The
bouzouki (also
buzuki) (
Greek: μπουζούκι ;
plural: μπουζούκια) is a
Greek musical instrument that was brought to
Greece in the
1900s by
Greek immigrants from
Asia Minor, and quickly became the central instrument to the
rebetika genre and its music branches. A mainstay of modern
Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with
mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a
plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a
mandolin but pitched lower. There are two main types of bouzouki. The trichordo (
three-course) has three pairs of strings (known as courses), and the tetrachordo (
four-course) has four pairs of strings.
