Rebetiko

History and character

Rebetiko (or rembetiko) is the Greek urban music that arose between the late nineteenth century and the '50s in the ports and poor neighborhoods: the Ottoman cities of Asia Minor (above all Smyrna) and Piraeus, Athens, Thessaloniki, Volos. It blends mainland and island Greek folk music, Byzantine chant, makam and Ottoman café music, and European influences. Its themes are the life of the outcasts (the “mangas,” the “rebetes”): poverty, prison, love, jealousy, exile, emigration, drugs (the tekédes, the hashish dens), death. The population exchange of 1923 between Greece and Turkey brought hundreds of thousands of refugees from Asia Minor to the Greek ports, with their musicians and repertoire: the Smyrna style was born (Smyrneïko: violin, oud, santouri, qanun, ornamented voices; Roza Eskenazi, Rita Abatzi, Marika Papagika, the Smyrna Trio with Dimitrios Semsis and Agapios Tomboulis).

From the '30s the Piraeus style took hold, with the bouzouki as its emblematic instrument, the baglamas and the guitar: Markos Vamvakaris (first recordings in 1932–33, the “patriarch” of rebetiko), the Piraeus Quartet (with Anestis Delias, Giorgos Batis, Stratos Pagioumtzis), then Vassilis Tsitsanis (from 1936; Synnefiasmeni Kyriaki, 1948), who steered the genre toward a more melodic and popular form. The censorship of the Metaxas regime (from 1937) eliminated references to drugs. In the postwar period Manolis Chiotis introduced the four-course bouzouki and virtuosity, with Latin, flamenco and jazz influences; with Stelios Kazantzidis and the singer Sotiria Bellou, rebetiko turned into laïkó (Greek popular pop). In 1948 Manos Hatzidakis gave a famous lecture in defense of rebetiko; Mikis Theodorakis and Hatzidakis integrated its language into art song and cinema (Zorba the Greek, 1964, with the sirtaki invented for the film; Never on Sunday, 1960, Oscar for best song).

The genre saw revivals in the '60s and '70s (also as protest music during the military junta of 1967–1974) and today it lives on in the rebetadiko (live-music venues) and in the companies (kompanía) of musicians. UNESCO inscribed rebetiko on the Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2017. Alongside rebetiko, Greek music includes traditional demotic music (kalamatianos 7/8, tsamikos, syrtos, ballos), the islands (nisiotika with violin and laouto), Pontus (Pontic lyra), Crete (Cretan lyra and laouto), entechno (art song) and modern laïkó.

Scales and keys

Rebetiko melodies follow the dromoi (“roads”), modes largely derived from the Turkish makam but played on the tempered, fixed-fret bouzouki, and therefore without the Ottoman microtones. Roman numerals in minor are relative to natural minor.

Hijaz (Χιτζάζ)

• Formula 1 b2 3 4 5 b6 b7 — in D: D Eb F# G A Bb C (= Phrygian dominant).
• Characteristic note: augmented second Eb–F#: the most typical sound of rebetiko (zeibekiko, hasapiko).
• Chords: I (D) bII (Eb) iv (Gm) VI (Bb) vii (Cm); cadence bII–I and iv–I.
• Common mistake: harmonizing it as G minor with D as the dominant: in hijaz, D major is the tonic.

Hijazkar (Χιτζαζκάρ)

• Formula 1 b2 3 4 5 b6 7 — in D: D Eb F# G A Bb C# (= double harmonic).
• Characteristic note: two augmented seconds (Eb–F#, Bb–C#): dramatic, plaintive intensity.
• Chords: I (D) bII (Eb) iv (Gm) bVI (Bb).

Ousak (Ουσάκ)

• Formula 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 — in D: D Eb F G A Bb C (= Phrygian; in the uşşak makam the second is a tempered semitone higher, but on the bouzouki it is played as b2).
• Characteristic note: the b2 falling to the minor tonic: “Oriental” melancholy.
• Chords (relative to natural minor): i (Dm) bII (Eb) III (F) iv (Gm) VI (Bb) vii (Cm).

