Mongolian Culture

While we were there we had the opportunity to experience some of Mongolia’s traditional arts, from singing and playing some unique instruments to dances that included gorgeous costumes. The music is almost a blend of asian and western sounds, not quite belonging totally to either tradition. The instruments included a horsehair fiddle –only two strings made up entirely of hair from a horse’s tail. Even the bow is made from it. The sound is similar to the two stringed Chinese instrument but it’s a little deeper sounding with the heavier strings. Another instrument they played is one that is similar in form to the kota in Japan and also found in Vietnam and China. It’s a long stringed instrument where the pitch can be changed with triangles placed strategically under the strings. It is plucked, either with picks or by hand. The Mongolian version rests on the player’s legs with the opposite end resting on the floor.
They have an extremely unique singing style called throat singing. The man uses the mouth and nasal cavity to force air out, changing the shape of the mouth, tongue and force of air to change the sounds. One of the men we heard was very talented, able to range from a high pitch to a very low pitch. It’s like nothing I’ve ever heard before.

We were nothing short of astounded when we had the opportunity to watch young Mongolian contortionists. These girls, and sometimes boys, begin at the age of 5 or so to train their bodies to bend in every way possible. The Mongolian style is very slow and ballet like, with the contortionist showing perfect control as they bend their bodies into pretzel like poses. Usually the girls who put on the show are between the ages of about 12 to 25 and they are well paid for their skills (higher paid than most jobs available for girls in Mongolia). Watching one is amazing but we also got to see a group of three working together. The skills they displayed were phenomenal!