Music of Greece
|Music of Greece|
|Media and performance|
|Nationalistic and patriotic songs|
|National anthem||"Hymn to Liberty"|
|Related areas||Cyprus, Pontus, Constantinople, South Italy|
|Part of a series on the|
The music of Greece is as diverse and celebrated as its history. Greek music separates into two parts: Greek traditional music and Byzantine music, with more eastern sounds. These compositions have existed for millennia: they originated in the Byzantine period and Greek antiquity; there is a continuous development which appears in the language, the rhythm, the structure and the melody. Music is a significant aspect of Hellenic culture, both within Greece and in the diaspora.
- 1 Greek musical history
- 2 Classical music
- 3 Popular music
- 3.1 Greek operetta and early popular songs
- 3.2 Rebetiko
- 3.3 Éntekhno
- 3.4 Laïkó
- 3.5 Modern laïká
- 3.6 Skyládiko
- 3.7 Other popular trends
- 3.7.1 New Wave (Néo Kýma)
- 3.7.2 Political song
- 3.7.3 Other
- 3.7.4 Artists
- 3.8 Independent music scenes
- 4 See also
- 5 Notes
- 6 References
- 7 External links
Greek musical history
Greek musical history extends far back into ancient Greece, since music was a major part of ancient Greek theater. Later influences from the Roman Empire, Eastern Europe and the Byzantine Empire changed the form and style of Greek music. In the 19th century, opera composers, like Nikolaos Mantzaros (1795–1872), Spyridon Xyndas (1812–1896) and Spyridon Samaras (1861–1917) and symphonists, like Dimitris Lialios and Dionysios Rodotheatos revitalized Greek art music. However, the diverse history of art music in Greece, which extends from the Cretan Renaissance and reaches modern times, exceeds the aims of the present article, which is, in general, limited to the presentation of the musical forms that have become synonymous to 'Greek music' during the last few decades; that is, the 'Greek song' or the 'song in Greek verse'.
In ancient Greece, men usually performed choruses performed for entertainment, celebration and spiritual reasons. Instruments included the double-reed aulos and the plucked string instrument (like pandura), the lyre, especially the special kind called a kithara.
Music was an important part of education in ancient Greece, and boys were taught music starting at age six. Greek musical literacy created a flowering of development; Greek music theory included the Greek musical modes, eventually became the basis for Western religious music and classical music.
Greece in the Roman Empire
Due to Rome's reverence for Greek culture, the Romans borrowed the Greek method of 'enchiriadic notation' (marks which indicated the general shape of the tune but not the exact notes or rhythms) to record their music, if they used any notation at all.
The tradition of eastern liturgical chant, encompassing the Greek-speaking world, developed in the Byzantine Empire from the establishment of its capital, Constantinople, in 330 until its fall in 1453. It is undeniably of composite origin, drawing on the artistic and technical productions of the classical Greek age, on Jewish music, and inspired by the monophonic vocal music that evolved in the early (Greek) Christian cities of Alexandria, Antioch and Ephesus (see also Early Christian music). In his lexicographical discussion of instruments, the Persian geographer Ibn Khurradadhbih (d. 911) cited the lūrā (bowed lyra) as a typical instrument of the Byzantines along with the urghun (organ), shilyani (probably a type of harp or lyre), and the salandj (probably a bagpipe).
Greece in the Ottoman Empire
The Greeks were familiar, in a period that stretched from the 15th century to the time of Greek war of independence, with Greek folk music and dances from Byzantine music and more specifically, with hymns: Church music. These genres have certainly reached a high degree of evolution. They were forms of a mono music that had many elements of ancient Greek origin but also, they had nothing to do with Western polyphonic music. By the beginning of the 20th century, music-cafés (καφέ-σαντάν) were popular in Greek cities like Constantinople and Smyrna, where small groups of musicians from Greece played. The bands were typically led by a female vocalist and included a violin. The improvised songs typically exclaimed amán amán, which led to the name amanédhes or café-aman (καφέ-αμάν). Greek musicians of this period included Marika Papagika, Rosa Eskenazi and Rita Abatzi. This period also brought in the Rebetiko movement, which had local Smyrnaic and Byzantine influences.