Rast (Ραστ)

• Formula (tempered) 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7 — in D: D E F# G A B C (= Mixolydian with descending alterations; in the rast makam the third and seventh are neutral).
• Characteristic note: b7 descending, 7 ascending: “Oriental” major.
• Chords: I (D) IV (G) bVII (C) V (A).

Sabah (Σαμπάχ)

• Formula 1 2 b3 b4 5 b6 b7 — in D: D E F Gb A Bb C.
• Characteristic note: diminished fourth (Gb): mourning, deep suffering.

Houzam, Nikriz, Kiourdi

• Houzam: a dromos with the tonic on the neutral third (tempered on E): in practice E with hijaz colors above.
• Nikriz: 1 2 b3 #4 5 6 b7 — in D: D E F G# A B C (minor with #4).
• Kiourdi (kürdi): Phrygian like ousak, but with a “full” second b2.

European major and minor (Matzore, Minore)

• Matzore (major): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7; Minore: harmonic 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7 — in D: D E F G A Bb C#. The “Minore of Smyrna” is a type of piece in minor.

How to choose

Hijaz for “classic” zeibekiko and hasapiko, hijazkar for intense drama, ousak/kiourdi for melancholy, rast for Oriental major, sabah for mourning, matzore and minore for the more Western pieces (Tsitsanis, Chiotis). The taximi (free opening improvisation) presents the dromos before the song.

Harmony

Rebetiko harmony

• The guitar (and later the piano, the accordion) accompanies with simple chords; the baglamas plays chords and repeated notes in the high register; the bouzouki plays melodies, introductions and answers.
• Hijaz: major tonic (I), bII (Eb in D) for the descent, minor iv (Gm) as the “subdominant,” minor vii (Cm) from the b7; cadence bII–I or iv–I.
• Ousak/kiourdi: minor tonic (i), bII, VII, iv.
• Matzore/minore: European I–IV–V7 and i–iv–V7, with secondary dominants (Tsitsanis, Chiotis), modulations to the relative.
• Tonic pedal during the taximi (the guitar or the second bouzouki holds the tonic and the fifth).
• Harmonic rhythm: slow (one chord per bar of zeibekiko or per 2 bars of hasapiko), with small chromatic passages in the guitar bass.
• Laïkó and entechno: richer harmonies, orchestras with piano, organ, strings (Theodorakis, Hatzidakis), seventh chords.

Voicing

Guitar in first position with alternating bass (root and fifth), “three-string” chords on the high strings; baglamas with fifth and octave double stops; three-course bouzouki (trichordo, tuning D–A–D) or four-course (tetrachordo, C–F–A–D, like the four high strings of the guitar a whole step lower).

Typical progressions

Rhythm and groove

The dances of rebetiko

• Zeibekiko: meter in 9 (9/4 or 9/8), slow and heavy, an improvised solo male dance (today also female), introspective; sources give different groupings of the 9 beats (e.g. 2+2+2+3 or (2+2)+(2+2+1)): check the specific piece. It is the most “serious” and characteristic rhythm.
• Hasapiko: slow 4/4 (or 2/4), a line dance with arms on shoulders; hasaposerviko (grigoro hasapiko): fast 2/4.
• Tsifteteli: 4/4 (2/4) with the ciftetelli/maqsum rhythm, belly dance.
• Karsilamas (antikristos): 9/8 2+2+2+3, a face-to-face couple dance of Anatolian origin.
• Aptaliko: slow 9/4, close to the zeibekiko.
• Syrtos, kalamatianos (7/8 3+2+2), ballos in traditional non-rebetiko music.
• Taximi: free improvisation with no pulse before the song.
• Feel: the baglamas and the guitar “push” the upbeats; in the zeibekiko the long and short beats should be felt as a dragging step, not as a metronome.

Drums

Percussion in rebetiko

Classic rebetiko has no drum kit: the rhythm is made by the guitar (basses and chords), the baglamas (high repeated notes) and sometimes by the toumberleki (Greek darbuka), zilia (finger cymbals), koutalia (spoons), and by the clapping of hands and the stamping of feet of the audience; in the earliest recordings also the sound of glasses and of komboloi (worry beads) on the table as percussion.

