Mongolian Folk Music Songwriting Advice

Ready to write Mongolian folk songs that do not sound like a tourist gift shop playlist? Good. You will learn how traditional elements like throat singing and the morin khuur can inform modern songwriting. You will also get practical exercises, production tips, lyric prompts, and a crash course in the ethics of borrowing from another culture. This guide is for artists who want real craft, not cartoon versions. We are funny sometimes. We are serious about respect always.

This piece is written for millennial and Gen Z artists who want to write songs that feel both ancient and now. We explain every term. We give real life examples you can imagine in texts, on buses, and in studio chats. We will cover core musical features, vocals, instruments, storytelling, melody work, arranging, field recording, fusion strategies, and how to avoid sounding like a cultural carbon copy. You will leave with exercises and an action plan you can use today.

What makes Mongolian folk music special

Mongolian folk music comes from a nomadic life on open steppe. The landscape is big, the sky is loud, and the songs reflect that space. Expect wide phrases, long notes, a deep relationship with animals and weather, and vocal techniques that use overtones to create multiple pitches at once. The music is often monophonic which means one main melodic line at a time. Harmony is often implied by drones rather than full western style chord changes.

Key concepts

• Morin khuur means horsehead fiddle. It is a bowed instrument with two strings and a carved horse head at the top. Its sound is raw and earthy and it often imitates horse calls.
• Khoomei is throat singing. The singer produces a fundamental low pitch and simultaneously shapes overtones. You might hear what sounds like two or three notes coming from one person.
• Urtiin duu means long song. These have extended vocal lines that float above drones. Imagine storytelling that stretches out like a road across the plains.
• Pentatonic scale is a five note scale. Many Mongolian melodies are pentatonic which gives them that open, modal feeling.

If any acronym pops up, we will define it. For example DAW means digital audio workstation. That is the software you use to record music like Ableton Live, Logic Pro, FL Studio, or Reaper. MIDI stands for musical instrument digital interface. That is the language that lets keyboards and software talk. If you want to use samples of throat singing in a DAW patch, you may use MIDI to trigger other instruments to match pitch.

Core musical building blocks

Melody and scale

Mongolian melodies value space. They breathe. Melodic lines often use pentatonic collections. Pentatonic means five notes per octave. On a piano the black keys form a pentatonic set if you want a quick hack. Pentatonic scales leave out half steps that create tension in western minor and major scales. That absence, paired with long notes, creates a feeling of openness. If you write a chorus using a pentatonic palette, listeners will often perceive it as ancient and timeless.

Try this: pick a pentatonic set like C, D, E, G, A in western notation. Sing long sustained phrases using mostly step motion. Insert one leap occasionally to create emotional lift. Think of each phrase as a wide horizon you can stand on and stare at for a while. That is the aesthetic.

Microtones and sliding ornaments

Mongolian singing and playing use slides between pitches and subtle microtonal inflections that are not part of western equal temperament. Microtones are intervals smaller than a semitone. To get that feel without mastering new tuning systems, use slides and portamento on voice or instrument. Produce ornaments that move smoothly from one stable pitch to another. Think of a horse whinny or a wind gust rather than a precise scale degree.

Timbre and overtone focus

Timbre matters as much as pitch. Khoomei throat singing emphasizes overtones by shaping the mouth like a tube. The result feels like a chord coming from one voice. When you write, think about layers of sound that live in different frequency bands. A low drone can hold the foundation. A mid register melody floats above. High overtones or harmonic whistles can glint like sunlight. This is not about loudness. This is about texture.

Drone and pedal

Drones are constant sustained notes often played by a bowed instrument or voiced by a singer. In Mongolian music the drone may be created with a morin khuur or by a low throat singing drone. Harmony can be suggested by moving the melody over that drone. In modern arrangements you can use synth pads or bowed cello as a drone. Keep it simple. The drone exists to anchor the melody like a yurt stake holds down a tent.

Rhythm and tempo

Traditional Mongolian songs can feel rhythmically free. Long songs especially float in time. Other folk forms have steady pulse for dancing. When you write, decide whether the song will float or move. If you want a modern cross over feel, choose a steady beat to anchor listeners who come from pop or hip hop. If you want to preserve a meditative feel, let the phrase lengths expand and contract like breath.