Folk music (dhimotiká)
Greek folk traditions are said to derive from the music played by ancient Greeks. There are said to be two musical movements in Greek folk music (παραδοσιακή μουσική): Acritic songs and Klephtic songs. Akritic music comes from the 9th century akrites, or border guards of the Byzantine Empire. Following the end of the Byzantine period, klephtic music arose before the Greek Revolution, developed among the kleftes, warriors who fought against the Ottoman Empire. Klephtic music is monophonic and uses no harmonic accompaniment.
Dhimotika tragoudhia are accompanied by clarinets, guitars, tambourines and violins, and include dance music forms like syrtó, kalamatianó, tsámiko and hasaposérviko, as well as vocal music like kléftiko. Many of the earliest recordings were done by Arvanites like Yiorgia Mittaki and Yiorgios Papasidheris. Instrumentalists include clarinet virtuosos like Petroloukas Halkias, Yiorgos Yevyelis and Yiannis Vassilopoulos, as well as oud and fiddle players like Nikos Saragoudas and Yiorgos Koros.
Greek folk music is found all throughout Greece Cyprus and several regions of Turkey, as well as among communities in countries like the United States, Canada and Australia.The island of Cyprus and several regions of Turkey are home to long-standing communities of Greeks in Turkey with their own unique styles of music.
Ikariótikos is a traditional type of dance, and also the name of its accompanying type of singing, originating in the Aegean island of Ikaria. At first it was a very slow dance, but today Ikariotikos is a very quick dance. Some specialists say that the traditional Ikariotikos was slow and the quick "version" of it is in fact Ballos. Music and dancing are major forms of entertainment in Ikaria. Throughout the year Ikarians host baptisms, weddings, parties and religious festivals where one can listen and dance to live traditional Ikarian Music.
Singer Mariza Koch was largely responsible for the revival of interest in Nisiótika in the 70s and 80s. During the 1990s and 2000s, artists such as Yiannis Parios, Stella Konitopoulou, and the Mythos Band helped this music gain occasional mainstream popularity.
The Cretan lyra is the dominant folk instrument on the island; it is a three-stringed bowed instrument similar to the Byzantine Lyra. It is often accompanied with laouto (laoúto), which is similar to both an oud and a lute. Nikos Xylouris, Psarantonis (Antonis Xylouris), Thanassis Skordalos, Kostas Moundakis, Ross Daly and Vasilis Skoulas are among the most renowned players of the lýra. Mandolin is also used in Cretan music. Loudovikos ton Anogeion (Λουδοβίκος των Ανωγείων) is a well-known mandolin player from Crete.
Cretan music in media
The Cretan music theme Zorba's dance by Mikis Theodorakis (incorporating elements from the hasapiko dance) which appears in the Hollywood 1964 movie Zorba the Greek remains the best-known Greek song abroad. However mostly appears in movies and television series, where shot in Crete.
Other folk traditions
|This section requires expansion. (December 2008)|
Other major regional musical traditions of Greece include:
It was through the Ionian islands (which were under Venetian rule and influence) that all the major advances of the western European classical music were introduced to mainland Greeks. The region is notable for the birth of the first School of modern Greek classical music (Heptanesian or Ionian School; Greek: Επτανησιακή Σχολή), established in 1815. Prominent representatives of this genre include Nikolaos Mantzaros, Spyridon Xyndas, Spyridon Samaras, Dionysius Rodotheatos and Pavlos Carrer.
Greek National School
Manolis Kalomiris (1883–1962) was the founder of the Greek National School of Music. Born in Smyrna, he attended school in Constantinople and studied piano and composition in Vienna. His work drew influences also from the Greek folk music, poetry (he was an admirer of Kostis Palamas) and myth, aiming to combine the German Romanticism with Greek motives. In 1919 he founded the Hellenic Conservatory and in 1926 the National Conservatoire. Representatives are also Emilios Riadis and the conductor Dimitris Mitropoulos.
Greek operetta and early popular songs
The Heptanesean kantádhes (καντάδες 'serenades'; sing.: καντάδα) are based on the popular Italian music of the early 19th century and became the forerunners of the Greek modern song, influencing its development to a considerable degree. For the first part of the next century, several Greek composers continued to borrow elements from the Heptanesean style.
