Bouzouki Online: Greek Bouzouki in Your Browser
The bouzouki is the long-necked lute of Greek music, from rebetiko to today's popular songs. This bouzouki online shows a 15-fret neck with the strings in pairs (courses) and plays recorded steel strings: every tap on a fret sounds the whole course, as on the real instrument. On the low courses one string sounds an octave above the other; on the high courses both strings play the same note.
How to use it
- Choose a Tuning: tetrachordo (8 strings) or trichordo (6 strings).
- Tap a fret to hear the course; the light strip before the nut plays the open course.
- Tap one of the Common chords or build another with Root and Type. Strum with ↓ Downstroke and ↑ Upstroke, or drag a finger across the strings.
- On a computer, each keyboard row is a course: 1 2 3… the 1st (highest), Q W E… the 2nd, A S D… the 3rd and Z X C… the 4th. The first key is the open course; Space strums.
- Press Full screen; on a phone, turning it sideways gives you a wider neck.
Help and explanations
Pick the tetrachordo (8 strings, 4 courses) or the trichordo (6 strings, 3 courses) and a chord: the page works out a shape, marks the frets and strums it down or up. In Scales, the notes of a scale light up along the whole neck. This is the Greek bouzouki; the Irish bouzouki uses a different tuning (GDAD).
Bouzouki tuning: tetrachordo and trichordo
From the 4th course (lowest) to the 1st, the tetrachordo is tuned C F A D: C3+C4, F3+F4, A3+A3 and D4+D4. The two low courses are in octaves; the two high ones in unison. Played open, the four courses make a D minor seventh chord (D F A C).
The intervals match the top four strings of a guitar, a whole step lower. If you play guitar, the shapes will look familiar: the guitar's D shape gives you C on the bouzouki.
The trichordo, the older bouzouki of early rebetiko, has three courses tuned D A D (D3+D4, A3+A3, D4+D4). The fourth course caught on in the 1950s with Manolis Chiotis.
Greek songs to practice
Zorba's Dance, the sirtaki Mikis Theodorakis wrote for the film Zorba the Greek, starts slow and keeps speeding up: good practice for playing a melody note by note. Misirlou was recorded in rebetiko long before Dick Dale's surf version made it famous worldwide. Frangosyriani by Markos Vamvakaris is a rebetiko classic.
Two rhythms come up all the time: the hasapiko, in duple time, which the sirtaki grew out of, and the zeibekiko, in 9/8, slow and heavy.
Tips
- To practice chord changes, switch between Dm and A7, the tonic and dominant of D minor.
- In Scales, play the D natural minor scale up and down before you try a tune.
- Start with the volume low, especially on headphones.
- For your own instrument, use the Greek bouzouki tuner.
Frequently asked questions
How is a Greek bouzouki tuned?
The 4-course tetrachordo is tuned C F A D, from the 4th course to the 1st, with the two low courses in octaves. The 3-course trichordo is tuned D A D.
What is the difference between a tetrachordo and a trichordo?
The tetrachordo, with four courses (8 strings), is the most common today; the trichordo, with three (6 strings), is the older rebetiko bouzouki. Switch under Tuning.
Is this a real bouzouki sound?
It is a recorded steel string, played in pairs like a bouzouki, not a recording of a bouzouki. The samples download when you start playing; until they arrive you hear a synthesized sound.
Can I play bouzouki online on my phone?
Yes: tap the frets, use several fingers at once and drag across the strings to strum. In full screen with the phone sideways, the neck gets bigger.