The Greek Bouzouki Guitar Tuning 

Tag me and Phil on Instagram and show us your best #BouzoukiShred Follow Phil X on Instagram: instagram.com/philx1111/

If tuning the e string is already scary imagine doing it in the “wrong” place

Him: Tune your high e string Me: *Heavy breath with fear*

You should make this into a series of abstract or nontraditional tunings on the guitar.

Το ελληνικο σχολιο που ολοι ψαχνατε

+1 Για ελληνες κιθαρίστες! (+ For greek guitarists)

Dude that's so sick! Respect from your Greek audience! 🤘🇬🇷🤘

“Most Greek music is in 7/8..” *Tool has entered the chat*

I am greek and this sounds more greek than some of the songs we often listen here, keep up the amazing work Tyler greetings from Greece🔥

ah, finally a way to spice up my smoke on the water

I'm greek so I could literally connect to this video . Really exciting !!!love ur vids

Went to Greece last summer and purchased a Greek bouzouki, awesome instrument

This actually opens another line of inquiry: Time signature. Compose a mambo, jig, rheel, shanty, salsa, tango and so on. Danceable stuff which is usually a quick path to a toe-tapper.

Ήμουνα μεταλλάς κι έγινα ρεμπετάς / τώρα στα τάστα μου στενάζει ο Τσιτσάνης...

Buy a Bouzouki and shred on it!!

All the comments: tuning the e string, I'm from Greece Me: still trying to figure out how that dude picked eruption

The bouzouki is actually one of the coolest stringed instruments imo

If you want to do it again. please go check Villagers Of Ioannina City so you can get a taste of traditional Greek songs but rock style.

Cool idea, and the sound is interesting. Just to put things straight - being a bouzouki-player, I can just say that there is nothing bouzouki-ish or Greek-ish about all this. It is true the bouzouki has pairs of strings that are tuned in unison or octave, but you never do bends, so the sound is not similar. The maximum you bend, is a slight vibrato. While you do have 7/8 rhythm in the Greek music (Kalamatianos), it is relatively rare.

Next tuning: Skyrim tuning

I’m just here to sell Souvlaki while you guys talk. 2 for 10$

great riff, great solo, love from Greece! 🇬🇷

I'm greek and play a good amount of folk instruments, what makes instruments like the bouzouki and the lauoto so different sounding is the octaved strings in the lower register. Also, greek music is usually in syncopated 4/4 or 5/4, but the progressions usually line up on the 10th 12th or 15th beat respectively. That's why it called the Balkan Fives after all. Just figured I'd sure my knowledge of my country's music with you:)

If shred and tool had a baby, this would be that masterpiece of a child. Love how you showed the creation of the backing track.

I'm Greek and I play bouzouki Γειά Έλληνες

Anyone else from greece? Ελλας ολε.

Greetings from Greece 🇬🇷 . Keep rocking sir ❤️

''Bazookee'' what's that? Is this a rocket launcher, like a bazooka or something? Oh wait.. you mean *bouzouki* (/buːˈzuːki, bʊˈ-/) O.K. Jokes aside,if you're interested in trad. bouzouki stuff,check out the old masters like Manolis Chiotis (Phil X calls him the ''Malmsteen of bouzouki'',I would compare him more to Django Reinhardt,yes Chiotis was that good), George Zambetas, Markos Vamvakaris,Vasilis Tsitsanis etc. that's the oldschool rebetiko stuff. I'm sure Phil has told you how technically skilled you have to be,to play that thing,you have to be 80's Shrapnel shredder skill-level,to play and not sound sloppy with a bouzouki.(no effect pedals and distortion to mask your sloppiness,this shit takes real skill like Flamenco or Classical guitar.) Rebetiko is basically the greek equivalent to the american blues.Back in the day it was considered ''filthy'' music by the greek elite,because it ''glorifies drugs (mostly weed) and un-social behaviour'' and shiiet.Rebetiko was the music of the greek refugees who came to mainland Greece from Minor Asia,after the Greek-Turkish war of 1920 and the following ethnic cleansing by Kemal Ataturk and it became the music of the ''manges'' ,the ''gangstas'' of that era. There are lots of songs about pimping,''taking care of business'',smoking weed,smuggling heroin and doing time.There´s a famous rebetiko song called:"Sto Keli 33" ("In cell 33"),which is about a bunch of "manges",who are having a jolly good time in cell 33,doing time, "OG"-style baby. If you want a more modern take on this sound,check out my bois Villagers of Ioannina City,who mix doom metal with trad. rebetiko and folk music from Epiros (that's the mountainous region in NW Greece,which has a very distinctive folk music tradition with lots of clarinet) or Rotting Christ who mix Black Metal with all kinds of trad. greek folk music. P.S. Gus G (former Ozzy/Firewind) has done a cover of Manolis Chiotis' song ''Perasmenes mou Agapes'' on electric guitar,check it out.Gus said,this was one of the hardest things he ever tried to learn to play and he didn't even nailed it 100%. That should give you an idea on how skilled M.Chiotis was.

