11 Timeless bouzouki solos (Nine Eight)

This collection is the fourth volume of the sheet music book series, called “Nine Eight”, which is dedicated to Greek folk music, a very interesting, genuine and compound musical genre of great harmonic and rhythmic value, which is now widely considered as a precious cultural inheritance gaining admirers all over the world. The purpose of this series is to document some of the classical Greek folk musical pieces with as much detail and accuracy as possible (including improvisational -taximi- parts) instead of presenting just a general view of these songs, something that has already been done several times before. Everything is written both in English and Greek. All musical scores include bothstandard notation and tablature. But most important, each book goes with the respectiveaudio material (rehearsal/backing tracks), which can be downloaded from the book’s website after your purchase. This volume is comprised of instrumental pieces that are either totally free improvisational bouzouki solos or free solos that end up in a short instrumental theme with a defined rhythmic pattern. It is arguably the most difficult venture of the series, so far. This difficulty lies in the fact that it attempts to write down something that in reality cannot fit in written form. If Greek folk music as a whole is difficult to be put on paper, the free improvisational solos, “taximia”, as they are called in folk music, accumulate all the factors that constitute this difficulty. But they do also accumulate all the expressiveness of this musical genre, and the sense of freedom that it evokes (mostly because it often “escapes” from the typical straight beats). So, the “taximia” completely refuse to fit the mold of a rhythmic pattern or a steady tempo. In the same way, they refuse to stay fully devoted to one folk scale (“dromos” = road) and they deviate now and then to passing notes and other related scales. Their path depends on the player’s skills and experience, but also on the mood of that unique moment that the “taximi” is being played. It is the most poetic and deeply soulful moment of the bouzouki player. This book, will hopefully give you a relatively well-rounded picture of the subject, as solos of different time periods and playing styles (for the first time you will find some 4-string bouzouki scores), and as many folk scales as possible have been included. Finally, for a better musical understanding, in the appendix you fill find some theoretical information for the folk scales encountered in the main part of the book. Song contents: To minore tou teke, Chora Tsibidi, To minore tou Tsitsani, Taxim zeibekiko, Omorfa, Taximi peireotiko – To radiki, Taximi hasapiko, Peireotiko taximi, Taxim Houzam, Taximi, Mia nychta olakeri