Greek Tunes and Rhythms

These Greek-island tunes were taught by Georgios Leftheriotis, at the Lark in the Morning music and dance camp, in 2001. It is instructive to note that time signatures can be broken down many different ways, so the 9/8 tune in the list below is not broken down as 3-3-3, but rather as 2-2-2-3.

TuneKeyScaleRhythm*Notes of Scale
1
VegaraGHijazG Ab – B C – D Eb – F –
2
VarellaFmDiatonic MinorF
3
Island TuneGmOusakG
4
__??__CmDiatonic Minor7/8 (SQQ)C
5
__??__ (slow tune)GHijazslowG Ab – B C – D Eb – F –
6
From a Strange LandCmDiatonic MinorC
7
KarsilamasGHijaz9/8 (QQQS)G Ab – B C – D Eb – F –
8
Boat from the IslandBbMajorBb

*(S=slow=1,2,3, Q=quick=1,2)

Note:
For more information on the scales, see the Greek Scales page.

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