The main instrument used in Pontic music is the "kemenche" ("lyra" in modern Greek), a bottle-shaped, 3-stringed fiddle played in the upright position. Traditionally, other instruments used are the "tulum" (a double chanter bagpipe with no drone that is also played in other parts of Eastern Turkey and Georgia); the "davul" (a double-headed drum); and occasionally, the "zurna" (double reed oboe) and more rarely a flute. Modern Pontic bands use keyboards, guitar, drums and sometimes clarinet and violin - but always the "kemenche" as well.
Most of the music is based around the dance; but there are also songs that are sung or played in the "moirologia" free rhythm style.
The oldest known Pontic dance is probably the "serra" or "pyrrikheos", a pyrrhic dance that is described by Xenophon in the 4th century B.C. A mens' war dance, it is sometimes danced with knives or short swords similar to the Caucasian kinjal.
