Prior to the arrival in Greece of the Asia Minor refugees, the instrumentation of the rembetika and cafe aman musics was distinct; a rembetic performer such as Markos Vamvakaris would sing a song accompanied only by one or two bouzoukia or baglamades, perhaps a guitar, whereas a Smyrneic singer such as Antonis Dalgas might sing with an orchestra of outi and lyra or violin. In the years that followed the population exchange, co-mingling of the two styles, musicians’ catering to popular taste, even government action (such as the banning of the bouzouki or the attempt to rid music in Greece of its “Turkish” element), led the rembetika and cafe aman musicians to embrace instruments from both schools. As musical lines became blurred, the cafe aman musicians adopted the bouzouki (when its popularity became apparent) and rembetika was recorded with instruments such as the accordion, violin, and guitar.
Rembetika
Early rembetika was an amateur music, which the performers played mainly for themselves and their friends in the tekedhes (hash dens), prisons or other gathering places. The primary instruments were the bouzouki and baglama; rhythm might be tapped out by foot, or with spoons, glasses, komboloi, or on the soundboard of another bouzouki.
Bouzouki
The bouzouki is a lute-like instrument, with a pear-shaped body (skafi) made of staves. It has a wooden soundboard or table, with one large soundhole; the neck is quite long. The bouzouki is considered by some to be a descendent of the tambouras, by others a cousin of the Turkish saz family; whatever its lineage, forms of the bouzouki have been in use in Greece for centuries: the ancient Greeks apparently had a tamboura-like instrument called the padhoura or trichordon. The modern bouzouki has four courses (sets) of strings generally tuned (low to high) C-F-A-D (Do-Fa-La-Re); the higher notes are doubled in unison, the lower two notes with octave doubling (though often a bouzouki player removes the octave strings). Today’s bouzouki player generally uses a plectrum (penna). The early bouzouki was a much more subtle and delicate instrument. It had three courses of strings, lightly strung, and was often played with the fingernails; therefore the sound differed from the bouzouki of today. Early bouzouki players used numerous tunings, or douzeni; Vamvakaris is said to have known ten. (A discussion of douzeni can be found on the Music page of this site.) In the 1950’s, Manolis Hiotis added a fourth course of strings to his bouzouki and altered the tuning to simplify fingerings and to make for more virtuostic playing. These changes also made for easier chordal accompaniment as Greek music moved away from its modal roots toward Western harmonization. An interesting note: it was not until the 1930’s that the bouzouki became an acceptable instrument in Greece. In America, the bouzouki was not frowned upon, and it was the recordings made there by Greek emigres that finally broke the taboo of the bouzouki in Greece. And witness its stellar rise: despite Metaxas’ attempt to rid Greek music of the bouzouki in the late 30’s, the bouzouki is THE instrument associated with Greece today.
Baglama
The baglama has been described as a baby bouzouki. Its shape is similar to the bouzouki, though its skafi is often hollowed out of a single material (e.g. wood, a gourd) rather than staved. The baglama has remained a three-course instrument like the bouzouki of old and often tuned D-A-D’ (Re-La-Re’) though, again, a number of tunings can be used. The baglama was the instrument of choice for rembetic musicians because of its small size: it was easy to conceal either under a coat on the street, or in a jail cell where many rembetes spent a great deal of time. The baglama could be used to play a melodic line, or used as a drone or rhythmic accompaniment.
Rhythm Instruments
Drums were not used in early rembetika. Rhythm was supplied by the tapping of a foot, or by glasses (such as the small, thick glasses used for ouzo) held two in a hand, clinked together by the movement of opening and closing the hand. Komboloi (worry beads) could also be used as a rhythm instrument: they could be attached to a button on a shirt, then “strummed” with the top of a glass (a unique sound, which can be heard in several songs recorded by Yiovan Tsaous), or the glass could simply be struck with the komboloi. Another option was to tap out the rhythm on the soundboard of another bouzouki or baglama.
Cafe Aman/Smyneika
The Greek, Armenian and Jewish urban musicians who migrated from Asia Minor were more often than not professionals who had performed in the cafes aman or cafes chantants of Smyrna and Constantinople (today Izmir and Istanbul). Some of their instruments, such as the santouri and outi, though known outside of Asia Minor were not really in much use on mainland Greece. When these musicians arrived in Greece, their instruments and musical customs came with them.
