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ABOUT THE MUSICIAN Name : Jason Ioannou Hometown : Kitchener, Ontario Canada YouTube Name : retromolarpad YouTube Address: http://www.youtube.com/retromolarpad Email Address : jtioannou@gmail.com Ethnic Background : Greek Cypriot (father) and Portuguese (mother) Favorite style of Greek music : Zeimbekiko, Rembetika, Laika and Greek Folklore Date first started playing : Summer 2006 |
Welcome to my personal webpage focused on the bouzouki and Greek music in general. Here you will find my various videos highlighting my progress with learning how to play the bouzouki. I will also add a bunch of tabulature files that I have created as I learned different songs. My first experience with bouzouki and Greek music in general started in 1995 when I took my first trip with my father to Greece. As a kid growing up in Canada I had not been exposed to very much Greek music except for the short car rides or occasional weddings I attended with my father, but I think that I realized the feeling and true meaning of Greek music while overseas. I fondly remember swimming in the sea while hearing Poulopoulos being played on a radio that somebody had on the beach. I also remember the nightlife and the bozuoukia bars and how this music made me feel while on my ancient homeland. Fast forward to spring 2006 when my uncle Mike who lives in Greece came to visit us for easter. With his luggage he brought a tetrachordo bouzouki which allowed him to pass the time while staying with my grandparents. I remember listening to him play and thinking "wow, its amazing how fast his fingers move". Now it must be said that my other uncle (Nick) who lives in my hometown also plays bouzouki but until then I never really sat down and watched how he played music. I kind of took it for granted that he has always been able to play and its just not possible for me, it just looked to complicated, not to mention that as a kid I was never allowed to touch the bouzouki. I think this was due to the fact that it is not very easy or cheap to replace a bouzouki if I was to break it. Anyways, when my uncle Mike from Greece was to leave to go back to Greece, he actually gave me that bouzouki, he said he had it made for me, and it was at that moment that I actually got really excited about learning the music of my heritage. From that time forward, it has been an upward learning curve and has become one of my biggest passions. At the beginning I taught myself how to play basic songs and also learned from tabulature books, but during the fall of 2007 I hooked up with my now current bouzouki teacher Dimitri Bogris. You can reach his youtube page at this address http://www.youtube.com/mastouradb |
