Bouzouki

The bouzouki is a lute-like folk string instrument, with a pear-shaped body made of long wooden ribs (the 'doujes') and a long neck with tuning pegs at the end.

Along the neck are thin metal strips set across it in narrow slots, called frets. The spaces between them mark the semitones.

The modern bouzouki has three or four pairs of strings, which the player strikes with a small plectrum. Originally it had three pairs of metal strings tuned D–A–D (there are also reports of seven- or eight-string three-course bouzoukis, still tuned D–A–D, with the low D and sometimes the A made of three strings). Later it gained a fourth pair and was tuned C–F–A–D (again in pairs).

In the past, dozens of tunings were used, changing with the musical mode (makam) of the tune being played. These tunings survived until the interwar years and were gradually lost as the four-course bouzouki prevailed.

The bouzouki is the main instrument of the Greek nightclub. From the bouzoukia, the venues named after it, to the rebetiko haunts and music tavernas, it is the instrument that leads the whole band.