The Baglama

In this Photo you can see the legendary Baglama player, composer and singer George Batis who dedicated his life in this tiny piece of wood.... (The photo was taken from the excellent study of Rebetiko "Rebetiki Anthology" by Tassos Schorelis).

It was with them in the tekes (hashish house), in the jail, in the   tavern and it used to be the heart of the 'Piraeus' school  of  Rebetiko.    Some of the rebetes dedicated their lives, to this little instrument and never changed it with a more commercial one.  The 'master' of baglama is considered to be the legendary George Batis who took, his favorite baglama with him when he passed away. The baglama, is a miniature bouzouki, has three strings, and the basic baglama tuning is D A D or RE LA RE.  There are some other  tunings (ntouzenia) that were called tunings of the jail like karadouzeni (GAD) and Anoikto (AEA). Dio Dino's baglama is among the best ever made.  His expert knowledge, talent and over forty years of experience reveal to him all the secrets that create the perfect baglama in terms of sound quality and ease of playing.