Irish bouzouki even 27 inches (66 to 68 cm). These longer-scaled instruments are generally acknowledged to possess greater volume, sustain, and tonal richness but some players find the stretches involved in fingering too difficult and so prefer shorter scale lengths. Irish bouzouki The Irish bouzouki () is an adaptation of the Greek bouzouki (Greek: μπουζούκι). Johnny Moynihan is credited with bringing the first "tetrachordo" (4 courses of strings) Greek bouzouki to Ireland and retuning it to G-D-A-D (in intervals he first used on the mandolin). In the mid-1960s, Moynihan established a presence for the instrument in Irish music with the folk trio
Irish bouzouki and a flat back with straight sides replaced the round, stave-built back of the Greek bouzouki. English builder Peter Abnett, who was the first instrument-maker to build a uniquely "Irish" bouzouki – for Dónal Lunny in 1970 – developed a hybrid design with a 3-piece partially staved back and straight sides. All of the initial Irish bouzoukis had flat tops, but within a few years a few luthiers such as Stefan Sobell began experimenting with carved, arched tops, taking their cue from American archtop guitars and mandolins. Even so, today the overwhelming majority of builders continue to opt for flat