Bouzouki
A Greek long-necked lute with paired metal strings, played with a plectrum.
What it means
The bouzouki is a Greek long-necked lute with a pear-shaped body and several courses of paired metal strings, plucked with a plectrum. It descends from eastern long-necked lutes such as the Turkish saz, brought by Greek immigrants from Asia Minor.
Three- and four-course bouzoukis are the most common today, their tunings having changed over the twentieth century.
Musical use
The bouzouki is the defining instrument of rebetiko, a Greek urban musical tradition that developed from the early twentieth century onward, and its successor, popular laïko music. Its sharp, tremolo-rich playing carries both melody and harmonic accompaniment.
The Greek bouzouki should be distinguished from the Irish bouzouki, a flat-backed instrument adapted in the 1960s with a different build and tuning, used in Irish folk music.