Instruments and what they contribute

Learning a few instruments by name will save you from embarrassing credits and from using samples badly.

• Morin khuur is the horsehead fiddle. It can sing like a voice. Use it for melodic hooks, bowed drones, and rhythmic chops that imitate hoof beats.
• Tovshuur is a two string plucked lute. It gives raw rhythmic patterns and modal plucked textures. Think acoustic electric hybrid.
• Shanz is a long neck plucked instrument with three strings. It can play shimmering arpeggios for atmosphere.
• Yatga is a zither type instrument like a lap harp. It provides bell like textures and is great for countermelodies.

Real life scenario

Imagine you are writing a breakup song. Your phone text reads: I am sorry I left but I needed space. A morin khuur opens with a single slow bowed note like a horse looking back. Your verse uses a sparse plucked tovshuur pattern. In the chorus, throat singing holds a low drone under your sung melody revealing a second pitch that sounds like a memory. It feels massive but not cluttered. The arrangement tells the story as much as the words.

Vocals and throat singing explained

Khoomei throat singing comes in styles. You do not have to master them all. Know the names and the roles.

• Kargyraa produces a very low fundamental with strong subharmonics. It sounds deep and rumbling.
• Sygyt creates clear high overtones. It feels like a whistle riding above a drone.
• Khoomei as a general term means the technique of overtone singing itself.

If you are not Mongolian and you want throat singing on your track hire a practitioner, record them respectfully, and pay them. If you want to imitate throat singing without training use a synthesized overtone layer respectfully labeled as inspired by throat technique rather than claiming it as traditional throat singing. Explain in your credits what choices you made and why.

How throat singing can inform writing

Even if you do not use throat singing directly you can borrow the concept. Think of a vocal part that contains two layers: one low and steady and one high and ornamental. You can recreate that by recording a low voice or bass and adding a high, breathy sung line above. The relationship between low stability and high detail is at the heart of many Mongolian forms.

Storytelling and lyric themes

Mongolian folk songs often deal with the land, animals, travel, love, longing, and rituals. The stories are grounded in place. That gives detail and authority.

Lyric prompts

• Write a song about a horse you named as a child and what it taught you about leaving.
• Write a song that opens with a single place name and then never repeats it. Use details to map the listener there.
• Write a song where weather becomes a character that keeps one person honest.

Real life songwriting scenario

You are on a late night bus in Ulaanbaatar returning from a gig. The heater smells of boiled milk. A conversation in Mongolian drifts past. You write the chorus as if you texted your best friend back home. Short plain sentences, a consistent image, a hook that is easy to hum. The verses add sensory crumbs like the sound of a horse hoof on ice and the shape of a felt hat. Those details make the song feel anchored and real.

Prosody and language choices

Prosody means how words naturally stress and flow with music. Mongolian language has its own stress patterns and vowel qualities. If you write lyrics in English inspired by Mongolian tradition, respect prosody. Do not force English words into Mongolian rhythmic spaces. Instead write lines that fit the melody by testing spoken rhythm aloud. Record yourself speaking the line at conversational speed and then sing it without changing stress. If it feels wrong rewrite the line.

Insert a real life test. Speak this as you would text a friend: I keep the horse saddle in the hallway and I pretend it is not broken. Now sing it on one long note. If the stress points do not align with the strong musical beats you will feel friction. Fix the phrasing to match natural stress or change the melody so the natural stress lands on strong beats.

Harmony for Mongolian aesthetic

Mongolian folk music often implies harmony rather than stating it as chord sequences common in western pop. When you add harmony, aim for open intervals like perfect fifths and fourths. Parallel motion in these intervals can create the feel of traditional ensemble playing without forcing triadic harmony that clashes with pentatonic melody.

Practical harmony choices

• Use a drone on the tonic and add parallel fifths for a choral feel.
• Use modal harmony by staying on one tonal center and moving the melody through modal colors.
• If you use piano or guitar chords keep them simple and let the melody carry the identity.

Arrangement and production tips

Want to fuse Mongolian folk with modern genres like indie rock, electronica, or trap? Here is a safe workflow that keeps authenticity and creativity intact.

