Rebetiko (Greek: ρεμπέτικο, pronounced [re(m)ˈbetiko]), plural rebetika (ρεμπέτικα [re(m)ˈbetika]), is sometimes spelled as rembetiko or rebetico. It refers to a type of urban Greek music that was once different but became more unified in the 1930s through the blending of musical styles. Rebetiko was the popular music of urban Greeks, especially those with little money, from the late 1800s to the 1950s. It helped shape later Greek popular music. This music was nearly forgotten until a revival began in the 1960s and grew stronger in the 1970s. In 2017, rebetiko was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.

Definition and etymology

The word "rebetiko" (plural "rebetika") comes from the Greek word "rebetis" (Greek: ρεμπέτης, pronounced [re(m)ˈbetis]), which refers to a person who shows traits linked to a specific subculture, such as style, actions, values, and beliefs. The origin of the word "rebetis" is still debated by experts. Two scholars, Elias Petropoulos and Georgios Babiniotis, have proposed possible explanations for its meaning, but no agreement has been reached. The earliest recorded use of the word appears in a Greek-Latin dictionary published in Leiden, Holland in 1614. In this dictionary, the word ῥεμπιτός is described as meaning "a wanderer," "blind," or "misguided."

Musical bases

Rebetiko music, although now considered a single type of music, is actually a mix of many different musical styles. These include European music, music from various parts of Greece, Greek Orthodox church music (called Byzantine music), and musical traditions from the Ottoman Empire, such as art music and café music.

The melodies of most rebetiko songs follow one or more dromoi, which are Greek for "roads" or "paths." The names of these dromoi usually come from Turkish musical scales called makam.

However, most rebetiko songs are played with instruments that can create chords using the Western harmonic system. This way of playing does not match either traditional European harmony or the monophonic (single melody) style of Ottoman art music. Additionally, rebetiko music is often played on instruments tuned using equal temperament, which conflicts with the more complex pitch system of the makam.

During the rebetiko revival, Greek and Turkish musicians, especially younger ones, began working together. This collaboration led to more focus on the makam elements of rebetiko, sometimes reducing attention to its blend of Western and Eastern musical styles.

Until 1936, many rebetiko songs recorded in Greece were similar to Ottoman café music, which Greeks called Smyrneika. These songs were played almost entirely on instruments used in Smyrneika music, such as the kanonaki, santouri, politikí lyra, tsimbalo, and clarinet.

The scales used in rebetiko include traditional Western major and minor scales, as well as Eastern makams influenced by Ottoman classical music. Some of these makams are rast, uşşâk, hijaz (or "phrygian dominant scale"), saba(h), and nahawand. The makam system provides the main melodic structure for rebetiko songs.

Most rebetiko songs use traditional Greek or Anatolian dance rhythms. Common rhythms include:

• Syrtos: A general name for many Greek dances (including Nisiotika), usually with a 4-beat rhythm.
• Zeibekiko: A 4- or 8-beat rhythm.
• Hasaposervikos: A fast version of hasapiko, with a 4-beat rhythm.
• Hasapiko: A 4-beat rhythm, with a faster version called hasaposervikos.
• Antikristos or Karsilamas and argilamas: An 8-beat rhythm.
• Kamilierikos and aptalikos: An 8-beat rhythm, with a slow version using 4 beats and a fast version using 16 beats.
• Tsifteteli: A cheerful dance for women, with a 4-beat rhythm.
• Bolero: Used in a few songs, mainly for guitar, with a 4-beat rhythm.

Other rhythms are also used.

One feature of rebetiko music shared with many Eastern musical traditions is the use of a freely improvised, unmeasured prelude. This introduction, called taxim or taximi in Greek, is based on a specific dromos or makam. The word taxim comes from the Arabic term taqsim or taksim.

Instruments

The first rebetiko songs recorded were mostly in the Ottoman/Smyrna style, using instruments from the Ottoman tradition. By the second half of the 1930s, rebetiko music began to develop its own unique style, and the bouzouki became the main instrument of this music, gradually replacing the instruments brought from Asia Minor.

The bouzouki was not widely known among refugees from Asia Minor but had been known in Greece since at least 1835. A drawing by the Danish artist Martinus Rørbye from that year shows the studio of the Athenian luthier Leonidas Gailas, who was called a "maker of bossuchi." The drawing clearly shows several instruments similar to the bouzouki. Despite this evidence, the early history of the bouzouki’s connection to rebetiko remains unclear. Recent research has, however, found previously unknown mentions of the instrument in the 19th and early 20th centuries, including proof of its presence in the Peloponnese.

