The Music of Mongolia

For this blog we are traveling to Mongolia!! The Mongolian music is based of the Mongolian nomadic life. The main theme of Mongolian music is horses and steppes. A significant role in the history of the Mongolian traditional music are long-song and short-songs. 

 

 

The Mongolian culture is so influenced by horses their most popular instrument is the Morin Khuur; the Horse-headed fiddle. The Morin Khuur or the horse-head fiddle has two strings and is seen as a symbol of the country. When I look up anything about Mongolia, the horse-head fiddle is one of or the first thing to pop up; a stable Mongolian instrument. The carving of the horse on the pegbox is problematic because it is believed to be a shamanistic instrument. Mongolia and shamans both have similarly carvings of horse on their instruments so many believe that either was stolen from the shamans. Not only are there string instruments but there are wind instruments also known as Aerophones, drums and gongs also knowns as ideophones. The other instruments are Shants, Yoochin, Khuuchir, Yatga, Eerburee, Khel Khuur, Tobshuur, Ikh Khuur, and Bishhuur. (I don’t think I could try to even pronounce those if I tried my hardest.) The Shants is a three-stringed, long-necked, strummed lute.  The Yoochinis a dulcimer that is similar to Yangquin. The Khuuchir is a bowed spike-fiddle; chordophone. The Yatga is a plucked zither related to guzheng. The Everburee is a folk oboe. The Toboshuur is a plucked lute. The Ikj Khuur is a bass Morin Khuur. Finally, the Bishhuur is a pipe the sounds pretty close to the clarinet; aerophone. 

 

 

 The next thing I’m going to talk about is the Mongolian Traditional Folk Dance referred to as Mongol Biyelgee. Biyelgee dances are symbolic of the origin from the nomadic way of life. The dances usually take place in close quarters and performed in a cross-legged or half sitting position. The body movements such as hand, shoulder and legs express the Mongol lifestyle; household labor, customs and traditions. With dancing comes great clothes and jewelry. The clothes and jewelry they wore were very intricate with different color combinations, embroidery, knitting, and quilting.  The jewelry would be gold or silver depending on the think group and community you were associated with. The dances are displayed at many family and community events such as celebrations, feasts, weddings, labor-related practices, expressing ethnicity, promoting unity, and understanding among different Mongolian ethnic groups. Mongol Biyelgee is a tradition that is passed down through generations. Sadly, the only way for this dance to be passed down are from transmitters and they have become elderly and the numbers are slowly declining. Now this dance is almost becoming extinct because only a few people are around to teach the new generations. 

 

 

The last thing is an explanation about long songs or Urtyin Duu. It’s exactly what you think it would be; each syllable of the lyric is very long. When I say long, I mean that some of the 4-minute songs sometime only contain 10 words. The words are very exaggerated and drawn out. These songs have a slow tempo, wide intervals and no fixed rhythm. But the songs can be about a number of things; philosophic, religion, romance, or even a celebration. Some of the most common and makes sense for this culture are songs about horses, they are symbols and are a common theme to be repeated for a number of songs. These songs can be combined with stories and drama; in return the children of the community are taught lessons in their “homeschool.” This is the best way for them to learn about history, life and folklore. 

 

 

Works Cited

“Mongolian Music and Dance.” Mongolia Tours, https://www.toursmongolia.com/about-mongolia/mongolian-culture-and-heritage/mongolia-music-and-dance.