Greeks coming out in force on this one !😀

6:31 Phil X move for the win!

Tyler, you've nailed it - again! Great work, my man. So how 'bout a metal spike on Misirlou -- or better yet, Zorba! Yes, *that* would be great!

I remember seeing this. I really loved Phil X in Fretted Americana's videos and his own stuff then he got picked up to play in Bon Jovi, what a legend!

That rock beat sounds more like a metalcore beat

You need to make an album of this.

Nice work Tyler!!! I recommend to try the major scale as well its the same important thing as the minor thing that you did in greek music ! Greetings from Greece!

Last summer I've been to Athens and I had the opportunity to visit a luthier's workshop and play some bouzoukis and the sound really blew my mind. Unfortunately I couldn't afford (and transport) one so I cameback home with a tiny handmade baglamas. Cool video, I'll definitely try one day!!

Nice track. There's a famous Greek band called Villagers of Ioannina city, which combines stoner rock with traditional Greek music, and they've found an awesome sound. Everyone who's interested in concepts like that should totally check them out. (Song recommendation: Zvara)

I have to say I absolutely LOVE rock music that takes influences from folk/traditional/world music, so this was E P I C

That last bend was diiiiiiiirty - loved it.

I you want to hear how a bouzouki shreds , listen to Manolis Hiotis !!!

There is a band which combines greek traditional music with heavy rock and they're called "Villagers of Ioannina City". You should give them a try if you're into this kind of music!

I'm a Greek and I have to say... Nicely done😉!

Funny what being stuck in the house will do! Awesome

As a Greek who grew up metal, that was AWESOME!!!

Pretty epic Great job And how much i love that green singlecut

Love the videos. Keep it up. I am going crazy in quarantine and your videos are the only thing keeping me sane.

Να πω την αλήθεια περίμενα ότι ο Phil x θα του πρότεινε να ακούσει κάνα Χιώτη για να παίξει κάποια αντίστοιχα lickς!

Love the exaggerated bend from behind the fretted note!! One of my favorite tricks. It's also great for creating the illusion of having a whammy bar where none exists.

Just keeps getting better.

With the 3rd finger. At 21st fret on E string. Bend up^ and grab the B string while keeping the E string still under your 3rd finger. Now both strings are under the 3rd finger. Come down\ out of the bend which makes the B string bend creating that warp effect without having to detune and fack with the E string going through the nut. Takes practice but well worth it.

the bouzouki tuning is D | A | F | C | One tone below the guitar. If you take a 12string and you tune it one tone down and you remove the 2 bass e and 2 a you have a bouzouki in a guitar

Interesting Bouzouki you got there...Love from Greece 🇬🇷❤️

Good stuff! I'm Greek myself and I have to say this video is super dope 👌

Reminds me of a greek band Naxatras. They're pretty cool

Sorry to break it for you but the final result sounds nothing like bouzouki. Listen to Control by Artery to have a grip on real metal bouzouki. Cheers.

I am a greek guitarist and the way you say bouzouki is hilarious

That chord prog almost sounds like Radiohead. Especially at 4:54.

That solo ripped! Never heard string bends scream so much

Congrats dude. Very good I am watching you from greece big fan here!!!

