- bouzouki
-
/boo zooh"kee/, n., pl. bouzoukis, bouzoukia /-kee euh/. n.a long-necked, fretted lute of modern Greece.[1950-55; < ModGk mpouzoúki; Turk bozuk (broken, ruined, depraved; cf. BASHI-BAZOUK) or büzük (constricted, puckered) adduced as sources, but sense development is obscure]
* * *
Long-necked lute used in Greek popular music.Developed from a Turkish instrument early in the 20th century, it has a pear-shaped body and a fretted fingerboard. The modern instrument usually has four courses of strings, which are plucked with a plectrum, typically in a vigorous and agile style.* * *
▪ Greek musical instrumentalso spelled buzukilong-necked plucked lute of Greece. Resembling a mandolin, the bouzouki has a round wooden body, with metal strings arranged in three or four double courses over a fretted fingerboard. The musician plucks the strings over the soundhole with a plectrum held in the right hand, while pressing on the strings on the fingerboard with the fingers of the left hand.Derived from the Turkish bozuk and closely related to the Turkish saz and the Asian tanbur, the bouzouki was traditionally used for dancing and entertainment at social gatherings. It became a featured instrument in rebetika, a type of improvised early 20th-century music associated with the Greek underworld. Since gaining a wider audience, the bouzouki has become the major popular-music instrument of Greece. It is also played in a variety of musical genres throughout the world, including jazz, bluegrass, rock, and folk music.* * *
Universalium. 2010.