Although the bouzouki was often mentioned in rebetiko songs long before it was recorded, it was first commercially recorded in America, not Greece, in 1926. The Peloponnesian musician Konstandinos Kokotis recorded two Peloponnesian folk songs with the accordionist Ioannis Sfondilias. This recording, reissued in 2013, shows a "folk" melodic style never recorded before or since. The first recording to clearly feature the bouzouki in a more modern melodic role was made in 1929 in New York. Three years later, in January 1932, the first true bouzouki solo was recorded by Ioannis Halikias, also in New York.

In Greece, the bouzouki was first recorded in a studio in October 1931. Thanassis Manetas, accompanied by the tsimbalo player Yiannis Livadhitis, played the bouzouki on two discs with singers Konstantinos Masselos (Nouros) and Spahanis, recording three songs in total.

These early recordings in America and Greece were preceded by a group of documentary recordings made in Görlitz, Germany, in July 1917 during World War I. These recordings include one shellac 78 rpm disc and five wax cylinders. The amateur bouzouki player Konstandinos Kalamaras accompanied the professional Byzantine singer Konstandinos Vorgias and the amateur singer Apostolos Papadiamantis. These three men were among 6,500 Greek soldiers held in a former prisoner-of-war camp in Görlitz, Germany, from September 1916 until their release in February 1919.

It was not until October 1932, after the success of Halikias’ New York recording, that Markos Vamvakaris made his first recordings with the bouzouki. These recordings marked the beginning of the bouzouki’s recorded career in Greece, a career that continues to the present day.

From the mid-1930s onward, the core instruments of rebetiko were the bouzouki, the baglamas, and the guitar. Other instruments included the accordion, politiki (Constantinopolitan) lyra (sometimes other lyra were used), clarinet, kanonaki, oud, santur, violin, and finger-cymbals. Additional instruments heard on rebetiko recordings included the double bass, laouto, mandola, mandolin, and piano. In some recordings, the sound of clinking glass may be heard. This sound is created by rubbing worry beads (komboloi) against a fluted drinking glass, originally an ad hoc and effective rhythmic instrument likely used in teké and taverna settings, later adopted in recording studios.

Lyrics

Rebetiko music, like other types of music such as the blues, flamenco, fado, bal-musette, and tango, developed from specific urban conditions. Its lyrics often describe the difficult lives of people who are not part of the main group in society. These songs include themes such as crime, drinking, drugs, poverty, prostitution, and violence. They also cover many topics important to people of all social classes in Greece, such as death, love, war, work, family, and daily life, both joyful and sad.

Manos Hatzidakis described the main ideas of rebetiko using three Greek words: meraki (love), kefi (joy), and kaimos (sorrow). These words are commonly used in modern Greek.

Some rebetiko songs focus on the use of drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, and hashish. Songs that highlight this topic are called hasiklidika. However, these songs are not different from other rebetiko songs in terms of music.

Culture

Rebetiko is connected to types of nightlife places, such as ouzeri, taverna (a Greek tavern), and night centers.

Rebetiko is also sometimes linked to a group called mangas (Greek: μάγκας, pronounced [ˈma(ŋ)ɡas]), which refers to men who acted in a way that was seen as needing correction. This group was part of a counterculture in Greece during the Belle Époque era, especially in large cities like Athens, Piraeus, and Thessaloniki.

Mangas were men from the working class who often behaved in an arrogant or presumptuous manner. They wore distinctive clothing, including a woolen hat (kavouraki, καβουράκι), a jacket usually worn with only one sleeve, a tight belt that held a knife, striped pants, and pointy shoes. Other features of their appearance included long mustaches, bead necklaces (kompoloi, κομπολόγια), and a unique way of walking that looked like a limp (koutso vadismas). Another related group was the Koutsavakides (κουτσαβάκηδες, sing. κουτσαβάκης). These two terms are sometimes used interchangeably.

History

Rebetiko music began as a style associated with people from lower social groups. Over time, it became more widely accepted as its rough, subcultural aspects were softened. Eventually, the original form of rebetiko was nearly forgotten, and many of its early musicians had passed away or were nearly forgotten. From the 1960s onward, rebetiko was revived and became popular, especially among younger people.

