Description
The baglamas — also called the baglamadaki — is the smallest member of the Greek bouzouki family, pitched an octave above the bouzouki and small enough to carry in a coat. That portability is not a detail of design but the reason the instrument exists: in the rebetiko years it could be hidden, carried, and played anywhere, and it became the voice of a music that was often made where it was not supposed to be.
Carved from one piece
This baglamas has a one-piece soundbox and neck, carved from a single block rather than assembled. On an instrument this small that construction matters more than it would on a larger body: there are no joints to absorb energy, so what little air the box moves is moved efficiently. The body and neck are elm, a dense, close-grained hardwood that holds carved detail and stays stable.
The soundboard is yew — an unusual choice, and a deliberate one. Yew is springy and dense for its weight, and on a small top it gives a bright, ringing response with a long tail, which is exactly what a baglamas needs to be heard over a bouzouki and a singing voice. The fingerboard is afrormosia, hard-wearing and smooth under fast fingering.
Technical specifications
| Body and neck | Elm, carved from one piece |
| Soundboard | Yew |
| Fingerboard | Afrormosia |
| Family | Greek bouzouki family — smallest member |
| Register | An octave above the bouzouki |
| Build | Prepared to order |
Where the baglamas sits
The Greek plucked family runs in three sizes, and each one has a job. The bouzouki carries the lead. The tzouras fills the harmonic middle. The baglamas sits on top — a thin, cutting voice that plays fast ornamental figures and rhythmic accompaniment above everything else. In a classic rebetiko trio all three sound at once, and the baglamas is what you hear glittering at the top of the texture.
Because it is pitched so high and speaks so quickly, it is unforgiving of imprecise picking. Players usually come to it from the bouzouki rather than starting on it.
Repertoire
The baglamas is inseparable from rebetiko, the urban Greek song tradition of the early twentieth century — the tavernas, the refugee quarters of Piraeus, and the prisons where the instrument’s size made it the only one that could be kept. Today it appears in traditional rebetiko revivals, in contemporary Greek folk, and as a colour instrument in recording, where its register sits above almost everything else in an arrangement. The rest of the family is in our string instruments collection.
Care and maintenance
A one-piece carved body is a single piece of wood and reacts to humidity swings more than a built-up one — keep it in moderate, stable conditions and away from direct heat. Wipe the strings and the yew top with a soft dry cloth after playing. On an instrument this small, string tension is a large proportion of the load the body carries, so do not over-tension when tuning up: the baglamas is meant to sound bright, not tight.
This instrument is prepared to order. Worldwide shipping & 15-day return.
