The Irish bouzouki (colloquially, zouk) is a derivative of the Greek bouzouki, adopted into and adapted for Irish music from the late 1960s onward.
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, of the popular folk group Sweeney's Men, and popularised by Andy Irvine and Dónal Lunny in the group Planxty. In a separate but parallel de...
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The Irish bouzouki (colloquially, zouk) is a derivative of the Greek bouzouki, adopted into and adapted for Irish music from the late 1960s onward.
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, of the popular folk group Sweeney's Men, and popularised by Andy Irvine and Dónal Lunny in the group Planxty. 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 melodies 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.
Within a few years of the bouzouki's...
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