In this article, we wanted to give you an overview of the many music genres that have flourished in Mongolia, so you'll know what to expect the next time you visit our country!
The HU - The Great Chinggis Khaan
Traditional Mongolian Music
One of the most unique contributions Mongolia has given to the world is traditional Mongolian music. The centuries-old music styles that are ubiquitous to our nation are overtone singing, the long song, and morin khuur – the symbol of Mongolia.
Overtone Singing (Throat Singing)
Overtone singing is a style of singing that's unique to Central Asian countries. In Mongolia, we consider it more as a type of instrument as it has some unique Mongolian traits. In essence, this type of singing involves producing two distinct pitches simultaneously, one being similar to a typical whistle, while the other is a drone bass.
Artist Batzorig Vaanchig. Khusugtun Ethnic Band, Mongolia
The Long Song
This is the primary format of Mongolian music, and it's also unique to our country. You can distinguish it from other song formats by the fact that each syllable of the text is extended, which is why even a short five-minute song might have only 12 or so words. Furthermore, there is no fixed rhythm, but there are wide intervals and a slow tempo. As you can expect, the themes of the text can be almost anything but are typically philosophical, romantic, or religious in nature.
Some of Mongolian famous long song singers and horse head fiddlers
Morin Khuur (Horse-Head Fiddle)
Morin khuur is a horse-headed fiddle, a traditional Mongolia instrument that might remind Westerners of a violin. However, the morin khuur is still a unique string instrument consisting of a violin-shaped body and two strings. The instrument has a horse carving at its pegbox, which is why the tradition goes that the device exists to represent the movement and sound of a horse.
The horse-headed fiddle is the most famous, but not the only Mongolian instrument. There’s still the shants (a three-stringed lute-like instrument), khuuchir (bowed spike-fiddle), yatga (similar to the Chinese guzheng), bishuur (a pipe with a sound similar to the clarinet), and several others.
Artist B.Khongor "Ikel Melody"
Modern Mongolian Music
With the onset of the 20th century and globalization, Mongolia has adopted many other countries' styles, some of which have remained the same. Still, many have developed further and blended with our culture to form something unique.
The most important genres to mention are classical music and ballet. Both genres come to us from the west, but they have genuinely flourished here, and today, a music lover visiting Mongolia cannot omit a visit to the opera. That's because, over the last century or so, the western genres have received many Mongolian overtones, and classical music and ballet are now as unique here as our traditional music is.
Mongolian artists. Ennio Morricone "Playing Love"
Mongolia has a long history and impressive culture, one that involves a lot of music. If you're planning on coming here, you shouldn't miss hearing as much as you can of our music. For further information, feel free to reach out!
