Throat Singing Around the World

In a part of Mongolia called Tuva, throat singing is called Khöömei. There the herdsmen developed different styles of throat singing ranging from a high-pitched whistle to a growling undertone. The people of this region were close to the natural world and the sounds were meant to imitate sounds of wind, water animals and mountains. It was traditionally practiced exclusively by men although a few women ignored the warnings that it would harm their male relatives and cause problems in childbirth. More women are singing Khöömei today.

The Xhosa people are speakers of the Bantu language in present day South Africa. Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu are two well-known XhosIt's. The singing is  called umngqokolo singing and wasn’t discovered until 1980 by missionary and musicologist David Dargie.

Their unique style of throat singing is a deep tone called eefing. It’s a rhythmic style of call and response singing that is an integral part of their party songs and dances. I have put a video here that is quiet long but it is the only one I could find that really shows the singing voice. If you only watch the beginning, you get a good idea of what the throat singing is like. The clip was filmed by Dargie between 1985-1998 The video shows several songs with accompanying clapping and dancing.

The third group that  practices throat singing is the one that gave me chills. The Inuits are the indigenous people of Northern Canada and developed their own unique style of throat singing.

It’s not really even so much singing as a breathing contest between Inuit women that grew out of a need to entertain themselves when the men were off hunting. Sometimes they made the sounds to put a baby to sleep. The clicks, buzzes and growls are produced on both exhaling and inhaling breath.

Two women, sometimes more, stand face to face and sing until one laughs, quits or runs out of breath. Traditionally, they stood so close that they actually used the other woman’s mouth as a resonator. That’s not done so much today.

Throat singing was banned over 100 years ago by Christian priests, but it has been revived and has become even more popular with the younger generation who feel it is a way to keep in touch with their culture. There are regional competitions to see who can outlast the other singers.

Tanya Tagaq has taken the style of throat singing even further by combining it with modern music and non-traditional musicians. You can hear some of her music here.

There are a few other groups that do this type of singing, most notably some Tibetan monks who chant in a overtone style. The first  three groups are the most active in promoting their culture with their unique singing. Some are traveling and singing in concerts world-wide. Others are encouraging others to learn to sing in the traditional way.

I stumbled upon this video that shows three women from Siberia using a mouth harp to create sounds of nature. This is a tradition that is thousands of years old.

While it is not throat-singing, it sounded a lot like the other singers in some ways, especially near the end of the video.