Europe (South)

This is the third page of Europe, the South (East):
Albania, Greece, Italy, and the islands Sardinia and Corsica .

For the Eastern side go to Europe East : Austria, Russia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Rumania and Croatia For the Western side go to Europe West : Spain, Portugal, Canary islands, Madeira, Azores, Cape Verde, Ireland For Turkey see Middle East.

The folk lute of Albania is similar to the Turkish (small) cura saz. The name qiftelia (officially written çiftelia, and sometimes cifteli) means "two strings" in Albanian.

The qiftelia is carved (like the Turkish saz) from one piece of wood, with a pine front. The long thin neck is separate and joined to the body with a V-join. It has brass inlayed frets, in a special diatonic scale with 7 frets in an octave. The straight peghead is part of the neck and ends in a narrow end. The T-shaped friction pegs are both on the front, but slanting to different sides.

The 2 metal strings run over a small metal bridge (screwed to the front) to a small metal stringholder at the edge of the body.

Usually there is some kind of inlay on the front to serve as scratchboard (like on some mandolins). On some instruments there is woodburning decoration around the edges or even a full picture on the entire front. There is a small soundhole on the front, and another one on the left side of the body.

Playing is strumming with the fingers, and fingering mainly the first string, with the second as drone.

The sharki (or sargija) is a similar instrument as the two-string qiftelia, but with more strings and looking more like a primitive saz. Spelling is sometimes : sarkia or sharki or sharkia. Usually there are 3 courses of metal strings. The frets are often inlayed metal frets, in a non-western pattern. Body could be made from separate staves, or carved from one piece of wood.

It also exists in other countries of the Balkan, like Bosnia.

left : 3 sargijas in a museum in Tirana, Albania 1985 right : sargija from LP Yugoslavia

The main plucked instrument in Greece is the bouzouki. Originally from Turkish origin it had 3 courses (like the baglama saz), nowadays it has usually 4 double courses. For more information about Greek instruments see Helleniccomservice.com, and for lots of beautiful instruments see NVO.com.

The bouzouki has a lute-shape body with a guitar-neck. The body is made from many narrow ribs, glued together. The inside is layered with a kind of silver paper. The front is pine. On the top half around the (round or fancy shaped) soundhole there is always a black and white decorative scratch plate (made of plastic nowadays) under the varnish.

The neck is guitar-like with a flat peghead, and machine heads on both sides of the open peghead. The fingerboard is raised and has metal frets. Often part of the fretboard (and sometimes the entire fretboard) is made of shiny perloid. The strings run over a very wide loose bridge to a mandolin-like tailpiece. The tuning of the modern bouzouki is usually guitar-like : D g b e', or a tone lower : C f a d'. The old style 3 course bouzouki (mainly used in "rembetika" folk music) could be tuned : D a d'.

Playing the bouzouki is with a plectrum, often with much tremelo. Music in the "syrtaki" dance style is often with 7/4 and 5/4 rhythms, and many extra passing notes.

The laghouto is a kind of hybrid : a large lute-shaped body with a guitar-neck and a mandolin-tuning. A similar type of instrument is used all over the Balkan (often with similar sounding names). It is usually quite expensive. See for the related lavta lute under Turkey.

The body is made like a big baroque lute, with many ribs glued together. The pine front has usually between soundhole and bridge, a scratchplate inlayed from different wood. The round soundhole is covered with a carved wooden rosette. The bridge is glued-on. Often at the bottom edge is a decorative strip of leather for protection.

The guitar-like neck has tied-on nylon frets, with some wooden frets glued on the front (sometimes with round pieces of wood on both sides). The guitar-like open peghead has 4 tuning machines on both sides.

The laghouto has 4 double strings in mandolin tuning 7-7-7, with the lowest strings up an octave. It has a deep strong singing sound. Playing is not easy, because of the large size, round back and the tuning. It is played with a plectrum.

The Greek baglama is in fact a kind of miniature bouzouki, with 3 double metal strings. The shape can be quite different between instruments.

