Notes from Seminar

• Basically my infographic has everything correct but there needs to be more dancing connection and I need to listen
• Pythagoras’ research on music started with hitting on a string to find different ratios of music
• Greeks always dance in circles together to show that unity
  • It started because instruments weren’t loud enough so people would dance around
• Hip hop isn’t really listened to (except for by young people), because the emotions aren’t there
  • Rebetika is for emotional and Laika is for popular
  • No one’s going to be in a family dinner playing hip hop
• Laika music is taking rebetika but with topics other than poverty
  • Talks about love and hope etc
• Klepthic music is more popular traditional than folk music
  • It is Byzantine that was adopted by those fighting against the ottomans
  • Klepthic means thieves since they would refuse to play the Ottoman rent and would always fight
• The Byzantine organ was developed by Greeks in Alexandra, Egypt, then gifted to Eastern Europeans where it was further developed
• Greek music is really about the dance and emotion
  • The emotion is based on the words on the song
  • In order to dance you need to know the meaning
    • The rhythm is based on what the song says or sometimes you don't sing (Kathistiko sitting)
• Just like American music, the base is always church music but can talk about other topics
• I have to play the music over and over again in order to be “initiated into Greek life”
  • In order to understand I have to listen over and over again
• Sytraki is a moderately popular new dance style that was popularized by a famous composer from a movie
  • It started in a movie with a man trying to express his sorrow and it gets faster and faster as it goes on
    • It’s not tradition but it’s a good way to get introduced
  • As soon as Zorba the Greek comes on people are ready to dance basically
• The lyrical poetry pieces are found but people are reconstructing how it really sounds
• Mr. Kostos really believes that the music and dancing of today is similar to that of the Ancient Greeks since there is a continuum
  • Ancient Greek didn’t need to write music because they just sang how they felt
• Byzantine hymns are usually sung before Easter
  • All hymns are sang on the same rhythm and everyone sings along
  • Zantouri is a Byzantine stringed instrument
  • They speak about things in the Bible
• Greek priests are very good at singing and dancing and do it a lot, since music and dancing is so part of the culture
• Wind instruments are a huge part of the music as well
• Dances
  • Sytros from Creta is main one
  • Tsamiko
• Zeimpekiko music there is only one person dancing and most people are listening
  • Someone usually asks for the song but there is only supposed to be one person dancing
    • Some people will kill another person for dancing in from to them
• In 1932 (or 1922), there was a disaster where almost 2 million Greeks were pushed out of Asia Minor and fleed back to the Greece. The Turkish people put fire on Greek and Armenian neighborhoods
  • The song is called “My mother is put on fire”
  • incredibly sad Rebetiko (Zeimpekiko) song