The most successful songs during the period 1870–1930 were the so-called Athenian serenades (Αθηναϊκές καντάδες), and the songs performed on stage (επιθεωρησιακά τραγούδια 'theatrical revue songs') in revues, musical comedies, operettas and nocturnes that were dominating Athens' theatre scene. Notable composers of operettas or nocturnes were Spyridon Samaras, Kostas Giannidis, Spyridon Kaisaris, Dionysios Lavrangas, Nikos Hatziapostolou, while Theophrastos Sakellaridis' The Godson remains probably the most popular operetta. Despite the fact that the Athenian songs were not autonomous artistic creations (in contrast with the serenades) and despite their original connection with mainly dramatic forms of Art, they eventually became hits as independent songs. Notable actors of Greek operettas, who made also a series of melodies and songs popular at that time, include Orestis Makris, Kalouta sisters, Vasilis Avlonitis, Afroditi Laoutari, Rena Vlahopoulou, Eleni Papadaki, Aris Maliagros, Marika Nezer, Marika Krevata and others. Italian opera had also a great influence on the musical aesthetics of the modern Greeks. Some popular operettas include:
- Kritikopoula (Spyridon Samaras, 1916)
- Τhe Godson (Theophrastos Sakellaridis, 1918)
- I want to see the pope (Theophrastos Sakellaridis, 1920)
- Oi Apachides ton Athinon (Nikos Hatziapostolou, 1921)
- Beba (Theophrastos Sakellaridis, 1928)
After 1930, wavering among American and European musical influences as well as the Greek musical tradition, Greek composers begin to write music using the tunes of the tango, samba, waltz, swing, bolero, foxtrot, some times combined with melodies in the style of Athenian serenades' repertory. Nikos Gounaris was probably the most renowned composer and singer of the time (often called "Mr. Greece"). Giorgos Mouzakis was a prominent virtuoso trumpeter (borrowed latin jazz elements), while Attik and Michalis Souyioul were also among the most succeeded and popular composers. Notable singers of this style include also Fotis Polymeris, Sofia Vembo (a star of the era), Mary Lo, Danaë Stratigopoulou, Stella Greca and Tony Maroudas.
Rebetiko was initially associated with the lower and poor classes, but later reached greater general acceptance as the rough edges of its overt subcultural character were softened and polished. Rebetiko probably originated in the music of the larger Greek cities, most of them coastal, in today's Greece and Asia Minor. Emerged by the 1920s as the urban folk music of Greek society's outcasts. The earliest Greek rebetiko singers (refugees, drug-users, criminals and itinerants) were scorned by mainstream society. They sang heartrending tales of drug abuse, prison and violence, usually accompanied by the bouzouki.
In 1923, after the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, many ethnic Greeks from Asia Minor fled to Greece as a result of the Greco-Turkish War. They settled in poor neighborhoods in Piraeus, Thessaloniki, and Athens. Many of these immigrants were highly educated, such as songwriter Vangelis Papazoglou, and Panagiotis Toundas, composer and leader of Odeon Records' Greek subsidiary, who are traditionally considered as the founders of the Smyrna School of Rebetiko. Another tradition from Smyrna that came along with the Greek refugees was the tekés (τεκές) 'opium den', or hashish dens. Groups of men would sit in a circle, smoke hashish from a hookah, and improvise music of various kinds.
With the coming of the Metaxas dictatorship, rebetiko was suppressed due to the uncompromising lyrics. Hashish dens, baglamas and bouzouki were banned, or at least playing in the eastern-style manner and scales.
Some of the earliest legends of Greek music, such as the quartet of Anestis Delias, Markos Vamvakaris, Stratos Payioumtzis and Yiorgos Batis came out of this music scene. Vamvakaris became perhaps the first renowned rebetiko musician after the beginning of his solo career. Other popular rebetiko songwriters and singers of this period (1940s) include: Dimitris Gogos (better known as Bayandéras), Stelios Perpiniadis, Spyros Peristeris, Giannis Papaioannou, and Apostolos Hatzichristos.
