Throat Singing: Oldest Forms of Music

Throat-singing, a guttural style of singing or chanting, is one of the world’s oldest forms of music. In throat-singing, a singer can produce two or more notes simultaneously through specialized vocalization technique taking advantage of the throat’s resonance characteristics. By precise movements of the lips, tongue, jaw, velum, and larynx, throat-singers produce unique harmonies using only their bodies.

Tuva is a predominantly rural region of Russia located northwest of Mongolia. It is home to one of the world’s oldest forms of music. In Xöömei, or “throat-singing,” a single vocalist simultaneously produces two distinct pitches-a fundamental note and, high above it, a series of articulated harmonies that are sequenced into melodies. The Tuvan herder/hunter lifestyle with its great reliance on the natural world and deeply-felt connection to the landscape is reflected in the Tuvan vocal tradition. With throat-singing Tuvans recreate the sounds of their natural surroundings—animals, mountains, streams, and the harsh winds of the steppe.
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Fedor Tau: Steppe Kargiraa

Borbangnadyr: Steam Water

Lullaby: Khoomei

Medley of various throatsinging styles

Xöömei on Horseback

Kargiraa ArtiiSayir

The Inuit are the indigenous peoples of northern Canada. Unlike Tuvan throat-singing, the Inuit form of throat-singing is practiced almost exclusively by women. Their technique relies more on short, sharp, rhythmic inhalations and exhalations of breath. It was traditionally used to sing babies to sleep or in games women played during the long winter nights while the men were away hunting.
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_{^{Inuit throatsinging demonstration live at the 2004 First Americans Festival}}

^{_{Inuit throatsinging sisters from Canada}}

Xhosa

The Xhosa people of Bantu origins are indigenous to present-day southeast South Africa. Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu are famous Xhosa. The Xhosa people have a deep and unique style of throat singing, also called eefing. Two notes are produced one tone apart while higher tones embedded in overtones are amplified simultaneously. This low, rhythmic, wordless vocal style accompanies traditional call and response or group vocal songs. It also accompanies party songs and dances, adding a musical element that is distinctly Xhosa.
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