The Characteristics of Chinese Mongolian Music
The Mongolian minority that inhabits the vast plain in the northern part of China is repuited as an "ethnic group of music and poems." The people have created a large quantity of folk songs full of content; all are performed in a characteristic melody.As a Mongolian saying goes in the Hetao Region of Inner Mongolia,"Folk songs are as plentiful as blackberries in Hetao,one could sing a small number of them in three years."
Mongolian folk songs are divided into different types of songs, such as pastoral, ballads, folk, dinner,wedding, working and hunting. The well-known Gada Meilin is a lengthy ballad. From the music features,there are two types of Mongolian folk songs performed:long tone and short tone.The long tone is characterized by a falling and rising melody and in a free rhythm. Embodying lengthy songs,it could express a profound emotion in an imposing manner, especially the bold and unrestrained personality of Mongolians. Praise songs, pastoral songs and some folk songs belong to the long tone,and they are usually sung while grazing or at party, wedding or Maadam. On the contrary,the short tone is marked by a relaxed and cheerful melody, a tight structure and a short length.Hunting songs, ballads and some folk dances fall into this category.
Khuumei is such a special throat singing where one performer can sing two voice parts, a special talent of the Mongolian people. It is said that the ancestors of the Mongolians created khuumei by imitating the sounds of running streams and waterfalls echoed in the mountains. The performer sings the raucous base part by suspending their breathing and impacting his vocal cord with breaths, on that basis, he makes a clear melodic treble voice by creating a resonance inside the oral cavity, intensifying and concentrating overtones, so as to produce a wonderful sound effect.