Rebetiko likely started in large coastal cities in Western Anatolia during the Ottoman Empire. These cities, such as Smyrna (modern-day İzmir), had places like ouzeri (liquor shops), hashish dens, coffee shops, and even prisons where rebetiko music was created. Before the invention of sound recordings, there were few written records about rebetiko’s early history. Some recordings from the early 20th century, made in Constantinople (Istanbul), Egypt, and America, include references to rebetiko, such as the word “rebetiko” appearing on a record label. However, no early recordings show the music of Piraeus, which first appeared on records in 1931.

In the early 1900s, Smyrna was a major center for rebetiko music. Musicians there were influenced by both Eastern sounds from the Ottoman Empire and European-style music brought by communities like the Italians. A group called Smyrneiki Estudiantina played popular music for Greeks worldwide. After the Great Fire of Smyrna in 1922, many musicians, including Panagiotis Toundas, Spyros Peristeris, and others, fled to Greece. They helped shape the rebetiko style in Greece.

After the Asia Minor Catastrophe and the population exchange of 1923, many Greek refugees settled in cities like Piraeus, Thessaloniki, and Volos. They brought musical instruments and styles from both Europe and Anatolia, including Ottoman café music and Italian-style music with mandolins and choral singing.

Many Greek musicians from Asia Minor were skilled. An “Athenian Estudiantina” was formed with Giorgos Vidalis and members of the old Smyrneiki Estudiantina. Others, like Spyros Peristeris and Panagiotis Toundas, became influential in recording rebetiko. By the mid-1920s, many Anatolian-style songs were recorded in Greece, and the first Piraeus-style rebetiko songs appeared on records in 1931.

In the 1930s, more refined musical styles blended with the stronger, urban styles of early rebetiko musicians like Markos Vamvakaris and Batis. This led to a distinction between the Asia Minor-style “Smyrneïka” and the bouzouki-based Piraeus-style rebetiko. The mandolin, once common, was no longer used.

By the late 1930s, rebetiko had reached its classic form, combining elements of Piraeus-style, Asia Minor-style, European, and Greek folk music. At the same time, censorship began, leading to changes in rebetiko lyrics. In 1936, the 4th of August Regime under Ioannis Metaxas started, and from 1937, song lyrics were censored. Some topics in rebetiko songs were considered inappropriate, so composers rewrote lyrics or practiced self-censorship. Music itself was not censored, but radio stations banned certain songs called “amanedes” in 1938. These songs were traditional laments with specific musical styles. Metaxas also closed hashish dens, and references to drugs and crime disappeared from Greek recordings until 1946.

In the United States, Greek music continued to thrive without censorship, though the bouzouki was rarely used in American recordings until after World War II. Rebetiko was also rejected by the Greek Left because of its association with subculture and drug use.

Recording of rebetiko stopped during World War II (1941–1944) due to the Axis occupation and resumed in 1946. A few uncensored songs with drug references were recorded that year. Vassilis Tsitsanis, a star musician who began his career in 1936, helped popularize rebetiko after the war. He was a skilled bouzouki player and composer, and he influenced many singers. His work helped spread rebetiko to more people and laid the foundation for future Greek popular music called “laiko.”

In 1948, Manos Hatzidakis gave a lecture on rebetiko, highlighting its deep roots and emotional power. He adapted rebetiko into his 1951 piano piece, Six Folk Paintings. At the same time, Manolis Chiotis modernized rebetiko by adding a fourth string to the bouzouki, making it easier to play like a guitar. He also introduced Latin and South American rhythms, such as flamenco and rumba, into rebetiko.

In the United States

Greek people began moving to the United States in large numbers toward the end of the 1800s. This migration continued for many years after the Asia Minor Disaster and stopped only when immigration rules were changed in the mid-1920s. Many Greeks brought their music traditions with them to the United States. American companies started recording Greek music performed by these immigrants as early as 1896. The first businesses in the United States that recorded Greek music appeared in 1919. By the late 1920s, there were recordings that could be called rebetiko, a few years before rebetiko songs were recorded in Greece.