The scene was soon popularized further by stars like Vassilis Tsitsanis. His song Συννεφιασμένη Κυριακή - Synnefiasméni Kyriakí became an anthem for the oppressed Greeks when it was composed in 1943 (during the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II), despite the fact that it was not recorded until 1948. He was followed by female singers like Marika Ninou, Ioanna Yiorgakopoulou, and Sotiria Bellou. In 1953, Manolis Chiotis added a fourth pair of strings to the bouzouki, which allowed it to be played as a guitar and set the stage for the future 'electrification' of rebetiko. This final era of rebetiko (mid 1940s–1953) also featured the emergence of night clubs (κέντρα διασκεδάσεως) as a means of popularizing music.By the late 1950s, rebetiko had declined; it only survived in the form of archontorebetiko (αρχοντορεμπέτικο "posh rebetiko"), a refined style of rebetiko that was far more accepted by the upper class than the traditional form of the genre. The mainstream popularity of archontorebetiko paved the way for éntekhno and laïkó. In the 60s Manolis Chiotis popularized the eight-string bouzouki and set the stage for the future 'electrification' of rebetiko.
Rebetiko in its original form was revived during the Junta of 1967–1974, when the Regime of the Colonels banned it. After the end of the Junta, many revival groups (and solo artists) appeared. The most notable of them include Opisthodhromiki Kompania, Rembetiki Kompania, Babis Tsertos, Agathonas Iakovidis and others.
Drawing on rebetiko's westernization by Tsitsanis and Chiotis, éntekhno arose in the late 1950s. Éntekhno (lit. meaning 'art song') is orchestral music with elements from Greek folk rhythm and melody; its lyrical themes are often based on the work of famous Greek poets. As opposed to other forms of Greek urban folk music, éntekhno concerts would often take place outside a hall or a night club in the open air. Mikis Theodorakis and Manos Hadjidakis were the most popular early composers of éntekhno song cycles. They were both educated in Classical music and -among other reasons- the lacking of a wide public for this kind of music in Greece, drove them to the invention of Éntekhno, in which they transferred some values of Classical Music alias Western Art Music (i.e. mind-oriented music). Other significant Greek songwriters included Stavros Kouyoumtzis, Manos Loïzos, and Dimos Moutsis. Significant lyricists of this genre are Nikos Gatsos, Manos Eleftheriou and poet Tasos Livaditis. By the 1960s, innovative albums helped éntekhno become close to mainstream, and also led to its appropriation by the film industry for use in soundtracks. A form of éntekhno which is even closer to western classical music was introduced during the late 1970s and 1980s by Thanos Mikroutsikos. (See the section 'Other popular trends' below for further information on Néo kýma and Contemporary éntekhno.) Notable Éntekhno works include:
- Six folk paintings (Manos Hatzidakis, 1951)
- Epitaphios (Mikis Theodorakis, 1960, poetry by Yiannis Ritsos)
- Epifania (Mikis Theodorakis, 1962, poetry by Giorgos Seferis)
- Dead brother's song (Mikis Theodorakis, 1962)
- Mikres Kyklades (Mikis Theodorakis, 1963, poetry by Odysseas Elytis)
- Gioconda's Smile (Manos Hatzidakis, 1965)
- Romiossini (Mikis Theodorakis, 1966, poetry by Yiannis Ritsos)
- Ballos (Dionysis Savvopoulos, 1970)
- O Megalos Erotikos (Manos Hatzidakis, 1972)
- Eighteen Short Songs of the Bitter Motherland (Mikis Theodorakis, 1973, poetry by Yiannis Ritsos)
- Our Great Circus (Stavros Xarchakos for the theatrical play of Iakovos Kambanellis, 1974)
- Stavros tou Notou (Southern Cross) (Thanos Mikroutsikos, 1979, poetry by Nikos Kavvadias)
Laïkó (λαϊκό τραγούδι 'song of the people' / 'popular song' or αστική λαϊκή μουσική 'urban folk music'), is a Greek music genre that is composed in Greek language in accordance with the tradition of the Greek people. Laïkó followed after the commercialization of rebetiko music. Until the 1930s the Greek discography was dominated by two musical genres: the Greek folk music (demotiká) and the Elafró tragoudi (literally: "light song"). The latter was the Greek version of the international urban music of the era. Classic laïkó (κλασικό/παλιό λαϊκό) as it is known today, was the mainstream popular music of Greece during the 60s and 70s. It was dominated by singers such as Grigoris Bithikotsis, Marinella, Stelios Kazantzidis, Panos Gavalas and others. Among the most significant songwriters and lyricists of this period are considered George Zambetas, Manolis Hiotis and Vassilis Tsitsanis; of course the big names of this kind are still in Greek business. The more cheerful version of laïkó, called elafró laïkó (ελαφρολαϊκό, elafrolaïkó 'light laïkó') and it was often used in musicals during the Golden Age of Greek cinema. Contemporary laïkó (σύγχρονο λαϊκό), also called modern laïkó, is currently Greece's mainstream music genre. Some of the strongest Greek dances and rhythms of today's Greek music culture laïká are Nisiotika, Syrta, Hasapika, Kalamatiana, zeibekiko, syrtaki and Greek belly dance and the most of them are set to music by the Greek instrumental bouzouki. Thus, on the one hand there is the homogenized Greek popular song, with all the idioms of traditional Greek folk music, and on the other, the peculiar musical trends of the urban rebetiko (song of the cities) known also in Greece as αστικό.
