science

Throat singing

Throat singing is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Throat singing rather than just read about it. In short: Throat singing refers to several vocal practices found in different cultures worldwide. These vocal practices are generally associated with a certain type of guttural voice that contrasts with the most common types of voices employed in singing, which are usually represented by chest (modal) and head (light, or falsetto) registers.

Key takeaways

Throat singing belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Throat singing to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Throat singing from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Throat singing refers to several vocal practices found in different cultures worldwide. These vocal practices are generally associated with a certain type of guttural voice that contrasts with the most common types of voices employed in singing, which are usually represented by chest (modal) and head (light, or falsetto) registers. Throat singing is often described as evoking the sensation of more than one pitch at a time, meaning that the listener perceives two or more distinct musical notes while the singer is producing a single vocalization. Throat singing consists of a range of singing techniques that originally belonged to particular cultures and which may share sound characteristics, making them noticeable by other cultures and users of mainstream singing styles.

Terminology Throat singing is characteristic of the Turkic peoples (Tuvans, Tofalars, Altai, Khakass, Yakuts, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz), Mongolic peoples (Mongols, Buryats, Kalmyks) and Tungus-Manchu peoples (Evenks, Evens). The term originates from the translation of the Tuvan word Xöömei and the Mongolian word Xöömi, which mean throat and guttural, respectively. Ethnic groups from Mongolia, Russia, Japan, South Africa, Canada, Italy, China and India, among other countries, accept and normally employ the term throat singing to describe their way of producing voice, song and music.

The term throat singing is not precise, because any singing technique involves sound generation in the "throat", with the voice being produced at the level of the larynx, which includes the vocal folds and other structures. Therefore it would be, in principle, admissible to refer to classical operatic singing or pop singing as "throat singing". However, the term throat is not accepted as a part of the official terminology of anatomy (Terminologia Anatomica) and is not technically associated with most of the singing techniques. Some authors, performers, coaches, and listeners associate throat singing with overtone singing. Throat singing and overtone singing are not synonyms, contrary to what is indicated by some dictionaries (an example being Britannica); however, in some cases, both aspects may be present, such as in the khargyraa technique from Tuva, which uses a deep, tense voice, along with overtone singing. "Singing with the throat" may be regarded as a demeaning expression to some singers, since it may imply that the singer is using a high level of effort, resulting in a forced or non-suitable voice. The word "throaty" is usually associated with a rough, raspy, breathy or hoarse voice. Despite being a term frequently used in the literature starting in the 1960s, some contemporary scholars tend to avoid using throat singing as a general term. There is an international reception for concerts and workshops given by musical groups belonging to the several cultures that incorporate throat singing. Besides the traditional ethnic performances, throat singing has also been explored by musicians belonging to contemporary, rock, new-age, pop, and independent music genres.

Types of throat singing Throat singing techniques may be classified under an ethnomusicological approach, which considers cultural aspects, their associations to rituals, religious practices, storytelling, labor songs, vocal games, and other contexts; or a musical approach, which considers their artistic use, the basic acoustical principles, and the physiological and mechanical procedures to learn, train and produce them. The most commonly referenced types of throat singing techniques in musicological and ethnomusicological texts are generally associated with ancient cultures. Some of them, as the Khöömei from Mongolia, Tuva and China, and the Canto Tenore from Sardinia, are acknowledged by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Mongolian throat singing and Tuvan throat singing is a form of singing comprising several techniques; it is practiced in Mongolia and the Republic of Tuva, belonging to the Russian Federation, and in China. Buddhist chants, found in some monasteries in India (Tibetan exiled communities) and Tibet, sometimes involve vocal-ventricular phonation; that is, combined vibrations of the vocal folds and the ventricular folds, achieving low pitches. Inuit throat singing is a type of duet used in contests; it is practiced by the Inuit of Canada. Rekuhkara is a practice formerly done by the Ainu ethnic group of Hokkaidō Island, Japan. Canto a tenore, or Sardinian throat singing, is found in Sardinia. A similar polyphonic singing in Corsica known as Paghjella exists, however it doesn't involve throat singing. In musically related terms, throat singing refers to the following specific techniques, among others:

Overtone singing, also known as overtone chanting, or harmonic singing. This is the singing style more commonly associated with throat singing. Undertone singing, which involves techniques that comprise subharmonics. It is generated by the combined vibrations of parts of the singing apparatus at a certain frequency and frequencies that correspond to integer divisions of such frequency, such as 1:2, 1:3, and 1:4 ratios. Diplophonic voice, which includes techniques that consist of parts of the singing apparatus vibrating at non-integer ratios and which are usually regarded as associated with pathological processes. Growl voice consists of a technique of growling, which employs structures of the vocal apparatus located above the larynx, vibrating at the same time as the vocal folds, particularly the aryepiglottic folds. Vocal fry is a technique associated to vocal fry register.

Audio examples Kargyraa.mp3 Khoomei.mp3 Sound samples, by Leonardo Fuks, at the Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden.

See also Tuvan throat singing List of overtone musicians Cantu a tenore

External links

Encyclopedia Britannica definition Throat Singing in Kangirsuk, a 2019 Canadian short documentary film Mongolian traditional art of Khöömei https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/mongolian-traditional-art-of-khoomei-00396 Throat-singing article from Encyclopaedia Britannica https://www.britannica.com/art/throat-singing Webpage from Tran Quang Hai Archived 2021-10-02 at the Wayback Machine, one of the main and pioneer throat singing performers and researchers in the world, named "Tran Quang Hai's World Throat Singing"

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Throat singing

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Throat singing claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Throat singing before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Throat singing ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Throat singing

In research: Throat singing appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Throat singing in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Throat singing is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Acoustics, Human voice, Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Throat singing outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Throat singing in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Throat singing means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Throat singing out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Throat singing in simple terms?

Why does Throat singing matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Throat singing?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Throat singing.