Santouri
The santouri is a form of hammered dulcimer. It is an isosceles trapezoid constructed of several types of wood. Its metal strings, which are either doubled, tripled or quadrupled in unison, run lengthwise from right (from the tuning pegs) to left (attached to small nails). These strings encompass a range of over three octaves. (Think about it – a three octave instrument with strings quadrupled means…almost 100 strings! That’s a lot of tuning!) It is played by striking the strings with two dampened hammers. A santouri player (santourieris) plays with the instrument on his lap, on a table or suspended by straps from the shoulders.
Tsimbalom
The tsimbalom is similar to the santouri, but it rests on four legs, is a bit larger and generally has a range of over four octaves. It also has a pedal with which the player can control resonance and dynamics.
Kanonaki (Kanun)
The kanonaki is also known as the psaltiri. It has a trapezoidal shape, with a large base approximately three times the size of the top. The right side is perpendicular to the large base, while the left side is at a sharp angle due to the extreme difference in size of the base and top. The soundboard is constructed of wood except for a small portion on the right side of the instrument which is often made of tanned skin; often there is a large soundhole on the wooden side of the soundboard. The strings, which are gut or plastic, stretch from the tuning pegs on the left, across a bridge on the right. Like the santouri, it has a range of a few notes over three octaves. The strings are tuned to the mode needed for a particular song. The kanonaki is a plucked instrument; it is played by plectrums (formerly of tortoise-shell or ox-horn, but today usually of plastic), attached to one or more fingers on each hand by thimble- or ring-like holders. The left hand plays the lower notes while the right hand plays the upper. The sound produced is quieter and less sustained than that of the santouri.
Outi (Ud)
The outi is a form of short-necked lute possibly dating back to the 7th century A.D. and known throughout the Middle East, including Turkey. The instrument was known in Greece, but before the influx of the Asia Minor refugees, its cousin the laouto was more popular. The modern outi has a large bowl approximately 20 inches long, 15 inches across and 8 inches deep. Its neck is about 8 inches long and fretless, and the peg box, which is at a sharp angle to the neck, is about 9 inches in length. The modern Turkish oud (the version used in Greece as well) has six courses of strings, though apparently anything between four and seven is not unusual. As in the other stringed instruments, there are innumerable tunings, such as C-G-D-A-G-D or D-A-E-B-A-E (Do-Sol-Re-La-Sol-Re or Re-La-Mi-Si-La-Mi) popular today. The outi is played with a plectrum, known as “mizrab” in Turkish, which is thinner and longer than the average guitar pick – approximately 5 inches in length.
Violin (Violi)
The Greek violi in the early part of this century was basically similar to the western version, but often had two to four sympathetic strings in addition to the normal four playing strings. The tuning used was often G-D-A-D (Sol-Re-La-Re) as opposed to the western tuning of G-D-A-E (Sol-Re-La-Mi). The violinist held the violi on his shoulder, but not under the chin. Often the melody was played on the upper two strings, while the lower two strings were used as a drone, or ison.
Lira (kemance)
The lira is a small, pear-shaped, bowed instrument with three strings, generally tuned in fifths (e.g. G-D-A/Sol-Re-Si). The player sits the lira upon his knee (vertically).
Klarino (Clarinet)
The klarino is said to have arrived in Greece from Turkey via the Roma in the early 1800’s, though its regular use in urban music such as rembetika did not occur until after the 1930’s. The klarino used in Greece was usually a C clarinet, though the Bb instrument is in use today. The klarino made in Greece was less complex than its western counterpart, with fewer keys. Today, most clarinets found in Greece are imported western versions.
Ntefi, et al
The ntefi, zilia (finger cymbals), koutalia (spoons), and castanets were the generally female vocalists’ domain, often heard in the music of the Anatolian refugees. The ntefi is the tambourine, a single-skin drum with small cymbals attached to the edge. It is held in the left hand and struck with the right, with strong beats played towards the center of the instrument and weak beats on the edge. Finger cymbals, spoons and castanets are similar to one another in playing technique: one set in each hand, with the right hand playing the strong beats and the left hand the weak. In many recordings, it can be noted that these instruments were played only when the vocalist was not singing.
Other instruments
Other instruments heard in the music of the cafe aman, and which eventually crossed over to rembetika, are piano, accordion, guitar and lyra. In the late years of rembetika, snare drums, electric bass and amplified bouzouki became, unfortunately, the norm.