IRISH BOUZOUKI INSTRUMENT & MUSIC GUIDE

Welcome to the Bouzouki Guide

About The Irish Bouzouki:

The Irish bouzouki (colloquially, the "zouk") is a derivative of the Greek bouzouki.

The bouzouki, in the newer tetraxordo (four course/eight string) Greek version, was introduced into Irish Traditional Music in the late 1960s, by Johnny Moynihan, and popularised by Andy Irvine and Dónal Lunny. In a separate but parallel development Alec Finn, later with the Galway-based traditional group De Dannan, obtained a trixordo (three course/six string) Greek bouzouki on his own. Irish bouzouki players tend to use the instrument less for virtuoso melodic work and more for chordal and contrapuntal accompaniment for tunes played on other instruments, such as the flute or fiddle; in response, many or most players changed the octave strings in the two bass courses to unison pairs in order to enhance the bass response of the instrument and to make it sound, perhaps, less "oriental".

Within a few years of the bouzouki's adoption in Ireland the Greek bouzouki began to be replaced by a design built specifically for Irish traditional music. The body was widened and in most cases a flat back with straight sides replaced the round, stave-built back of the Greek bouzouki, or, in the case of English builder Peter Abnett, who was the first instrument maker to build a uniquely "Irish" bouzouki - for Dónal Lunny in 1970 - a hybrid design with a 3-piece dished back and straight sides. All of the initial Irish bouzoukis had flat tops, but within a few years some builders began experimenting with carved, arched tops taking their cue from American archtop guitars and mandolins.

Hardly anyone uses the Greek bouzouki for Irish music today; Alec Finn and Mick Conneely are the only professionals of any consequence who use them. Scots mandolin player Kevin MacLeod uses a "tetraxordo" Greek bouzouki in octave mandolin tuning G2D3A3E4, mainly for melodic work.

The tuning G2D3A3D4, first pioneered by Johnny Moynihan on the mandolin and then adapted to the Greek bouzouki, was picked up by Irvine and Lunny quickly became the next thing to a "standard tuning" for the Irish bouzouki. A smaller group uses A2D3A3D4. Although some players employ mandolin tuning, pitched down an octave as G2D3A3E4, they are very much in the minority. A few players use octave pairing on the two bass courses. Ironically, the Irish tunings are closer to the D3A3D4 tuning of the original Greek trixordo bouzouki than is the guitar-like tuning C3F3A3D4 used on the modern Greek tetraxordo, and lend themselves particularly well to a modal harmonic approach for Irish traditional music. The Irish bouzouki has become fully integrated into the tradition over the past thirty years, usually (although not always) playing accompaniment (mostly a mix of two note chords, basslines, and bits of countermelody) rather than the melody.

Amongst some luthiers and musicians the Irish bouzouki is considered to be part of the mandolin family, the other instruments of which include the mandolin, mandola (called "tenor mandola" in Europe), octave mandolin ("octave mandola" in Europe), and mandocello. But for others this family of instruments, modeled on and tuned like the violin, viola, tenor violin and violoncello, is really part of another tradition from which the Greek bouzouki, and its progeny the Irish bouzouki, are separate. At any rate, since the genesis of the Irish bouzouki in the 1960s, many luthiers have incorporated aspects of mandolin construction, particularly when building archtop Irish bouzoukis, so for most it is moot point.

The octave mandolin is usually regarded as having a shorter scale length than the Irish bouzouki, in the vicinity of 20 to 23 inches (50 and 58.4cm), whilst the scale length of the Irish bouzouki most often ranges from 23 to 25 inches (58.4 and 63.5cm), although some instruments have scales as long as 26 or even 27 inches (66 to 68.7cm). These longer instruments are generally acknowledged to possess greater volume, sustain, and tonal richness but some players find the stretches involved in fingering too difficult and so prefer the shorter scales.

The name "cittern" is sometimes applied to a similar instrument of five courses (ten strings), typically having a scale length between 20 and 22 inches (500mm and 550mm), but they are often called "10 string bouzoukis", particularly when having a longer scale length. The fifth course is usually either a lowest bass course tuned to C2 or D2 on a longer scaled instrument, or a highest treble tuned to G4 or A4 on a shorter one.

However, for some builders and players, the terms "bouzouki", "cittern", and "octave mandolin" are synonymous. Others, such as Stefan Sobell, who originated the "cittern" term for his instruments derived from crossing an archtop Martin guitar with a Portuguese guitarra, apply the name of "cittern" to all shorter scaled instruments, irrespective of whether these have four or five courses, and the name of "bouzouki" to all longer scaled instruments.