There are two types : the body can be carved from one piece of wood, or it can be made like a tiny bouzouki, built from staves.
The front is made of pine. The neck looks relatively large, has a raised fretboard and a flat tuning head. It has 6 metal strings in 3 courses, which run over a loose wooden bridge to a metal tailpiece at the edge of the body. It has a small soundhole and is usually not so much decorated as the bouzouki.

Tuning of the baglama is like the 3-course bouzouki : d" a' d" . It is played with a plectrum in the Rebetika style music.

Notice that in Turkey the normal size saz is also called baglama.

Left : The difference in size between a baglama and a bouzouki   Right : A bouzouki-like built baglama and a carved baglama   (both from website NVO)

Between the bouzouki and baglama is another lute-like instrument : the tsouras. The name is similar to the small Turkish cura (saz).

The body of the tsouras is made like that of the bouzouki (with ribs), but about as small as the body of a baglama. The neck is just as long as that of the bouzouki.

In the southern half of Italy, in the regions of Calabria, Campania, Basilica and Puglio, you can still find the chitarra battente ("strumming guitar"). They sometimes look quite similar to the 17th century chitarra battente (see early guitars), but that is mainly because the makers try to use those as model. All instruments are locally made, so there is a large variety in models - although the type can usually be recognized: short neck, slanting front, strings to body edge. See for many examples of this instrument, the website : Chitarrabattente (in Italian).

The back is often rounded (like the 17th century instrument), but many are flat. The front is slanting from the loose bridge downwards, and the strings are usually fixed to a small stringholder at the end of the body. The soundhole is traditionally filled with a wooden or parchment rosette; on some instruments there are 3 rosettes. Decorations can be with pieces of cut-out paper, or paintings.

There is no fingerboard : the (10) metal frets are put straight in the neck, flush with the front, and usually the neck joins at the 10th fret. It can have tuning pegs (from behind), or tuning machines (but usually not a slotted peghead).
Some chitarra battentes have 4 or 6 single or double courses, but most will have 5 double courses. It always has metal strings and usually they are all of the same thickness (!).

The tuning is : a d' g b e', usually in unisons, with no basses.
The Puglia chitarra has a "d" octave and the Calabria chitarra has the g' string fixed from a peg halfway the neck (between the 6th and 7th fret).

Playing is just strumming a few chords to accompany singing or a mandolin solo.

Notice that in Italy the Spanish guitar is called the French guitar ("chitarra francese"). Also notice that "chitarra battente" is often wrongly translated as "guitar clapper". And finally notice the resemblence with the violas from Portugal, which also have 5 double courses of thin metal strings and the fingerboard flush with the front.

left: chitarra with 3 rosettes (from CD La Tarantella del Gargano) right: chitarra with rounded back (from website Liuteriaetnica.it)

On the Italian island Sardinia they have a special kind of singing, very much like that in the south of Italy - with very harsh and deep male voices. Some song contests are accompanied by a large acoustic guitar - the kithera sarda - which is usually made in Sicily (another Italian island).

The kithera sarda often resembles the Jumbo (Dreadnought) shape, but is even larger (!). Strings run over a flat loose bridge to the stringholder. The purfling around the edge is highly decorative, as is some Italian mandoline-like scratchplate, often inlayed in the front.

The strings are tuned 3 tones lower than the normal guitar.

On the French island Corsica quite recently the folk musicians have rediscovered the old cittern. They have extended the number of strings and when played, the sound and feeling (of the thin metal strings) is that of the old orpharion. Even some of the necks looks like a cittern, with the d-shape. See for more information (in French) Ugocetera.

As the makers make up their own models, there is not one standard cetera, although the general model can be recognised.

The body of the cetera is mandolin/cittern-like, with a flat back. Sometimes the bottom has a small extension to fix the strings to. The back of the neck is either like a normal guitar neck or in a d-shape, like on cittern and orpharion. The fretboard is raised above the front. Sometimes a rosette made of parchment is put in the round soundhole. The pegbox can be flat with tuning machines or friction pegs from the back, or sickle-shape with friction pegs from both sides.

The thin metal strings are either in 4 double courses or in 8 double courses.
The tuning of the 8 course cetera is : c d es f g g d g .