The Music Of Greece

 Big Blog #2: Greek Music 

When trying to decide what music I wanted to focus on for my final blog I was initially stumped. I wasn’t sure where I wanted to take this blog as there are so many different styles of music from different cultures. Naturally, when I am unsure of something I turn to my mom for advice. I was explaining to her the assignment and the types of music we had covered in class thus far. She immediately stopped me and asked if we had studied Greek music. I informed her that we had not and that is when I decided upon Greek Music. I am intrigued to learn about a culture of music that is so close to me and that I know little about. In my blog, I have researched the history, instruments used, dancing, and how the music has evolved. 

Similar to the other cultures we have studied throughout the semester music in Greece is diverse. This is due to various influences of the Eastern and Western cultures of Asia and Europe. Music plays an important part in the daily culture in Greece. The music of Greece has a long history dating back to ancient Greek times. Originally poetry, dancing, and music played large roles in ancient Greek’s everyday life and has continued to influence people's lives today.  During the fall of Ancient Greece and the evolution of the Byzantine Empire, the music of Greece shifted. It went from music with many elements of tragedy to a more ecclesiastical approach. The music was reborn in the 19th century with the opera compositions of Nikolaos Mantzaros and Spyros Samaras. From then on Greece produced many talented artists including world-renowned composers and interprets. 

The music of Greece is known for many things. An article written about the music of Greece stated “Music in Greece became an expression and a testimony of the slavery years, a weapon of opposition against the colonel's authority and a way to express love, death, human fears, that accompanied the Greeks in their everyday life.”

Now that we have an idea about the history of the music of Greece we will move on to the different types of music. The different types of music that I will discuss are Dimotiko, Kannada, Nisiotika, and Rebetiko. The types of music have different origins and meanings. They will often be heard in different regions or musical events. 

The first type of music is

Dimotiko or commonly referred to as the folk music of Greece. This type of music gets its origins from ancient Greek poetry and music. This type of music can then be divided into two subcategories, the akritic and the klephtic. The akritic can be dated back to the 9th century AD. Its original purpose was to express the life and struggles of the frontier guards of the Byzantine Empire. The Klephtic style began between the end of the Byzantine period and the beginning of the Greek Resolution that led to the Greek Independence in 1821. This style was created by the “kleftes.” They were known as the heroes who left to live in the mountains. The klephtic musical style is monophonic. It has a strong sense of repetition used to give the music a rhythm. It is composed of love songs, wedding songs, songs of exile, and songs of freedom, death, and sorrow. It expresses an important, bloody part of the history and the life of the Greeks. Instruments used in Greek folk songs are the lira and laouto (lute), the tambouras and gaida (bagpipe), the zournas (shawm), the daouli (drum), the dachares (tambourine), the ziyia (paired groups) and the violi (violin).

   The second style is Kamtada.  It originated from Kefalonia island and was created at the beginning of the 19th century. It is a style of romantic serenade music, sung with three male voices in chorus, accompanied by guitar or mandolin. This style had been influenced by Italian music. 

            The third style is Nisiotika. This kind of popular song was born in the Greek islands. Every island has its nissiotiko style and its way of dancing it. Violin, lira, clarinet, and guitar accompany the high-pitched women's voices or the low voice of a single man. Nissiotika is still easy to listen to at every festival on any Greek island, during which a huge group of musicians plays live music the whole night.

            The fourth and final style is Rebetiko. It was born in the hashish dens and the tekedes, the Turkish-style underground cafes of the district of Piraeus and the city of Thessaloniki. An article talking about Rebetiko said “Rembetiko music was spread by the two million Greek refugees coming from Asia Minor in 1922, after the destruction of Smyrna by the Turks. Homesick and rejected by the Greek population, those Greeks who had never lived in Greece and who had lost everything, sang about their surroundings, poverty, pain, hunger, prison, police oppression, drug addiction, betrayal, and hashish. Rembetiko was the forbidden music of the outcast, the Greek urban blues.” As time when on in the 1950’s the music became to escape the underground world and start to be played in the nightclubs of Athens. It became known as the “outcast” music. The most common instruments are the bouzouki, baglama, and the ziyia. 

            As cultures change and evolve so does the music of this culture. The music of nowadays Greece is very different than the original music. However, there are still many influences from the original styles. Modern Greek music is often known as “modern laika” or “laiko pop”. Combining elements of bouzouki and other folk styles with popular modern music technology and sounds, laiko pop is heard everywhere, from the radio to nightclubs.

            Since my mom spent many years of her childhood growing up on an island in Greece I thought it would be cool to ask her a few questions about her interpretation of the music of Greece. My first questions were “Growing up did you often listen to Greek music? If so, did you enjoy listening to it?” She replied by saying “Only when my dad played it. So, when we were trapped in the car and couldn’t escape! It was always about “suffering” old timers’ music. So no I did not enjoy hit...haha,” My second question was “How do you think Greek music has changed as time has gone on?” My mom swiftly replied “I think it’s become more mainstream. It prob sounds more like the pop music that today’s youth listens to today around the world.” My last question for my mom was “What is your favorite or least favorite aspect of Greek music?” My mom said “Again, I would like uplifting Greek music, that has a good beat and tells a story. I feel like I am a little traumatized from all the depressing Greek music from my childhood.” 

This is the #1 song currently in Greece 

References

Greekacom. (n.d.). Music in Greece & greek islands: Greeka. Greekacom. Retrieved November 22, 2022, from https://www.greeka.com/greece-culture/music/ 

Greece for Music Lovers - The Essential Guide to the Greek music scene - skratch. RSS. (n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2022, from https://www.skratch.world/post/greece-for-music-lovers-the-essential-guide-to-the-greek-music-scene 

Komarkowski, A., Bureau, A., Gct, & Kalias, A. (2020, December 31). These are the top 30 songs right now on the Greek Airplay Charts. Greek City Times. Retrieved November 22, 2022, from https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/12/31/top-30-songs-right-now/ 

Music - mysterious Greece - the insider's travel guide. Mysterious Greece ‐ The Insider's Travel Guide. (2017, December 15). Retrieved November 22, 2022, from https://www.mysteriousgreece.com/about-greece/music/