How the “section” thinks rhythmically

• Guitar: the thumb marks the main beats (the “long” and “short” beats of the zeibekiko; 1 and 3 in the hasapiko), the fingers the upbeat chords.
• Baglamas: repeated notes in eighths or sixteenths on the chords, like a high hi-hat.
• Toumberleki: dum on the main beats, tak on the upbeats (maqsum-like rhythms in the tsifteteli).

In laïkó and modern productions

Light drums (kick on the long beats of the zeibekiko, snare or rim on the short ones), darbuka, electric bass; in the bouzoukia (large nightclubs) full drums and keyboards.

Typical mistakes

Putting a pop drum kit in 4/4 under a zeibekiko; counting the 9 as 4+5 and getting the accents wrong; quantizing the baglamas (it loses its drive).

Bass

• Guitar (thumb): alternating root–fifth bass, small chromatic passing lines between chords (e.g. D–C#–C–B toward G minor).
• Upright bass in the orchestras of the '50s and in laïkó; electric bass from the '60s.
• Notes: root and fifth; in hijaz the Eb–D descent is often played in the bass too.
• Register: 40–200 Hz; in acoustic rebetiko the bass is light and supports without dominating.

Harmonic instruments

• Bouzouki: long-necked fretted lute; trichordo (3 courses, D–A–D, the “classic” rebetiko bouzouki up to the '50s) and tetrachordo (4 courses, C–F–A–D, popularized by Manolis Chiotis in the '50s); played with a pick (pena), tremolo, repeated notes, fast runs, double stops; doubled strings with octaves on the bass courses.
• Baglamas: small, high-pitched bouzouki (an octave higher), rhythmic and harmonic; easy to hide (the prisoners' instrument).
• Guitar: chordal accompaniment and bass.
• Oud, santouri, qanun, violin, lyra politiki, accordion in the Smyrna style.
• Piano, accordion, organ in laïkó.
• Voicing: chords in first position, fifth/octave double stops, octaves of the bouzouki's bass courses.

Melody and vocals

• Voice: natural, “street” timbre, often hoarse and raspy (Vamvakaris), or ornamented and melismatic in the Smyrna style (Roza Eskenazi, Marika Papagika); sung at half voice in the tekédes, with great expressiveness; powerful female voices in the postwar period (Sotiria Bellou, Marika Ninou).
• Taximi: the bouzouki or the oud improvises in the dromos before the song (presentation of the mode and its “character”).
• Verses and refrains: simple melodies with ornaments (trills, mordents, glissandi), instrumental refrains of the bouzouki between the verses.
• Second voice: harmonies in thirds (male or female second voice) in laïkó and in Tsitsanis's songs.
• Bouzouki ornaments: tremolo, slides, hammer-ons, fast repeated notes, tremolo chords.
• Lyrics: in the first person, direct, slangy (the language of the mangas), themes of pain and pride.

Instruments

Bouzouki (trichordo and tetrachordo), baglamas, guitar, voice; in the Smyrna style violin, oud, santouri, qanun, lyra politiki, accordion, toumberleki, zilia; in laïkó upright or electric bass, piano, accordion, drums, keyboards; occasional percussion (toumberleki, spoons, hand claps).

Drum patterns

Synths and sounds

• Augmented Strings — Strings for laïkó and entechno: Slow pads and strings under bouzouki and voice, in the style of the orchestrations of Theodorakis and Hatzidakis; low-pass filter so as not to cover the bouzouki.
• Piano V — Entechno piano: Piano accompaniment of Greek art song (Hatzidakis); middle register, little pedal.
• VOX Continental V — '60s–'70s laïkó organ: Combo organ for the bouzoukia and the electric laïkó of the '60s–'70s.
• DX7 V — '80s–'90s laïkó keyboards: Electric piano and FM strings of the laïkó productions of the '80s–'90s.

Song structure

Form of the rebetiko song

Length 2:30–3:30 (the 78 rpm format); live much longer.

Laïkó and entechno

Verse–chorus with bouzouki introduction and interludes, orchestrations with piano, strings, accordion; Theodorakis and Hatzidakis also wrote song cycles and orchestral works.

Arrangement

It often begins with solo bouzouki (taximi), then guitar and baglamas, then voice; the instrumental refrains give energy; in the dances (hasaposerviko, sirtaki) the tempo accelerates up to the finale.

