The Pontic Greek music.

The Pontian Lyre (Ποντιακή Λύρα) or just lyre (λύρα) is a traditional musical instrument from Pontus which is an ancient instrument dated back to the 10th century.  It is, without doubt, the musical instrument that defines Pontic culture, and has a very distinct melody, unlike any other instrument.    The Pontic lyra  is a 3 stringed musical instrument  which is made out of wood.  The best lyra is said to be made of extremely dense wood such as plum, mulberry, and walnut (Pontos World, n.d). It  comprises a narrow box-shaped body which includes a neck and a pegbox, and a soundboard that covers the body  (Pontos World, u.d) . According to Pontos World, " The chords are made of wire although sheep's gut was used historically" . The bow which is used to play the lyra is called doksar (δοξάρι) and it is made of a light piece of wood, however, historically it was made out of horsehair (Pontos World, u.d). A lyra player touches the chords his/her finger...

Pontians are Greek people that originate from the region of Pontus. Pontos is a region that is located in the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern-day Turkey. Pontus consisted mainly of Greek population, although some other ethnic group used to live there as well. In the 17th century when invaded by Turks, Pontus became a part of the Ottoman Empire. In the 1920s during the Population Exchange between Greece and Turkey, Pontians were expelled and had to migrate to other countries such as Greece, Georgia, and Russia (Topalidis S.,2018).   Pontos is a Greek nation, where a very interesting musical tradition was born and developed thousands of years ago.  The music style of Greek music from Pontus is definitely influenced by the Greeks who migrated due to the persecution by the Neo-Turks  (The Pontian Music – Greek Music from Pontus, n.d).  Depending on the period of time and the era, Pontian Music has different topics and contexts but most of the time Pontian Song...

T h e daouli (νταούλι) is a Pontic musical instrument that is similar to drums. It is mainly played in Greece and Turkey but also in other counties where people from the Greek and Turkish diaspora live (Topalidis S.,2014). According to Sam Topalidis, d aouli  is a wooden cylinder, covered at both parallel ends with skin held taut by rope and is principally a rhythmic instrument. A  daouli  can be constructed in various sizes, most of the time the daouli is influenced by the physical dimension of the player as it should suit the player's height, length of arms, and of course strength. In some cases, the size can also be influenced by the tradition of each region. The daouli is an instrument which is intended to provide rhythm, so it is never played solo but always in combination with other musical instruments. It is played with two drumsticks which are required to produce the sound, just like in ordinary drums. The stick which the player holds is called i...