Bagpipe (gaida)

The bagpipe is a traditional instrument found throughout Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. It consists of the bag, the blowpipe and the sound-producing part, which has two separate pipes: a short one with holes, which plays the melody, and a long one without holes, which holds a constant drone.

The bagpipes played in Greece differ from region to region. There is the Thracian gaida, especially that of northern Evros; the gaida of Drama, in the villages of Kalyvrysi and Volakas, which is louder than the Thracian; and the gaida of Pieria, around Katerini.