Other significant songwriters and lyricists of this category are considered George Zambetas, Akis Panou, Apostolos Kaldaras, Giorgos Mitsakis, Stavros Kouyioumtzis, Lefteris Papadopoulos and Eftichia Papagianopoulos. Many artists have combined the traditions of éntekhno and laïkó with considerable success, such as the composers Mimis Plessas and Stavros Xarchakos.
During the same era, there was also another kind of soft music (ελαφρά μουσική, also called ελαφρό, elafró 'soft (song)', literally 'light') which became fashionable; it was represented by ensembles of singers/musicians such as the Katsamba Brothers duo, the Trio Kitara, the Trio Belcanto, the Trio Atene and others. The genre's sound was an imitation of the then contemporary Cuban and Mexican folk music, but also had elements from the early Athenian popular songs.
Modern laïká or laïko-pop is currently Greece's mainstream music along with some pop recordings.
Contemporary laïkó (σύγχρονο λαϊκό), (laiko-pop) (also called modern laïkó) is currently Greece's mainstream music genre in today nightlife. Contemporary laïká emerged as a style in the early 1980s. An indispensable part of the contemporary laïká culture is the písta (πίστα - pl.: πίστες) "dance floor/venue". Night clubs at which the DJs play only contemporary laïká where colloquially known on the 1990s as ellinádhika. Over the years until today, the aim of Greek music scene is only one: Quality. Virtuoso musicians and expressive singers take every season, with more professionalism and love for what they do to entertain the Greek audience, to lure and to make it dance with the songs and music that everyone loves. All this music effort take place in Europe and internationally. Greek-American music includes styles like Entechno, rebetiko and Greek folk music. The Greek music culture exists as a serious aspect of Hellenic culture, both within Greece and in the diaspora.
Renowned songwriters of modern laïká include Alekos Chrysovergis, Nikos Karvelas, Phoebus, Nikos Terzis and Christos Dantis. Renowned lyricists include Giorgos Theofanous, Evi Droutsa and Natalia Germanou.
In the 2010s, several new artists emerged. Artists, such as Kostas Martakis, Panos Kalidis, Ioakim Fokas, Stella Kali, Stan, Katerina Stikoudi, Demy and X-Factor contestants such as Konstantinos Argyros, Eleftheria Eleftheriou and Ivi Adamou. Several artists sometimes incorporated dance pop elements in their laïko-pop recordings.
In effect, there is no single name for modern laïká in the Greek language, but it is often formally referred to as σύγχρονο λαϊκό ([ˈsiŋxrono laiˈko]), a term which is however also used for denoting newly composed songs in the tradition of "proper" laïkó; when ambiguity arises, σύγχρονο ('contemporary') λαϊκό or disparagingly λαϊκο-ποπ ('folk-pop', also in the sense of "westernized") is used for the former, while γνήσιο ('genuine') or even καθαρόαιμο ('pureblood') λαϊκό is used for the latter. The choice of contrasting the notions of "westernized" and "genuine" may often be based on ideological and aesthetic grounds.
Despite its popularity, the genre of modern laïká (especially laïkο-pop) has come under scrutiny for "featuring musical clichés, average singing voices and slogan-like lyrics" and for "being a hybrid, neither laïkó, nor pop".
