DOUZENIA:
These are some tuning posibilites for the Trichordo Bouzouki

There are a few trains of thought by which you can come up with a Tuning scheme.

1. Tuning according to the requirements of the Dromo/makam you will play. In this scheme, you want to tune your open strings to the root notes of your Ajnas to use them for bass note/drone notes and such ornamentation. Each Makam is made of two Ajnas stacked up, for example Makam Hijaz in D is made of a Hijaz Tetrachord starting on D, followed by a Nahawand tetrachord starting on G. So you might want to tune your Trihordo D-G-D to make use of these open notes for example. This idea is not very different from the approach taken to instruments in India, where no standard tuning exists for e.g. Sitar, but it will be tuned according to the needs of the song to be played.

2. You may want to tune according to the sound you want the open chords to sound when strummed all together, for example a trihordo tuned D-F-A would sound a minor chord when strummed open.

3. You may tune for convenience, to either bring notes closer to each other on the fretboard to play more easily, to emulate a Tetrahordo tuning

4. You may just tune all strings differtently by the same amount to simply play a song in another key but still be able to use the open strings.

In general you will want to tune down, thus loosening your strings. Tightening them more than a semitone or two will probably make them snap, and is not good for your instrument, so if you tighten them, its best to tune it back to its normal tuning when you are done. I have given you a few examples of how you might tune according to each scheme. Most of the Douzenia (tunings) are ones that where in use in the past and present, and I have added a few of my own which I have named after the chord they form. I guess you can come up with any Tuning that suits what you are playing, once you have grasped the logic behind it.

Legend:
Name: This is what you can call this tuning, based on names I have heard (or made up for the tunings I thought of myself)
Chord: This is the chord that will sound if you strum the open strings
Open strings: This defines the relationship between the open Strings
Low to Medium / Medium to High: This defines the number of semitones from one open string to the next
Note names: | DO = C | RE = D | MI = E | FA = F | SOL=G | LA = A | SI = B |

Name:

D-A-D – Evropaikos

A-E-A – Anikta

This is a Tuning for all Dromous

Configuration:

Chord: Perfect 5^th

Open Strings are: Root - 5^th – Octave

Low to Medium String: 7 semitones
Medium to High String: 5 semitones

String	Note
Bass	D	C	B	A	G	F	E
Mid	A	G	F#	E	D	C	B
High	D	C	B	A	G	F	E

Name:

D-G-D – Douzeni for Hitzaz

Configuration:

Chord: 4^th

Open Strings are: Root – 4^th - Unison

Low to Medium String: 5 semitones
Medium to High String: 7 semitones

String	Note
Bass	D	C	B	A	G	F	E
Mid	G	F	E	D	C	Bb	A
High	D	C	B	A	G	F	E

Name:

E-A-D – Douzeni for Oussak & Niavent

A-E-A-D - On Tetrachordo

Configuration:
Chord: 7^th Suspended 4^th (no 5^th)

Open Strings are: Root – 4^th – m7^th
Low to Medium String: 5 semitones
Medium to High String: 5 semitones

String	Note
Bass	D	C	B	A	G	F	E
Mid	G	F	E	D	C	Bb	A
High	C	Bb	A	G	F	Eb	D

Name:

A-C-G - Douzeni for Rast

Configuration:
Chord: m7^th (no 5^th)

Open Strings are: Root – b3^rd - #6^th

Low to Medium String: 3 semitones
Medium to High String: 7 semitones

String	Note
Bass	D	C	B	A	G	F	E
Mid	F	Eb	D	C	Bb	Ab	G
High	C	Bb	A	G	F	Eb	D

Name:

D-G-B – ‘Arampien’ Douzeni for Housam

Configuration:

Chord: Suspended 4^th 6^th (no 5^th) (like major chord)

Open Strings are: Root – 4^th – 6^th
Low to Medium String: 5 semitones
Medium to High String: 4 semitones

String	Note
Bass	D	C	B	A	G	F	E
Mid	G	F	E	D	C	Bb	A
High	B	A	Ab	F#	E	D	C#

Name:

A-A-D - Unison Douzeni (used by Markos)

Configuration:

Chord: 4^th

Open Strings are: Root – Unison - 4^th
Low to Medium String: 0 semitones
Medium to High String: 5 semitones

String	Note
Bass	D	C	B	A	G	F	E
Mid	D	C	B	A	G	F	E
High	G	F	E	D	C	Bb	A

Name:

G-A-D – Karadouzeni 1

Configuration:

Chord: Suspended 2^nd

Open Strings are: Root – 2^nd - 5^th

Low to Medium String: 2 semitones
Medium to High String: 5 semitones

String	Note
Bass	D	C	B	A	G	F	E
Mid	E	D	C#	B	A	G	F#
High	A	G	F#	E	D	C	B

Name:

D-A-E – Kαραντουζένι 2

Configuration:
Chord: Suspended 2^nd (inverted)

Open Strings are: Root – 5^th – 4^th

Low to Medium String: 7 semitones
Medium to High String: 7 semitones

String	Note
Bass	D	C	B	A	G	F	E
Mid	A	G	F#	E	D