From the mid-1930s onward, the music industry in the United States helped record rebetiko songs with lyrics that would not have been allowed in Greece because of censorship laws. This pattern repeated during the Greek military government from 1967 to 1974. An example is the 1973 album Otan Kapnizi O Loulas (When They Smoke The Hookah) by Apostolos Nikolaidis. This album included lyrics about drug use, which could not have been released in Greece at that time. It is important to note that censorship laws from the time of Metaxas were not officially removed in Greece until 1981, seven years after the military government ended. Another feature of Greek music recordings in the United States was the use of Anatolian musical styles, such as rebetiko, which continued in the United States until the 1950s. Even songs originally played with typical instruments like the bouzouki, baglamas, and guitar were sometimes recorded using Anatolian styles.

After World War II, beginning in the early 1950s, many Greek rebetiko musicians and singers traveled to the United States for performances. Some of them stayed in the United States for longer periods. Notable musicians who visited or lived in the United States included Ioannis Papaioannou, Manolis Chiotis, Vassilis Tsitsanis, Iordanis Tsomidis, Roza Eskenazi, Stratos Pagioumtzis, Stavros Tzouanakos, and Giannis Tatasopoulos. The last three of these musicians died in the United States.

Rebetiko rock

Rebetiko rock is a type of music that combines parts of rock music and rebetiko. Hard rock and Greek folk music also have a big influence on rebetiko rock.

Selected recordings

• Margarita – Composer: Rita Abatzi (1936) – Instruments: guitar, bouzouki, baglamas
• Neo Hasapaki – Composer: Roza Eskenazi (1932) – Instruments: bouzouki, guitar, accordion, oud, percussion, violin
• Tha Se Klepso – Composer: Kostas Roukounas (1934) – Instruments: guitar, violin, bouzouki, Politiki lyra, oud, percussion

Discography

Many rebetiko recordings are sold on CDs in Greece, but these often stop being sold after a short time. Since the 1990s, many high-quality CDs of historical rebetiko music have been released by European and American record companies. The following list includes some of these historical collections, which may be available in English-speaking countries, along with a few Greek releases. All items are CDs unless stated otherwise. English-language releases are included because they often have better sound quality and provide more detailed information in English, which is usually missing in Greek releases. However, the link section below includes one Greek source that offers historic CDs with a website and notes in English.

• Apostolos Hadzichristos – A Unique Greek Voice, (4CD), JSP Records, 2011.
• From Tambouras to Bouzouki: The History and Evolution of the Bouzouki and its First Recordings (1926–1932), Orpheum Phonograph ORPH-01 ISBN 978-618-80538-0-9, 2013.
• Great Voices of Constantinople 1927–1933, Rounder Records, 1997.
• Greek-Oriental Rebetica: Songs & Dances in the Asia Minor Style: The Golden Years, Arhoolie Records, 1991.
• Greek Rhapsody – Instrumental Music from Greece 1905–1956, (2CD & book), Dust-To-Digital DTD-27, 2013.
• Marika Papagika – Greek Popular and Rebetic Music in New York 1918–1929, Alma Criolla Records, 1994.
• Markos Vamvakaris, Bouzouki Pioneer, 1932–1940, Rounder Records, 1998.
• Markos Vamvakaris, Master of Rembetika – Complete Recordings 1932–1937, plus selected recordings 1938, (4CD), JSP Records, 2010.
• Mortika – Rare Vintage Recordings from a Greek Underworld, ARKO records, Uppsala, 2005. CD and book, also issued as 2LP box by Mississippi Records, 2009.
• Mourmourika: Songs of the Greek Underworld, Rounder Records, 1999.
• My Only Consolation: Classic Pireotic Rembetica 1932–1946, Rounder Records, 1999.
• Rembetica: Historic Urban Folk Songs From Greece, Rounder Records, 1992.
• Rembetika: Greek Music from the Underground, JSP Records, 2006.
• Rembetika 2: More of the Secret History of Greece's Underground Music, JSP Records, 2008.
• Rebetiki Istoria, EMIAL-Lambropoulos, Athens 1975–76 – LP series in six volumes, later also issued on cassettes and CDs.
• Roza Eskenazi – Rembetissa, Rounder Records, 1996.
• The Rough Guide to Rebetika, World Music Network, 2004.
• Vassilis Tsitsanis – All the pre-war recordings, 1936–1940 (5CD), JSP Records, 2008.
• Vassilis Tsitsanis – The Postwar Years 1946–1954, (4CD), JSP Records, 2009.
• Women of Rembetica, Rounder Records, 2000.
• Women of Rembetica, (4CD), JSP Records, 2012.
• Various – The Diaspora Of Rembetiko, Network Medien, (2CD), compilation, 2004.