Baglamas

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Baglamas - front and rear view

The name of this instrument comes from the Turkish word baglama, which means bond or knot. The modem baglamas is like a small bouzouki. The baglamas is primarily an instrument of accompaniment. It has 3 pairs of strings tuned like the bouzouki D-A-D. In the old days of rebetiko, the baglamas was not quite the same as the bouzouki- it had 3 pairs of strings, but it was tuned differently: for instance E-B-E, with specific tuning instruments, kourdismata, which the rembetes called douzenia or baglamadodouzenia. They only had 5 or 7 tasta, and they were played by the opening and closing of one's left hand. Baglamas measure approximately 3536cm in length. They come in many shapes, with different bodies (skafis) or necks (cheri).