Basque folk music (Euskal musika herrikoia) is the traditional music of the Basque people, sung largely in Euskara and rooted in village dance, ritual, and oral poetry.
Its sound is defined by distinctive local instruments and dance rhythms: the trikitixa (diatonic button accordion) with panderoa (frame drum), the txalaparta (interlocking wooden percussion), the txistu (three‑hole fipple flute) with tamboril (side drum), the alboka (double hornpipe), and in the northern Basque Country the high‑pitched xirula. Vocal traditions range from intimate solo airs to male small‑chorus "otxote" singing and the improvised verse art of bertsolaritza.
Melodically it often uses modal scales (especially Dorian and Aeolian), drones, and pentatonic touches; rhythmically it pivots between buoyant couple‑dances (fandangoa, arin‑arin) and characteristically Basque meters such as the zortziko. The repertoire spans ceremonial pieces like the aurresku, circle dances (mutxikoak/jauziak), narrative ballads, and contemporary folk songs that merge old idioms with newer harmonic treatments.
Basque traditional music is older than written records, but it was in the 1800s and early 1900s that scholars and musicians began systematically collecting it. Key figures like ResurrecciĂłn MarĂa de Azkue (compiler of the monumental "Cancionero Popular Vasco") and Aita Donostia (JosĂ© Gonzalo Zulaika) notated melodies, verses, and dance tunes from rural singers and players, helping to stabilize a repertoire shaped by oral transmission.
The Spanish Civil War and the Franco dictatorship severely restricted use of the Basque language and public cultural expression. Yet village dances, church-linked musical practices, and family gatherings kept music alive. In the northern Basque territories of France, traditions such as the Zuberoan maskaradak and xirula ensembles continued with fewer constraints.
A powerful revival emerged alongside broader Iberian "nueva canción" currents. The collective Ez Dok Amairu—featuring artists such as Mikel Laboa, Benito Lertxundi, and Xabier Lete—reinvigorated Basque song with poetic modernity while honoring traditional modes and meters. Bands like Oskorri (founded 1971) incorporated txistu, trikitixa, and txalaparta into contemporary arrangements, and bertsolaritza flourished in public competitions.
Virtuoso trikitixa players, notably Kepa Junkera, brought the diatonic accordion to international stages, blending Basque dance rhythms with jazz, folk, and world-music textures. A lively "triki-pop" wave (e.g., Gozategi, Alaitz eta Maider, Sorotan Bele) set traditional dance grooves to pop songcraft. Txalaparta duos refined interlocking techniques and built new timbral palettes, pushing the instrument beyond its rural signaling origins.
Ensembles such as Oreka TX and Kalakan carried Basque timbres to global audiences through collaborations and tours, while groups like Korrontzi refreshed dance repertoires for modern stages. Today the scene spans historically informed performance, community dance music, innovative choral projects, and genre-crossing hybrids that keep Basque modal flavor and rhythmic identity at the core.
