Glossary of Greek terms
Amané | popular musical genre originated in Ionia and famous in Smyrna, which includes an instrumental introduction, two lines sung with long melismas on the word aman, and a faster instrumental refrain. |
Askomadoura | Cretan bagpipe, with a double chanter and
no drone. |
Baglamás (pl., baglamades) | a scaled-down version of the bouzouki. The bouzouki and baglamás were the most typical instruments of the rebetika. |
Boulgarí | Cretan version of the Turkish saz,
similar to the earliest forms of the bouzouki. |
Bouzouki (pl., bouzoukia) | a long-necked, fretted
lute resembling the Turkish saz. The bouzouki and baglamás
were the most typical instruments of the rebetika. |
Café-aman | a type of musical café found throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, where amané songs were sung. |
Dimotikí music | folk music. |
Dromos (pl., dromoi) | modal types (e.g. minoré,
rasti, houzam, hijaz, ousak, niaventi,
sabak, tabachaniotiko, etc.), which often borrowed their
names from the Turkish makam system. |
Egoismós | selfishness. |
Kalamatianós (pl. kalamatianá) | folk
dance from Kalamata widespread in many regions of Greece. |
Kanonaki (from Turkish kanun) | plucked zither. |
Kathistiká | lit., "sitting-down music," i.e., music for listening, not for dancing |
Kondilyés | music for mandinades, performed mainly in
Eastern Crete. |
Koutsavakis (pl. koutsavakides) | braggart, denizen
of the underworld. |
Kroustá | percussion instruments. |
Laikí music | urban music. |
Laouto (or lagouto) | fretted lute. |
Lyra | a small, pear-shaped, three-string fiddle,
held upright and played by stopping the strings from the side
with fingernails, widespread in Crete and the Dodecanese. The
strings are named 1. psilí or kandí
or kandini; 2. mesakí; 3. vourgara.
|
Maleviziotis | traditional dance of Iraklion (Crete). |
Mandinades (sing., mandinada, from the Italian mattinata) |
improvised rhymed couplets of fifteen-syllable lines. |
Mangas (pl., manghes) | petty criminal, denizen of
the underworld. |
Outi (from Turkish oud) | unfretted lute. |
Paneghiroi | saints' feasts. |
Pendozalis | Cretan open circle dance. |
Pidichtós (pl., pidichtá) | leaping dance. |
Rebetika songs | Greek urban popular genre, merging Greek and
Turkish elements, developed mainly in Piraeus and enjoying
great popularity during the 1930s.
|
Rebetis (pl., rebetes) | petty criminal, denizen of
the underworld. |
Rizitika songs | the most important genre of folk vocal
music in western Crete. It consists of the tavla and strata repertories.
|
Sandouri (from Turkish santur) | trapezoidal hammered dulcimer.
|
Sousta (from Italian susta, lit., coiled spring) | folk dance widespread in various forms in the Dodecanesian islands and in Crete. In Crete, it was traditionally performed mainly in the province of Rethymnon. |
Strata repertoire | in Crete, rizitika songs reserved for
parts of the wedding rites other than the banquet, that is, for
the transfer of the dowry to the bridegroom's house, the ceremonial
welcome by the bridegroom's mother of the bride, the gathering
of the gifts, etc. |
Syrtós (pl., syrtós) | open circle-dance,
popular in Crete. Also performed in different styles in other regions of Greece. |
Tabachaniotika songs | Cretan urban musical repertory which
belongs to the wide family of musics that merge Greek and Turkish
elements, like the rebetika and music of the Café-aman.
|
Tavla repertoire | in Crete, rizitika songs performed in
convivial occasions, mainly wedding banquets. |
Taximi (pl., taximia; from Turkish taksim) |
improvised instrumental introduction, common to Turkish music,
which set the mode (dromos) of the song. |
Tekés (pl. tekédes, probably from Trk., tekke, a dervish lodge) | a small shop
where hashish was smoked and the rebetika were sung. |
Tou gamou tragoudi | wedding song. |
Tsamikos | dance performed in different styles in different
Greek regions. |
Tsifteteli | dance often performed by gypsies in the Café
Amans; one of the dances performed by rebetes. |
Turkokritikoí | Muslim Cretans. |
Zeïbekikos | urban dance performed in Eastern Aegean and Cyclades islands; one of the dances performed by rebetes. |