Morin khuur

The morin khuur (Mongolian: морин хуур, romanized: morin khuur), also known as the horsehead
fiddle, is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. It is one of the most important musical
instruments of the Mongol people, and is considered a symbol of the nation of Mongolia. The morin
khuur is one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity identified by
UNESCO.

Name

In Mongolian, the instrument is usually called morin khuur [mɔrin xʊːr] or "horse fiddle".

The full Classical Mongolian name for the morin khuur is morin toloğay’ta quğur, (which in modern
Khalkh cyrillic is Морин толгойтой хуур) meaning fiddle with a horse's head. Usually it is
abbreviated as "Морин хуур", Latin transcription "Morin huur". In western Mongolia it is known as
ikil (Mongolian: икил—not to be confused with the similar Tuvan igil)—while in eastern Mongolia it is
known as shoor (Mongolian: Шоор).[1]

Construction

The instrument consists of a trapeziform wooden-framed sound box to which two strings are
attached. It is held nearly upright with the sound box in the musician's lap or between the musician's
legs. The strings are made from hairs from nylon or horses' tails,[2] strung parallel, and run over a
wooden bridge on the body up a long neck, past a second smaller bridge, to the two tuning pegs in
the scroll, which is usually carved into the form of a horse's head.

The bow is loosely strung with horse hair coated with larch or cedar wood resin, and is held from
underneath with the right hand. The underhand grip enables the hand to tighten the loose hair of the
bow, allowing very fine control of the instrument's timbre.

The larger of the two strings (the "male" string) has 130 hairs from a stallion's tail, while the "female"
string has 105 hairs from a mare's tail. Nowadays the strings are made of nylon. Traditionally, the
strings were tuned a fifth apart, though in modern music they are more often tuned a fourth apart,
usually to B-flat and F. The strings are stopped either by pinching them in the joints of the index and
middle fingers, or by pinching them between the nail of the little finger and the pad of the ring finger.

Traditionally, the frame is covered with camel, goat, or sheep skin, in which case a small opening
would be left in the back. However, since the 1970s, new completely wooden sound box instruments
have appeared, with carved f-holes similar to
Морин хуур
European stringed instruments.[3]

ᠬᠣᠭᠣᠷ
ᠮᠣᠷᠢᠨ
A beginner-grade morin khuur typically features a
pine top with birch or laminated back and sides. In
contrast, player-grade morin khuur is crafted from
higher quality tonewoods, such as spruce for the Möring qughur

top and birch for the back and sides. Some

instruments, particularly those intended for
classical music, use maple for the back and sides
to produce a brighter sound.

The modern standard height is 1.15 m (3 ft 9 in);

the distance between the upper bridge and the
lower bridge is about 60 cm (24 in), but the upper
bridge especially can be adapted to match smaller
player's fingers. The sound box usually has a depth
of 8–9 cm (3.1–3.5 in); the width of the soundbox
String instrument
is about 20 cm (7.9 in) at the top and 25 cm (9.8 in)
at the bottom. Good quality instruments can Other names Шоор (Shoor), Икил

achieve a strength of 85 dBA, which allows it to be (Ikil)

played (if desired) even in mezzoforte or Classification Bowed string

crescendo. When horsehair is used, the luthiers instrument
prefer to use the hair of white stallions. In general
Related instruments
the quality of a horse hair string depends on its
preparation, the climate conditions and the Byzaanchy, Igil, Gusle, Kobyz
nutrition of the animals. That gives a wide area of
Sound sample
quality differences.
"Buyant Altai Khairkhan" (Altai Khairkhan, 2000)
Quality nylon strings (Khalkh Mongolian: сатуркан
0:27
хялгас) last for up to 2 years, but only if prepared
The sound of a morin khuur
and placed properly on the instrument. Most
beginners don't comb the strings, then the sound More articles or information

quality worsens quickly. Good strings nearly sound

Music of Mongolia
like steel strings, and in spectrograms they show
about 7-8 harmonics.
Morin khuur vary in form depending on region.
Traditional music of the Morin Khuur
Instruments from central Mongolia tend to have
larger bodies and thus possess more volume UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage
than the smaller-bodied instruments of Inner
Mongolia. In addition, the Inner Mongolian Country Mongolia
instruments have mostly mechanics for
Reference 00068 (https://ich.un
tightening the strings, where Mongolian luthiers
esco.org/en/RL/0006
mostly use traditional ebony or rosewood pegs in 8)
a slightly conic shape. In Tuva, the morin khuur is
Region Asia and the Pacific
sometimes used in place of the igil.

Inscription history
Origin
Inscription 2008 (3rd session)

List Representative

Morin khuur, Inner Mongolian

style in China

One legend about the origin of the morin khuur is that a shepherd named Namjil the Cuckoo (or
Khuhuu Namjil) received the gift of a flying horse; he would mount it at night and fly to meet his
beloved. A jealous woman had the horse's wings cut off so that the horse fell from the air and died.
The grieving shepherd made a horsehead fiddle from the now-wingless horse's skin and tail hair and
used it to play poignant songs about his horse.

