Understanding Greek folk music
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Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can identify key instruments in Greek folk music and perform the basic 7/8 rhythms of ‘Thalassaki Mou’.
Key learning points
- Greek folk music includes both folk songs and music for dance.
- It uses a mix of common Western instruments and traditional Greek instruments, including the bouzouki and defi.
- Much Greek folk music uses irregular time signatures such as 5/8 and 7/8.
- Kalamatianó is a type of Greek folk dance which is based in 7/8.
- Usually 7/8 is counted as a 3-2-2. 5/8 is counted as 3-2.
Keywords
Bouzouki - a traditional Greek stringed instrument
Defi - a type of tambourine, a small hand drum with bangles
Irregular time signature - a time signature in which the number of beats cannot be divided by two or three (e.g. 5, 7, 11)
Kalamatianó - a type of Greek folk dance which is based in 7/8 metre
Common misconception
Music for dance must have a regular pulse (in 2, 3 or 4).
While most Western dance music has a regular time signature, in other parts of the world it is common to dance to music with irregular time signatures, such as 5/8 and 7/8.
Teacher tip
Consider encouraging pupils to explore alternative ways of counting 7/8. While 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 is typical in Greek folk dance, it is also common to count 7/8 as 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 or 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 in other styles. Pupils could experiment with these as an extension to the standard task.
Equipment
DAW and/or class percussion instruments.
Licence
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