90's).
By the way David I am half Greek from my mother side. I assumed you had something Greek, sorry to have been posting some words in Greek. It was to help you search in Google.
“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.”
― Victor Hugo
Roger Landes
http://rogerlandes.com
Lessons: https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/199670#199670
The Hal Leonard Irish Bouzouki Method:
https://www.halleonard.com/product/v...?itemid=696348
"Dragon Reels" 25th Anniversary Reissue
https://rogerlandes.bandcamp.com/releases
Roger Landes
http://rogerlandes.com
Lessons: https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/199670#199670
The Hal Leonard Irish Bouzouki Method:
https://www.halleonard.com/product/v...?itemid=696348
"Dragon Reels" 25th Anniversary Reissue
https://rogerlandes.bandcamp.com/releases
Roger Landes
http://rogerlandes.com
Lessons: https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/199670#199670
The Hal Leonard Irish Bouzouki Method:
https://www.halleonard.com/product/v...?itemid=696348
"Dragon Reels" 25th Anniversary Reissue
https://rogerlandes.bandcamp.com/releases
I need to dip into his solo work --- "Janissary Stomp" is in heavy rotation for me.
There's some parallel timeline where a bunch of Greek immigrant settled Appalachia and every old-time string band had a bouzouki player. The Irish group I play with does some old-time (American) fiddle tunes, and I'm convinced that you could figure out something on that zouk that would be a very good alternative to a guitar --- a little lighter, more droney.
Roger Landes
http://rogerlandes.com
Lessons: https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/199670#199670
The Hal Leonard Irish Bouzouki Method:
https://www.halleonard.com/product/v...?itemid=696348
"Dragon Reels" 25th Anniversary Reissue
https://rogerlandes.bandcamp.com/releases
No, it's not my website - first off I play 4 course bouzouki!
But it is a very good site.
It's a little known fact that some Greeks settled near Asheville NC in the late 1700s, and that the bouzouki had a large influence on the early old time music that evolved there.
Many common fiddle tune titles have been changed from the original Greek, including "Jack of Diamonds" and "Little Birdie." The natives found the Macedonian words too hard to pronounce.
Unfortunately no pictures exist of any of the early musicians, and those early instruments are locked in a vault in the Greek Orthodox Church in downtown Asheville. The church disallowed its members from playing American music in the early 1800s, instead requiring Greeks to open up a number of fine restaurants throughout the region.
A movement has started to reinstate the bouzouki to it's rightful place in old time music with such retro bands as 'The Athenian Daredevils', "Swannanoa Odyssey", and the now legendary "Ziti Heads", 'who use the very rare bouzouki 'knocking' style of playing that has been traced to interaction with the Cherokee.
“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.”
― Victor Hugo
That's very interesting. How old is that tzouras?
I've seen some older instruments that were not in the common 12-tone equal temperament fretting but had fretting that would accomodate some of the older Anatolian "1/4 tone" musical modes. The overall spacing looks very similar to Turkish saz fretting.
Also if that instrument is from before the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–192, it may have been made in Greek Anatolia.
I can't really be sure but that looks like one. Some of the older Greek tambouras had similar fretting.
I'd love to try that one out! Cool instrument.
Bookmarks