ΞΑΣΤΕΡΙΆ

Ο πόνος του Ηρακλή - The Pain of Herakles

If its a stone I will break it, iron I will bend

First song I’ve learned on my oud, Έχε γειά Παναγιά (Farewell Panagia/Virgin Mary), from Kyriakos Kalaïtzidis’s Oud method book. The theme of the song is of leaving one’s hometown which is Constantinople/Istanbul.

Musical scores are in both traditional Byzantine and Western notation. Last pic is a diagram of the maqam/tone used: maqam uzzal or, in Byzantine/Greek music ήχος πλάγιος Β’ (2nd Plagal Tone), which is characterized by the step between the microtone B-flat and C-sharp. What makes the B-flat a microtone is that it should be played a little higher than the B-flat you find on a piano. In traditional Greek music each whole step is divided into 8 parts (κόμματα). While B-flat is 5-κόμματα down from B-natural; the microtone in maqam uzzal is actually 4-κόμματα down.