Irish Traditional Music:

Irish traditional music is characterized by slow-moving change, which usually occurs along accepted principles. Songs and tunes believed to be ancient in origin are respected (though, in reality, many are less than two hundred years old). It is, however, very difficult or impossible to know the age of most tunes due to their tremendous variation across Ireland and through the years; some generalization is possible, however -- for example, only modern songs are written in English, with few exceptions, the rest being in Irish. Most of the oldest songs, tunes, and methods are rural in origin, though more modern songs and tunes often come from cities and towns.

Music and lyrics are passed aurally/orally, and were rarely written down until recently (depending upon your definition of "recently", there are many examples of written music previous to 1800). Of major importance to the transcribing of melodies belonging to both the instrumental traditions and the song traditions were the collectors. These included George Petrie, Edward Bunting, Francis O'Neill, Canon James Goodman and many others. Though solo performance is preferred in the folk tradition, bands or at least small ensembles have probably always been a part of Irish music since at least the mid-19th century, although this is a point of much contention among ethnomusicologists.

For instance, guitars and bouzoukis only entered the traditional Irish music world in the late 1960s. The bodhran, once known in Ireland as a tambourine, is first mentioned in the 1600s, although probably is just an adaptation of the ancient Celtic war drum. Céilidh bands of the 1940s often included a drum set and stand-up bass as well as saxophones. (The band At The Racket continues the "tradition" of the saxophone in Irish music.) As of current writing, the first three instruments are now generally accepted in traditional Irish music circles (although perhaps not in the most purist of venues), while the latter three are generally not. (The Pogues received much criticism for their use of a drum kit, for instance.)

Furthermore, such "unimpeachable" instruments as button accordion and concertina made their appearances in Irish traditional music only late in the nineteenth century. There is little evidence for the flute having played much part in traditional music before art musicians abandoned the wooden simple-system instrument still preferred by trad fluters for the Boehm-system of the modern orchestra, and the tin whistle is another mass-produced product of the Industrial Revolution. A good case can be made that the Irish traditional music of the year 2006 had much more in common with that of the year 1906 than that of the year 1906 had in common with the music of the year 1806.

More recently, traditional Irish music has been "expanded" to include new styles, arrangements, and variations performed by bands, although arguments run rife as to whether you may then call this music "traditional." However, the greater part of the community has accepted that the music played by such bands as Planxty and the Bothy Band and their numerous spiritual descendants is indeed traditional.

Musicians from non-Irish styles (bluegrass, oldtime, folk) have discovered the appeal of Irish traditional music. However, the rhythmic pulse and melodic flow of Irish traditional music are quite distinct to the rhythmic and melodic structures that govern other musical forms, even in the case of the few tunes shared between these musical genres. Also, Irish sessions and bluegrass and old time jams carry completely different sets of etiquette and expectations, and these do not, for the most part, integrate well; this has led to many misunderstandings and outright confrontations.

Due to the importance placed on the melody in Irish music, harmony should be kept simple (although, fitting with the melodic structure of most Irish tunes, this usually does not mean a "basic" I-IV-V chord progression), and instruments are played in strict unison, always following the leading player. True counterpoint is mostly unknown to traditional music, although a form of improvised "countermelody" is often used in the accompaniments of bouzouki and guitar players. Structural units are symmetrical and include decorations, in many cases imaginative and elaborate, of the rhythm, text, melody and phrasing, though not usually of dynamics.

Unaccompanied vocals ar sean-nós ("in the old style") are considered the ultimate expression of traditional singing, usually performed solo, but sometimes as a duet. Sean-nós singing is highly ornamented and the voice is placed towards the top of the range; to the first-time listener, accustomed to pop and classical singers, sean-nós often sounds more "Arabic" or "Indian" than "Western". A true sean-nós singer will vary the melody of every verse, but not to the point of interfering with the words, which are considered to have as much importance as the melody. Non-sean-nós traditional singing, even when accompaniment is used, uses patterns of ornamentation and melodic freedom derived from sean-nós, and, generally, a similar voice placement.

The concept of 'style' is of large importance to Irish traditional musicians. At the start of the last century, distinct variation in regional styles of performance existed. With increased communications and travel opportunities, regional styles have become more standardised, with soloists aiming now to create their own, unique, distinctive style, often hybrids of whatever other influences the musician has chosen to include within their style.