Mixing and mastering

Sonic goal

The intimacy of the company: bright, present bouzouki, close and human voice, guitar and baglamas creating a soft groove, tavern space (short reverb, 0.5–1 s). Historical recordings (78 rpm) are mono with limited bandwidth: for modern productions, acoustic naturalness is preserved. References: the anthologies of Vamvakaris and Tsitsanis, Roza Eskenazi's Smyrna recordings, Theodorakis's records (Zorba), modern productions by rebetiko ensembles.

Bouzouki

• Condenser microphone at 20–40 cm pointed between the sound hole and the neck (+ optional second microphone farther away for air).
• EQ: high-pass 100–150 Hz (trichordo), 80 Hz (tetrachordo); −2 dB at 1–2 kHz if nasal and metallic; +1/+2 dB at 5–8 kHz for the sparkle of the tremolo; watch out for pick peaks.
• Compression: 3:1, attack 10–20 ms, release 100 ms, 3–4 dB; the tremolo must stay even.
• Space: room 0.6–1 s; light plate 1.2 s for the taximi.
• Panning: center-left (L 10–25) if the voice is in the center; second bouzouki on the opposite side.

Baglamas

Microphone at 20–30 cm; high-pass 200–250 Hz; −2 dB at 2–3 kHz if piercing; panning L/R 30–50 opposite the bouzouki.

Guitar

Microphone at the 12th fret at 20–30 cm; high-pass 70–80 Hz; −2/−3 dB at 200 Hz; compression 2–3:1; panning L/R 20–40.

Voice

• Condenser at 15–30 cm; high-pass 80–100 Hz; −2 dB at 250–400 Hz; presence +1/+2 dB at 3–4 kHz; opto compression 2–3:1 (3–4 dB); short room or plate.
• Never use pitch correction that “straightens” glissandi and ornaments.

Smyrna instruments (violin, oud, santouri, qanun)

As in Arabic music: violin high-pass 150–200 Hz, oud high-pass 70 Hz with attack at 3–5 kHz, santouri and qanun in wide stereo with +1 dB at 6–8 kHz.

Percussion and bass

Toumberleki: dum 80–120 Hz, tak 3–5 kHz; upright bass: microphone + DI, high-pass 40 Hz, compression 3:1, center.

Buses and groups

Plucked strings, voice, percussion, bass, strings/keyboards; shared short room.

Sidechain

No.

Master

• Acoustic rebetiko: −15/−12 LUFS integrated, true peak −1 dBTP, LRA 6–10 LU.
• Modern laïkó: −10/−8 LUFS.

Common mistakes

• Bouzouki too harsh (excessive 2–4 kHz and 6–8 kHz).
• Long concert-hall reverbs.
• Pop drums and bass that flatten the rhythms in 9.
• Pitch correction of the ornaments.

Reference tracks for the mix

• Markos Vamvakaris — Frangosyriani (1935).
• Vassilis Tsitsanis — Synnefiasmeni Kyriaki (1948).
• Roza Eskenazi — Smyrna Minore (recordings of the '30s).
• Mikis Theodorakis — Zorba's Dance (1964).
• Manos Hatzidakis — Ta paidia tou Peiraia (Never on Sunday, 1960).

Reference listening

• Marika Papagika — Smyrneiko Minore (1918)
• Roza Eskenazi — registrazioni dello stile di Smirne (anni '30)
• Markos Vamvakaris — Frangosyriani (1935)
• Giorgos Batis e la Tetrade del Pireo — registrazioni (anni '30)
• Vassilis Tsitsanis — Synnefiasmeni Kyriaki (1948)
• Manolis Chiotis — registrazioni per bouzouki a quattro cori (anni '50)
• Sotiria Bellou — Synnefiasmeni Kyriaki (versione anni '50–'60)
• Stelios Kazantzidis — registrazioni laïká (anni '50–'60)
• Manos Hatzidakis — Ta paidia tou Peiraia (Mai di domenica, 1960)
• Mikis Theodorakis — Zorba's Dance (1964)
• Grigoris Bithikotsis — Epitafios (Theodorakis, 1960)