Experience The Music Of Mongolia: Cultural Shows In Ulaanbaatar
Visit Mongolia, and you’ll find music everywhere. In rural areas, you might hear a herder singing or whistling as they work, using music to control livestock and encourage animals to give milk or accept their young. Music permeates both domestic and public celebrations, such as Naadam—one of Mongolia’s most traditional festivals—where rhythmic calls are part of archery competitions, and child jockeys perform ritual songs during horse races. In Ulaanbaatar, you’ll hear the beats of urban hip-hop, and during the summer, you may come across families celebrating with late-night karaoke tunes.
Within Mongolia, music remains an integral part of the culture, with traditional instruments often played to evoke the essence of Mongolian nature—the wind, the rolling steppe, the high mountains, birds, and horses. One such instrument is Mongolia’s horsehead fiddle, the Morin Khuur, which is often featured in cultural shows in Ulaanbaatar. Here’s our guide to this instrument and where you can experience these cultural performances:
The Morin Khuur: Mongolia’s Horsehead Fiddle
The Morin Khuur is a two-stringed instrument with a hollow trapezoid-shaped body attached to a long fretless neck, topped with a carved horse head. Just below the head, two tuning pegs jut out like ears from either side of the neck. The soundboard is covered with animal skin, and the strings and bow are made of horsehair. Its characteristic sound is produced by sliding or stroking the bow against the two strings.
The Morin Khuur’s significance extends beyond its function as a musical instrument. Traditionally, it was integral to the rituals and daily activities of nomadic Mongolians. Today, the Morin Khuur repertoire retains some tunes (tatlaga) specifically intended to tame animals. In 2008, it was added to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The design of the Morin Khuur is closely linked to the revered cult of the horse, and when played, it can produce sounds reminiscent of a horse’s noises. This beautiful instrument is celebrated not only for its sound and design but also for the legends surrounding its origin.
The Legend of the Morin Khuur
There are many versions of this legend, but one tells of a horseman who rode through the night sky and visited the ger of a beautiful herdswoman. They spent several nights together, but each dawn, he would disappear. The woman decided to keep him by cutting off the wings of his horse, which had little wings above its hooves. The next morning, the horseman’s mount fell to the earth and died. Grieving the loss, the man carved the horse’s head from wood and transformed it into a two-string instrument, using the bone, hair, and hide of the dead horse. The Morin Khuur is still played today, celebrating the spirit of all horses.
The Hu and the Morin Khuur
The Hu is a Mongolian heavy metal band that calls their music “hunnu rock,” blending modern music with traditional Mongolian rhythms and instruments, including the horsehead fiddle and throat singing. Their music reflects popular concerns and reminds the next generation of Mongolia’s cultural heritage, nationalism, and historical legacies.
In an article in The Guardian, Galbadrakh Tsendbaatar, the band’s lead singer, said through a translator, “Our music is a blend of east and west, old and new. We’re building on a history and a sound that has been around for thousands of years.”
Listen to some of their songs on our YouTube playlist.
