Traditional Music
Folk music on Cyprus is similar to the folk music of Greece and includes dances like thetatsia, sousta, syrtos, zeibekiko and the karsilama suites. Note that unlike Greece and Turkey, there are suites of four karsilama dances, different for men and women, some of them other than the standard 9/8 tempo. Traditional music is modal, based on the Arabian maqam|maqams. Both Greek and Turkish Cypriots use the violin as the main solo instrument, accompanied by the lute for Greek Cypriots and the ud for Turkish Cypriots. Accordion, percussion instrument|percussion and penny whistle pithiavli are also used. Notable performers of Greek Cypriot folk music include singers Michael Tterlikkas, Christo Sikkis and Michalis Hatzimichail. A niche artist of traditional music is Gianni Delfinogamis, a champion of many tshiatísta (Cypriot Greek: τσιατίστα, "spite ") competitions. The tsiatísta is improvised antiphonal singing akin to the Cretan mantinada, with satirical and comedic intent, usually performed between friends or relatives poking fun at each other. Another famous singer and composer, in Cyprus and Greece, of traditional Cypriot and popular music is Mihalis Violaris. Greek-Cypriot folk music is most closely related to the Nisiotika (the folk music of the Aegean Islands) and especially so to the music of the Dodecanese.
Read more about this topic: Music Of Cyprus
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