1. Start with a story. Decide the lyric and emotional center first. Traditional songs are about telling. Your modern adaptation should not lose the story in beats and synths.
2. Make a raw demo. Record a morin khuur sample, a throat singing sample, or even record field ambience from a steppe like wind, hooves, or a yurt flap. These field sounds give texture.
3. Choose your beat lawfully. If you use a drum pattern from a Mongolian tradition get permission from the community or a source. If not available, create a pattern that evokes the feel without copying a ritual drum directly.
4. Layer textures. Use the morin khuur for melody and drones for low end. Add synth pads to fill harmonic space. Put the vocal upfront with little competition in the mid frequencies.
5. Space is your friend. Leave silence for throat singing overtones to breathe. Do not compress the living heck out of everything. Dynamics matter.

Useful production tools and terms

• EQ means equalizer. Use it to carve space for throat overtones by reducing competing frequencies on other instruments.
• Reverb can create the sense of open steppe. Try a long, subtle hall reverb on morin khuur to give width.
• Delay can make a short melodic tag feel like a flock of echoes. Use tempo synced delay to match your track BPM. BPM means beats per minute. It measures tempo.
• Sampling is using recorded sounds inside another track. When you sample traditional performance get clear permission and compensate artists fairly.

Ethics and cultural respect

Yes we will be blunt. Borrowing from Mongolian music without context can be lazy and disrespectful. There is a difference between inspiration and appropriation. Do this right.

• Credit practitioners. If you record a throat singer or a morin khuur player credit them in liner notes and metadata. Pay them for studio time and for clearances.
• Collaborate. Collaborations are mutually beneficial. Bring Mongolian artists into the creative process not just as a sound bank but as storytellers.
• Be transparent. In interviews and track credits say what you learned and who taught you. Explain where samples came from.
• Context matters. Avoid using ritual or spiritual forms like shamanic songs as background textures for an unrelated pop hook. That flattens meaning.

Real life example

An indie producer wanted throat singing on a single and used a royalty free sample pack. Later they gave a full credit and royalties to an artist after learning the sample was taken from a performance recorded without permission. Do not be that person. Research the source of the samples. When in doubt reach out and ask.

Songwriting workflows and exercises

Here are step by step methods to generate ideas and finish songs in this style.

Workflow A, the space song

1. Write one sentence that describes the landscape or weather that anchors the song. Keep it simple. Example, The steppe goes on like a wrong number I do not want to call back.
2. Create a two minute drone using a low morin khuur sound or synth. Keep it steady.
3. Sing long melodic lines using a pentatonic set over the drone. Record multiple takes on vowels only. These are topline drafts.
4. Listen and mark lines that feel inevitable. Add a short lyric phrase to one of those long lines and repeat it as your chorus hook.
5. Build verses by adding concrete images. Use actions and objects not abstract feelings.

Workflow B, the fusion experiment

1. Pick a modern beat. Keep it simple. Think 80 to 110 BPM for a mid tempo groove.
2. Layer a morin khuur motif on the downbeats and use throat singing as a background texture that sits under the chorus.
3. Write a short chorus that is easy to hum. Use a pentatonic pitch set for identity.
4. Mix with restraint. Keep the vocal natural. Avoid heavy autotune unless it is a deliberate aesthetic choice and you credit the sound as a production effect.

Five exercises

• Vowel topline. Sing on ah and oh over a drone for two minutes. Mark the phrases you would hum on a bus. Those are hooks.
• Object ritual drill. Pick an object associated with nomadic life like a saddle blanket, a ladle, or a felt hat. Write four lines where the object performs an action. Ten minutes.
• Overtone mapping. Record a low sustained hum. Use EQ to emphasize different overtone bands while you sing a melody above it. Notice how the mood changes.
• Prosody reading. Speak your draft lyrics at normal speed. Circle stressed syllables and mark beats on a grid. Realign lines so strong words land on strong beats.
• Field sound collage. Collect ambient sounds like wind, hooves, or kettle boiling. Build a one minute loop and improvise a topline over it.

Melody and lyric examples you can model

Theme, Leaving at dawn

Verse: My coat holds last summer like a bird in its pocket. The saddle leans against the door and looks like apology.

Chorus: We leave at dawn, I say the name one time and the mountain keeps it. The horse remembers my hands and does not mind.

