Kalamatiano

Music of Greece
General topics
Ancient music Byzantine music Opera Greek musical system Greek musical instruments Greek dances Worldwide
Genres
Church music (Byzantine) Classical music Ionian School Greek folk Laïko Rock Hip Hop Punk Greek New Wave (Neo kyma)
Specific forms
Contemporary Entehno Nisiotika Rebetiko Skiladiko
Media and performance
Music awards	Arion Awards MAD Video Music Awards Pop Corn Music Awards
Music charts	Greek Albums Chart Foreign Albums Chart Singles Chart
Music festivals	Athens Festival Epidaurus Festival Olympus Festival Thessaloniki Song Festival
Music media	Difono MAD TV (MAD World, Blue) MTV Greece
Nationalistic and patriotic songs
National anthem	"Hymn to Liberty"
Regional music
Related areas	Cyprus, Pontus, Constantinople, South Italy
Regional styles	Aegean Islands Central Greece Crete Epirus (polyphonic song) Ionian Islands Macedonia Peloponnese Thessaly Thrace

Kalamatianó (Greek: καλαματιανό) is a type of Greek folk music associated with a dance sharing its name. Originating in the southern Greek port city of Kalamata, its most recognizable feature is its asymmetrical time signature of 7/8 time, meaning that there are seven beats per measure, generally subdivided into two groups of 3 and 4 beats respectively.

Although this rhythmic structure is unfamiliar to westerners, it is thoroughly at home in Greece, Cyprus and the surrounding countries. The kalamatiano is a traditional line dance admitting of varying speeds. Probably the best known folk song in this genre is Mandili Kalamatiano (Μαντήλι Καλαματιανό).

An especially haunting example of the kalamatiano, Mekapses Yitonisa (Μ'έκαψες γειτόνισσα), was recorded for the National Geographic Society's groundbreaking Music of Greece album, released in 1968.

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Wikipedia