Irish bouzouki
Irish bouzouki
Designed and commissioned by Dónal Lunny and created by Peter Abnett |
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| Classification | Plucked string instrument |
|---|---|
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 321.321 (String instrument with a pear-shaped body and a long neck, played with plectrum) |
| Related instruments | |
The Irish bouzouki is an adaptation of the classic Greek Bouzouki. (Greek: μπουζούκι) Johnny Moynihan is credited with having brought the first Greek Bouzouki to Ireland. This instrument established a presence in Irish music through Johnny Moynihan and Alec Finn, first in the Cana Band and subsequently in De Dannan and has been adapted for Irish traditional and other folk music from the late 1960s onwards. However, when Andy Irvine gave his Greek bouzouki to Dónal Lunny the first thing Lunny did with it was replace the octave strings with unison strings, thus giving the voice of the instrument more tonal power. Later, on a trip with Irvine to the workshop of Luthier Peter Abnett, Lunny decided to commission a bouzouki to the specifications of a classic Greek bouzouki but with unison strings and critically, a flat back.
The original Greek bouzouki was a three course/six-string instrument (trichordo). In the 1950s, a four course/eight-string (tetrachordo) version was developed. The newer tetrachordo bouzouki was introduced into Irish traditional music in the mid-1960s by Johnny Moynihan of the popular folk group Sweeney's Men.
Shortly after Andy Irvine returned from Eastern Europe in late 1969, he met Dónal Lunny—who had been playing guitar up to that point—and gave him a Greek bouzouki he had brought back from his travels. Being left-handed, Lunny reversed the strings and critically, replaced the octave strings with unison strings, thus fundamentally changing the character of the instrument. A year or so later, Lunny accompanied Irvine to Peter Abnett's workshop and commissioned a flat-backed instrument with the same specifications as the modified Greek Bouzouki, thus the Irish bouzouki was born. This modified bouzouki became fully integrated into Irish folk music when Irvine and Lunny popularized it with the advent of Planxty in 1972. Irvine, however, credits Moynihan with having "brought the bouzouki to Ireland" in his lyric to "O'Donoghue's", his memoir of his experience of the early folk revival days in Dublin in the early 60s.
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