Theme, Remembering a small love

Verse: You left behind a cup with a crack and a name I still say to the kettle. The city street is louder than the camp but quieter than your laugh.

Chorus: Your laugh is a roof in winter. I can stand under it and not be soaked by any rain.

Before and after edits

Before: I miss you when the wind blows and I think of our time.

After: Wind slips under the tent and counts your steps. I put out two cups and pretend one is full for you.

Melody diagnostics and fixes

If the melody feels derivative run these checks.

• Range check. Does the chorus sit higher than the verse? If not raise the chorus by a third or change the leap into the chorus so it feels like arrival.
• Contour test. Is the phrase shaped with tension and release? Insert a small leap before a long note to create a sense of arrival.
• Breath map. Are your phrasing and breathing natural for the lyric? If a singer must take a big gasping breath in an odd spot rewrite the line to fit a natural breath.
• Ornament check. Add tasteful slides and microtonal inflections in the melody line but do not overdo it. One or two ornaments per phrase are enough.

Common mistakes and fixes

• Mistake: Turning tradition into a cartoon. Fix: Learn terms, credit artists, and collaborate.
• Mistake: Overproducing the throat singing into a blur. Fix: Carve space with EQ and reduce competing mid frequencies during the overtone sections.
• Mistake: Writing abstract lyrics without place. Fix: Add three sensory crumbs per verse like smell, texture, and a specific object.
• Mistake: Forcing western harmony onto pentatonic melody. Fix: Use drones, parallel open fifths, or modal coloration rather than heavy triadic changes.

How to record authentic elements

Field recording is powerful. A few tips that keep things legal and kind.

• Ask permission before recording in a community. Explain how you will use the recording.
• Compensate performers fairly for studio and session time. This is not optional.
• Record at a high sample rate if you can. That preserves overtones and natural timbre.
• Use a small diaphragm condenser for ambient recordings and a ribbon or dynamic mic for morin khuur to capture bow noise without harshness.

Action plan you can use today

1. Write one sentence that names the landscape and the feeling. Keep it short and concrete.
2. Make a two minute drone in your DAW and sing on vowels to find a topline gesture.
3. Pick three images from nomadic life and place one in each verse. Use action verbs so the scene moves.
4. Decide if you will use throat singing or a synthesized overtone texture. If you use real throat singing hire and credit a practitioner.
5. Mix with space. Use reverb and EQ to make room for overtone bands.
6. Play the song for someone who knows Mongolian tradition. Ask one question, What felt true to me, and listen.

Mongolian Folk Music Songwriting FAQ

What is khoomei?

Khoomei is the general term for throat singing where one vocal source produces a low fundamental and simultaneously shapes higher overtones. It creates the impression of more than one pitch at once.

Can I use throat singing effects without offending anyone?

Yes if you are transparent. If you use sampled or synthesized overtone textures say where they came from. If you use real throat singers hire and credit them. Avoid using sacred ritual singing as background texture for pop songs without consent and conversation with practitioners.

What scales should I use to get an authentic feel?

Start with pentatonic scales. Use stepwise motion with occasional leaps and slides. Add modal colors by borrowing notes outside a pentatonic set sparingly. Pentatonic sets give the open steppe sound that listeners expect.

How do I adapt morin khuur to modern production?

Record the instrument cleanly and add subtle reverb for space. Use it for motifs and drones. If you sequence morin khuur samples in a MIDI instrument tune them carefully to preserve microtonal feel. Always credit the player if you use recorded parts from a human being.

What about harmony in Mongolian folk inspired songs?

Prefer drones and open intervals such as fifths and fourths. Parallel motion in those intervals supports the melody. Full western chords can work if used tastefully but they change the musical meaning so be deliberate.

How can I fuse Mongolian folk with hip hop or electronic music?

Start with the story and a clear hook. Use morin khuur motifs and throat style drones as texture. Anchor the rhythm with a beat in a comfortable BPM for your genre and leave space for overtone breath. Collaborate with Mongolian artists where possible and be transparent about your influences.

Where can I learn more about these instruments and techniques?

Listen to traditional performers and contemporary Mongolian artists. Watch field recordings and documentaries. If possible study with practitioners or join workshops. Online resources exist but direct contact and paid collaboration are the fastest way to learn responsibly.