Rebetiko (Greek: ρεμπέτικο, pronounced [re(m)ˈbetiko]), plural rebetika (ρεμπέτικα [re(m)ˈbetika]), occasionally transliterated as rembetiko or rebetico, is a term used to designate previously disparate kinds of urban Greek music which in the 1930s went through a process of musical syncretism and developed into a more distinctive musical genre. Rebetiko can be described briefly as the urban popular song of the Greeks, especially the poorest, from the late 19th century to the 1950s, and served as the basis for further developments in popular Greek music. The music, which was partly forgotten, was rediscovered during the so-called rebetika revival, which started in the 1960s and developed further from the early 1970s. In 2017 rebetiko was added in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.
Definition and etymology The word rebetiko (plural rebetika) is an adjectival form derived from the Greek word rebetis (Greek: ρεμπέτης, pronounced [re(m)ˈbetis]), which is construed to mean a person who embodies aspects of character, dress, behavior, morals and ethics associated with a particular subculture. The etymology of rebetis remains a subject of dispute and uncertainty. An early scholar of rebetiko, Elias Petropoulos, and the modern Greek lexicographer Georgios Babiniotis each offer suggested derivations, but leave the question open. The earliest known source of the word is a Greek-Latin dictionary published in Leiden, Holland in 1614 where the word ῥεμπιτός is defined as a 'wanderer', 'blind', 'misguided'.
Musical bases Although nowadays treated as a single genre, rebetiko is, musically speaking, a synthesis of elements of European music, the music of the various areas of the Greek mainland and the Greek islands, Greek Orthodox ecclesiastical chant, often referred to as Byzantine music, and the modal traditions of Ottoman art music and café music.
Melody and harmony
The melodies of most rebetiko songs are thus often considered to follow one or more dromoi (δρόμοι, Greek for 'roads' or 'routes'; singular is dromos (δρόμος). The names of the dromoi are derived in all but a few cases from the names of various Turkish modes, also known as makam. However, the majority of rebetiko songs have been accompanied by instruments capable of playing chords according to the Western harmonic system, and have thereby been harmonized in a manner which corresponds neither with conventional European harmony, nor with Ottoman art music, which is a monophonic form normally not harmonized. Furthermore, rebetika has come to be played on instruments tuned in equal temperament, in direct conflict with the more complex pitch divisions of the makam system. During the later period of the rebetiko revival, there has been a cultural entente between Greek and Turkish musicians, mostly of the younger generations. One consequence of this has been a tendency to increase emphasis on the makam aspect of rebetiko as opposed to the Westernized polyphonic components, at the possible expense of perceiving and problematizing the truly syncretic nature of the music. A considerable proportion of the rebetiko repertoire on Greek records until 1936 was not dramatically different, except in terms of language and musical "dialect", from Ottoman café music (played by musicians of various ethnic backgrounds) which the mainland Greeks called Smyrneika. This portion of the recorded repertoire was played almost exclusively on the instruments of Smyrneika/Ottoman café music, such as kanonaki, santouri, politikí lyra (πολίτικη λύρα), tsimbalo (τσίμπαλο, actually identical with the Hungarian cimbalom, or the Romanian țambal), and clarinet.
Scales The scales used in rebetiko music are the traditional Western major and minor scales, as well as a series of Eastern makams, influenced by the Ottoman classical music. Some of them include rast, uşşâk, hijaz (or "phrygian dominant scale"), saba(h) and nahawand. The makam system of modes serves as the melodic core of any Rebetiko composition.
Rhythms Most rebetiko songs are based on traditional Greek or Anatolian dance rhythms. Most common are:
Syrtos, a general name for many Greek dances (including the Nisiotika), (mostly a 44 meter in various forms) Zeibekiko, a 94 or a 98 meter, in its various forms Hasaposervikos, including various kinds of Greek music. It is also the fast version of hasapiko (like 44 and 24 meter) Hasapiko, a 44 meter and the fast version hasaposerviko in a 24 meter Antikristos or Karsilamas and argilamas (a 98 meter) Kamilierikos (a 98 meter) and aptalikos, broken down into sixteenths, (slow version a 94 and fast version a 916 meter in various forms Tsifteteli, cheerful dance for women (a 44) Bolero, in a few songs, mainly for guitar (a 34) Various other rhythms are used too.
Taxim There is one component within the rebetiko tradition which is common to many musical styles within Eastern musical spheres. This is the freely improvised unmeasured prelude, within a given dromos/makam, which can occur at the beginning or in the middle of a song. This is known in Greek as taxim or taximi (ταξίμ or ταξίμι) after the Arabic word usually transliterated as taqsim or taksim.
Instruments The first rebetiko songs to be recorded, as mentioned above, were mostly in Ottoman/Smyrna style, employing instruments of the Ottoman tradition. During the second half of the 1930s, as rebetiko music gradually acquired its own character, the bouzouki began to emerge as the emblematic instrument of this music, gradually ousting the instruments which had been brought over from Asia Minor.
The bouzouki
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