Bertsolaristic movement What is a bertso? The airs

The airs

The bertsolari, unlike the rest of improvisers known in the world today, performs without the help of any musical instrument.
Juanito Dorronsoro, the representative and researcher par excelence of the improvised melody in Basque, has examined and classified 3.040 airs.

According to his procedure, the airs for bertsos are classified into three categories:

• Traditional folk melodies: the great majority
• New airs that coincide with traditional metre
• Melodies that are specifically composed.

It would be thought that a bertsolari, unable to depend on musical accompaniment, should have a good voice and a good ear for music, amongst many other skills, but, according to the experts Joxerra Garzia, Andoni Egaña and Jon Sarasua, “the communicative success or failure of the bertsolari does not depend on his or her voice, but on the melody chosen and the manner in which it is sung”.

What is a bertso? Metre