Manolis Chiotis through the heart.” Manolis Chiotis Manolis Chiotis (Greek: Μανώλης Χιώτης; March 21, 1920, Thessaloniki – March 21, 1970, Athens) was a Greek rebetiko and laiko composer, singer, and bouzouki player. He is considered one of the greatest bouzouki soloists of all time. He popularised the four-course bouzouki (tetrachordo) and introduced the guitar-like tuning, who found it better suited to the kind of virtuoso playing he was famous for. Chiotis had other successes. In the summer of 1961, he played for Aristotle Onassis and Maria Callas, Prince Rainier III of Monaco and Grace Kelly. Journalist Dimitris Liberopoulos, Onassis’ biographer, writes in
Irish bouzouki De Dannan, obtained a "trichordo" Greek bouzouki on his own. With a few exceptions, bouzouki players playing Irish music tend to use the instrument less for virtuoso melodic work and more for the chordal or contrapuntal accompaniment of melodies played on other instruments, such as the flute or fiddle. Because of this, it is common to use matched strings on the two bass courses, tuning to unison pairs in order to enhance the bass response of the instrument. Almost immediately after the Greek bouzouki's initial introduction, new designs built specifically for Irish traditional music were developed. The body was widened