Skyládiko Greek pronunciation: [sciˈlaðiko] (or Skyládika) (Greek: Σκυλάδικο, meaning "doghouse"), or nightclubs of Greece in big Greek cities as term, are considered by both the artistic establishments and recording companies as an expression of degradation and social decadence. Skyládiko is akin to the Serbian Turbo-folk, Bulgarian Chalga and Turkish Arabesque. It is performed with electric bouzouki and guitars. It is associated with mass entertainment of lower quality and until the 70's and 80's was marginal, but gained popularity after the 80's. Critics of this genre relate it with modern laïká, mentioning the low quality and the indispensable common part of the pista (πίστα, pl.: πίστες) "dance floor/venue".
Other popular trends
New Wave (Néo Kýma)
Folk singer-songwriters (τραγουδοποιοί) first appeared in the 1960s after Dionysis Savvopoulos' 1966 breakthrough album Fortighó. Many of these musicians started out playing Néo kýma, "New wave" (not to be confused with new wave rock), a mixture of éntekhno and chansons from France. Savvopoulos mixed American musicians like Bob Dylan and Frank Zappa with Macedonian folk music and politically incisive lyrics. In his wake came more folk-influenced performers like Arleta, Mariza Koch, Mihalis Violaris, Kostas Hatzis and the composer Giannis Spanos. This music scene flourished in a specific type of boîte de nuit.
A notable musical trend in the 1970s (during the Junta of 1967–1974 and a few years after its end) was the rise in popularity of the topical songs (πολιτικό τραγούδι "political song"). Classic éntekhno composers associated with this movement include Mikis Theodorakis, Thanos Mikroutsikos, Giannis Markopoulos, and Manos Loïzos.
Nikos Xydakis, one of Savvopoulos' pupils, was among the people who revolutionized laïkó by using orientalized instrumentation. His most successful album was 1987's Kondá sti Dhóxa miá Stigmí, recorded with Eleftheria Arvanitaki.
Thanasis Polykandriotis, laïkó composer and classically trained bouzouki player, became renowned for his mixture of rebetiko and orchestral music (as in his 1996 composition "Concert for Bouzouki and Orchestra No. 1").
A popular trend since the late 1980s has been the fusion of éntekhno (urban folk ballads with artistic lyrics) with pop / soft rock music (έντεχνο ποπ-ροκ). Moreover, certain composers, such as Dimitris Papadimitriou have been inspired by elements of the classic éntekhno tradition and written songs cycles for singers of contemporary éntekhno music, such as Fotini Darra. The most renowned contemporary éntekhno (σύγχρονο έντεχνο) lyricist is Lina Nikolakopoulou.
There are however other composers of instrumental and incidental music (including filmscores and music for the stage), whose work cannot be easily classified, such as Stamatis Spanoudakis, Giannis Spanos, Giorgos Hatzinasios, Giorgos Tsangaris, Nikos Kypourgos, Nikos Mamangakis, Eleni Karaindrou, and Evanthia Remboutsika. Vangelis and Yanni were also Greek instrumental composers who became internationally renowned.
Even though it has always had a considerable amount of listeners supporting it throughout the history of the post 1960s Greek music, it is only very recently (late 2000s) that pop-oriented music has reached the popularity of laïkó/laïká, and there is a tendency among many urban folk artists to turn to more pop-oriented sounds.
The following classification is conventional and categories may occasionally overlap with each other. Each artist is entried under the genre designation that the Greek musical press usually classifies him or her.
- Keti Chomata
- Kostas Hatzis
- Mariza Koch
- Rena Koumioti
- Yiannis Parios
- Giannis Poulopoulos
- Dionysis Savvopoulos
- Giannis Spanos
- Mihalis Violaris
- Giorgos Zographos
- Vlassis Bonatsos (singer of the rock band Pelóma Bokioú)
- Lakis Giordanelli
- The Idols
- Loukianos Kelaidonis
- Vicky Leandros
- Tzimis Makoulis
- Poll (Kostas Tournas)
- Demis Roussos
1980s–2010s (partial overlap with contemporary laïkó and éntekhno pop)
Éntekhno pop / rock
Laïká and Contemporary pop before the 2010s
- Artemis Gounaki (record producer, musical arranger)
- Hi-5 (girl group)
- One (Cypriot boy band)
Independent music scenes
Since the late 1970s various independent scenes of "marginal" musical genres have appeared in Greece (mainly in Athens, Piraeus, and Thessaloniki). Most of them were short-lived and never gained mainstream popularity but the most prominent artists/bands of these scenes are critically acclaimed today and are considered among the pioneers of independent Greek music (each one in their own genre).
