Sirtaki: Rebetiko, Swing & the Four Dotted Quarters

Growing up in Greece, I inherited a musical tradition already transformed by jazz. By the time I began composing and performing bouzouki, the swing influence was everywhere—melody lines flowing in triplets while rhythm sections kept a steady 4/4 beat. This uniquely Greek fusion, though, had never been properly notated.

For decades, this created a puzzle: how do you notate a melody in triplets over a straight 4/4 foundation? I realized the answer was a new time signature I call Sirtaki—4/4 with dotted quarters. It elegantly solves the problem without visual clutter, capturing one of the most radical shifts in modern Greek music: the marriage of Balkan tradition with jazz influence.

This essay is my testimony to that musical journey.

Listen to the audio narration by Nadezhda Mastoridis above, or download the PDF below.