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Greek Folk Music

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The traditional music of Greece: the rural dimotiko of the mainland and islands, the urban rebetiko born in the ports, and the Cretan lyra and mantinada tradition, in Byzantine-descended modes on bouzouki, lyra, clarinet and laouto.

Greece · emerged Ancient times · peak 20th century

Also called: ελληνική παραδοσιακή μουσική, greek traditional music

History

Byzantine chant and Ottoman-era makam shaped the modal language; refugees from Asia Minor brought rebetiko to Piraeus in the 1920s, and the post-war laïko and the 1960s folk revival grew from both.

What it sounds like

Modal melodies of Byzantine and Ottoman descent
Regional dances in 7/8 and 9/8
Bouzouki, lyra and clarinet
Improvised rhyming couplets

Beneath it: dimotiko, rebetiko, rizitika