- Greek jazz (70s: Sphinx (band), Sakis Papadimitriou, Floros Floridis)
- Greek blues (80s–00s): Blues Wire
- Blues-rock / prog rock / art rock (70s–80s: Socrates Drank the Conium, Aphrodite's Child, Pavlos Sidiropoulos, Spyridoula (band), Nikolas Asimos, Vasilis Papakonstantinou, Dimitris Poulikakos)
- New wave / post-punk / synthpop / gothic rock (80s bands: Metro Decay, Film Noir, Villa 21, Anti Troppau Council; 2000s: Marsheaux)
- Greek punk (80s–90s bands: Adiexodo, Genia Tou Chaous, Deus ex Machina, Panx Romana)
- Greek rock (80s–90s bands: Trypes, Diafana Krina, Endelekheia, Xýlina Spathiá, Morá Sti Fotiá)
- Indie rock (anglophone 90s and 00s bands: The Last Drive, The Earthbound, I Knew Them, Film, Closer, Abbie Gale, Infidelity, Waterpipes, Monika Christodoulou)
- Low Bap (Active Member, Sadahzinia, Babylona - Βαβυλώνα) / Greek hip hop (FF.C, Terror X Crew, DJ ALX, Sifu VERSUS, Eisvoleas - Εισβολέας, ZN MCs - Ζήτα Νι MCs, Vita Pis - Βήτα Πεις, Razastarr, Voreia Asteria - Βόρεια Αστέρια, Alytoi Grifoi - Άλυτοι Γρίφοι, Rodes - Ρόδες)
- Uplifting trance (90s: Cyan, Cherouvim, Darma, Star Children)
- Acid house / techno / electronica (90s–00s: Stereo Nova, Mikro)
- Heavy metal (Firewind, Nightfall) / death metal (Inactive Messiah, On Thorns I Lay, Inveracity) / black metal (sometimes called Hellenic metal; Rotting Christ, Septic Flesh, Ravencult, Astarte, Zemial, Naer Mataron, Varathron, Necromantia, Mortuus Caelum, Thou Art Lord) / folk black metal (Kawir, Fiendish Nymphe — sister project of the renowned Ancient Greek music revival band Daemonia Nymphe)
- Parody music / comedy rock (80s–00s: Tzimis Panousis, Harry Klynn, Aéra Patéra (band))
- Neo-classical (90s–00s: Chaostar)
- Underground / cult / outsider music (00s bands: Lost Bodies, Plokámi tou Karxaría, N-Carkade)
- Music of Cyprus
- Anatolian Greek music (including Pontic Greek music)
- Heptanese School, the first major school (style) of Greek classical music
- List of Greek composers
- List of Greek folk musicians
- List of Greek musical artists
- Notable bouzouki players
- List of Greek guitarists
- List of Greek composers for the classical guitar
- Music of the Greek immigrant community in the United States
- "Greek Traditional Music": Ινστιτούτο έρευνας μουσικής και ακουστικής - Institute for research on music and acoustics.
- Samuel Baud-Bovy, Δοκίμιο για το Ελληνικό Δημοτικό Τραγούδι, 3rd edition, Πελοποννησιακό Λαογραφικό Ίδρυμα, Ναύπλιο: 1966, pp. 1–13. (Υπάρχει μια συνεχής εξέλιξη από την αρχαία Ελληνική μουσική έως και το δημοτικό τραγούδι, η οποία μαρτυρείται, εκτός από τη γλώσσα, στο ρυθμό, τη δομή και τη μελωδία).
- Ulrich 1963, p. 25
- Kartomi 1990, p. 124
- Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
- The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. 2007 - "Byzantine music"
- Gail Holst-Warhaft "Electrifying the Nisiotika"
- Ioannis Foulias, “The composer Dimitri Mitropoulos and his relation to the Greek National School of Music”, Contribution to the Conference "The National Element in Music", Athens Concert Hall, 18–20 January 2013. Organization: Faculty of Music Studies of the University of Athens, Music Library of Greece "Lilian Voudouri".