There must be some kind of a collective consiousness....a couple of weeks ago I was feeling like my creativity needed invigoration, so I stumbled upon Greek folk dance on utube and the rhythmic feel seemed to just fire my melodic idea stream. I remember Al Dimeola talking about Flamenco vs Gypsy jazz that Berieli does and I conclude that music that has some folk dance inspiration is a good thing to keep in mind or more so body.

tyler you can cut and old e string to the width of fretboard and stick it with tape, and you gonna have microtones, ive tried it many times and it worked for me

I am one who delights In all manifestations of the Terpsichorean muse!

hahaha I am from greece and actually I was shocked when I saw that

Great interpretation of our traditional music ! Greetings from Greece and keep it up with the international guitar experimentation ! 🙏

dude that sounds so sick, we need more greek music out there 🤘🏻

Goddamn that solo was the tastiest thing I've heard in a long time. You ever thought about writing, recording and releasing your own albums? I'd definitely be interested

How about opposite putting both strings trough the bridge in the B string spot, but though the correct nut slots

Μεράκλωσέ μας με ένα ρεμπέτικο!

that chord progression is wicked

I was actually playing buzuki before i started quitar, awesome video man.

Great video man! You should make a updated guitar collection and or a guitar pedal collection video soon!

Hey, as a greek bouzouki player i gotta say that i feel honoured by this vid and honestly the music was awesome. Also gotta say though, didn't sound remotely like greek traditional bouzouki music hahah. I understand you tried to make it into a rock hybrid so thats quite unique. If you wanna listen to some of that type of stuff (rock - traditional bouzouki hybrid music that is) from the ones who do it best check out Villagers of Ioannina City (VIC) and Tourlou The Band. Vic with traditional Clarinet and tourlou with bouzouki. Sidenote: if youre interested in hearing bouzouki at its artistic best youd better check out vamvakaris and tsitsanis. Vamvakaris was basically the godfather of bouzouki music and tsitsanis refined it all artistically in a beautiful way. Both influenced generations and generations.

Those bendings touched my heart

I went even further down this road tuned my other strings down is well so I ended up in some weird B minor sort of tuning. It sounded quite nice and really made me look at guitar differently once again. Thank you for the inspiration Tyler!

Another Greek here! Love you work and you could hear the greek music in this song|!!! Good job man

Hey music is win... I from Greece and you make very good job

If you want to see some Bouzouki shredding, go look at Manolis Karantinis' performance videos

Misirlou -Dick Dale (put A on E) The Man Who Sold The world -Nirvana (put D on G) Black Bird -The Beatles (put e on B) Eruption -Eddie Van Helen (put e on B) One (solo) -Metallica (put B on e, i dare you) Thunderstruck -AC/DC ( put e on B add yours?

absolutely unbelievable 🤘🤘

I actually really like the result, would be an awesome song

Damn son. How awesome was that, thinking way outside the box on this one! Cudos on a monster jam!

Awesome...thanks for sharing! 🎸🎶😎👍

THIS is the content I want and love. Heavy distortion and heavy rock. \w/

i just discovered this video,im a bouzouki player this is amazing

BRO i saw this tunning a while back on a Fretted Americana video with Phil X playing it on some vintage gold top and he ripped lol

Am from Greece and that was amazing

You made this greek very happy

Tyler, you should look into the band Orphand Land and their singer Yossi Sassi. He is the master of Bozouki shred (he even has a double neck bozukiuitar)

You need to hear Aris San. He already pioneered playing the guitar like a bouzouki in the 60’s. Though I believe he tuned normally. Probably misspelling all of these, but check out the songs Yasas Ve Peida, Boom Pam, and Dam Dam

The shred parts sounded very Slash. Love it

Here's an even more viable option: use an electric or acoustic 12-string guitar instead and retune it. The bouzouki is quite related to the mandolin and the 12-string guitar as to how the strings are attached to it. And keep in mind that there are two types of bouzouki: three-course (i.e. three pairs of strings) and four-course (four pairs of strings), which was popularized by Manolis Chiotis - this particular player applied his amazing jazz guitar chops to the bouzouki and brought a musical revolution in Greece.

So sick that I’m now in self-isolation 🤘😷

Awesome! Would love to see more like this 🤘🏻

Thats the sickest thing I've heard today.

Listen to Manolis Xiotis... Even Jimi Hendrix said "I am not the best guitarist of all time cause you haven't heard of him!"

Yay anther vid!! I love all your Vids and this was really cool to see!

Thanks Tyler!! Another greek here!

Bouzouki... what a fun word to say !!

Close to 1 Million subs!! What a journey, weel deserved Tyrone xD

Now that's more like, I love Bouzouki music.