- Giorgos Papadakis "Για την Ελληνική μουσική"
- "Κυρίαρχη αισθητική και μουσικό γούστο" - article on 'Kathimerini'
- "When Progress Fails, Try Greekness: From Manolis Kalomiris to Manos Hadjidakis and Mikis Theodorakis": Paris Konstantinidis, When Progress Fails, Try Greekness: From Manolis Kalomiris to Manos Hadjidakis and Mikis Theodorakis, in Nikos Maliaras (ed.), "The National Element in Music" (Conference proceedings, Athens, 18–20 January 2013), University of Athens, Athens 2014. pp. 314-320.
- greekdance.dancenews.gr - "Ο ορος λαικοι χοροι "
- In2greece.com: Greek Music
- "Oι εφτά ψυχές του λαϊκού τραγουδιού" - article on 'Kathimerini'
- Article by Tasos P. Karantis on e-Orfeas.gr
- Greek songs-skyladika
- Takis Kalogeropoulos: "Neo Kyma" in Lexiko tis Ellinikis mousikis, Athens 1998–99. ISBN 960-7555-39-2 (online version).
- Greek music information center (MusicPortal.gr) "Political Song"
- In contemporary use though, the terms έντεχνο ποπ, and έντεχνο ροκ may be ambiguously used to denote, respectively, Grecophone indie pop and alternative rock, not necessarily having the typical characteristics of éntekhno.
- "Στροφή στο ελληνικό τραγούδι" - article on 'Ta Nea'
- Kartomi, Margaret J. (1990), On Concepts and Classifications of Musical Instruments, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-42548-7.
- Ulrich, Homer, and Paul Pisk (1963). A History of Music and Musical Style. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanoich. LCCN 63013512.
- Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp. 126–142. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0.
- Notaras, Giorgos. Το ελληνικό τραγούδι των τελευταίων 30 χρόνων, 1991. ISBN 960-236-148-4.
- Kalogeropoulos, Takis. Λεξικό της Ελληνικής μουσικής, editions Γιαλλελή, 2001. ISBN 960-7555-39-2.
- Dubin, Marc and Pissalides, George (liner notes). Songs of the Near East, 2001.
- Ordoulidis, Nikos. ‘The Greek laikó (popular) rhythms: Some problematic issues’ (conference title). Athens Institute for Education and Research. 2nd Annual International Conference on Visual and Performing Arts, 2011.
- Ordoulidis, Nikos. ‘The Greek popular modes.’ British Postgraduate Musicology, 11 December 2011.
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Music of Greece.|
- BBC Radio 3 Audio (60 minutes): Epirus - Polyphony and Petroloukas Chalkias. Accessed November 25, 2010.
- BBC Radio 3 Audio (60 minutes): Southern Greece and Crete. Accessed November 25, 2010.
- (French) Audio clips: Traditional music of Greece. Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève. Accessed November 25, 2010.
- Greek Music Portal by IEMA an introduction to Greek Music in English and Greek
- Greek Music Encyclopedia (Greek)
- Helleniccomserve: Short History of Greek Music
- ANA.com: The Music of Greece
- Kithara.to : A collection of some 11,000 Greek songs, with lyrics and chords (Greek) (formerly kithara.vu)
- Greek music database (Greek)
- Old Greek songs database (Greek)
- Music Heaven: Greek music e-zine (Greek)
- Klika: A site about Greek Rebetiko, Laïkó, and traditional music (Greek)
- Rembetiko Forum: A forum about Greek Rebetiko, Laïkó and Traditional music (Greek)
- History of rebetiko (Italian)
- Greek Songs and Greek Music Articles about Greek Music and Greek songs with their story and lyrics translated to English.
- Traditional Greek folk music downloads
- Tabachaniotika (Magrini)
- Mediterranean musicians in America (Signell)
- Greek Clarinet Music
- Folk dances of the Greek regions
- Ensemble Kérylos, a music group led by scholar Annie Bélis and dedicated to the recreation of ancient Greek and Roman music.