Another legend credits the invention of the morin khuur to a boy named Sükhe (or Suho). After a
wicked lord slew the boy's prized white horse, the horse's spirit came to Sükhe in a dream and
instructed him to make an instrument from the horse's body, so the two could still be together and
neither would be lonely. So the first morin khuur was assembled, with horse bones as its neck,
horsehair strings, horse skin covering its wooden soundbox, and its scroll carved into the shape of a
horse head.
The fact that most of the eastern Turkic neighbors of the Mongols possess similar horse hair
instruments (such as the Tuvan igil, the Kazakh kobyz, or the Kyrgyz Kyl kyyak), though not western
Turkic, is a testament to the shared musical heritage across the various Khanates that mutually
ruled these people.

The gusle/lahuta from Southeastern Europe (Serbia, Croatia & Albania) is a very similar instrument,
and may have been brought along trade routes that both Mongolia and the Balkans shared. Often
these instruments are depicted with a goat head instead of a horse in Europe.

Playing technique

Sambuugiin Pürevjav of Altai

Khairkhan performing in
Paris (2005).

The modern style Morin Khuur is played with nearly natural finger positions. That means, the
distance between two fingers usually make the distance of a half tone on the lower section of the
instrument. On the tune F / B♭ the index finger hits on the low (F) string the G, the middle finger hits
the G♯, the ring finger hits the A, the little finger the B flat. Identical positions are on the high strings -
C, C♯, D, D♯. The little finger tips the B strings under the F string, while all other fingers touch the
strings from the top.

Melodies are usually played from F to F' on the F string, then the player switches to the B♭ string and
continues with G, A, B♭. There are 3 hand positions on the F string, and 2 positions on the B♭ strings
a musician must memorize. The idea is that without moving the string hand too much the sound
quality improves. The 2nd hand position on the B string is used to play C, D, E♭, then moves a little bit
for hitting the F' with the little finger, then without moving the G position can be reached with the 1st
finger.
It is also possible to touch the B♭ string with the thumb to get a C, and use the ring finger under the F
string to achieve the D♯.

On the F strings only the first harmonic is used, so the scale ranges from F to F'. On the B♭ strings
several harmonics are available: B♭', F", B", also often players accompanying the F' on the F string
with an F" overtone at the F' position on the B♭ string.

Some parts of the bowing technique is unique - the little and the ring finger of the right hand usually
touch the bow hair, which is used for setting accents. The other two fingers maintain a slight
pressure on the strings. A common technique with other string instruments is the "Kist". When the
bow direction changes, the right hand moves a little bit in advance to the opposite direction to avoid
scratchy sounds and for achieving a better voice. When pushing the bow the hand closes a little bit
in direction of a fist, when pulling it the hand opens - nearly to a right angle between the arm and the
fingers.

The instrument can be used for playing western style classical music, or Mongolian style pieces.
The primary education is to learn the scales, to train the ear for achieving the "muscle memory", the
ability to automatically adapt the finger position when a note wasn't hit properly. The main goal is to
achieve a "clear" sound, that means no change in volume or frequency is desired. That depends on
three main facts:

finger force used for touching the strings

pressure of the bow

constant sound after bow direction changes

As variation are usually used the "accent" and the "vibrato". Other techniques like the "Col legno", the
"Pizzicato" or the "Martellato" are generally not used on the Morin Huur.

Because of its standard tune to Bb and F mostly western music is transposed for being played in
one of the four most common scales: F major, F minor, B♭ Major, E♭ major. When used as a solo
instrument the Morin Huur is often tuned a half tone higher or lower.

Nearly all of the Mongolian style pieces are in F minor, and often the instrument is tuned 1-2 notes
lower for coming closer to the tunes used in the deep past. The instruments in the pre-socialist era
of Mongolia were usually covered with skin, which mostly doesn't allow the Bb and F tune - usually
tuned 2-4 notes deeper.

On the contemporary Morin Khuur the deep string is placed at the right side and the high string is
placed at the left side, seen from the front of the instrument. The Igil has the opposite placement of
strings, so a player has to adapt in order to play pieces made for the other one. For contemporary
teaching the modern style is in use.

Education

In Mongolia, the morin khuur can be learned at three schools:

The SUIS (соёлын урлагын их сургууль), Engl. "University of Arts and Culture". Here, students
enter in adult age for obtaining a bachelor's degree after 2 years and a master's degree after 5
years of musical education. After the master's degree, the students are considered to be
professional musicians, and can play at one of the state ensembles or later become a teacher at
the SUIS.

Mongolian State Conservatory (Монгол Улсын Консерватори). Accepting students who are not
older than 10 years old for the morin khuur class at the conservatory and since September 2017,
the conservatory has been offering a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music in Morin Khuur
Performance degree.

The culture school of the SUIS (СУИСы, соёлын сургууль). Here several qualification courses are
available. Graduates from this school mostly become teachers or enter the SUIS.

Also many amateur players acquired reasonable skills by taking lessons from private teachers, or
being taught by their parents or other relatives.

Cultural influence

Mongolian musicians play the morin

khur

The morin khuur is the national instrument in Mongolia. Many festivals are held for celebrating the
importance of this instrument on the Mongolian culture, like the biannual "International Morin Huur
Festival and Competition", which is organized by the "World Morinhuur Association". First held in
2008, second in 2010 - with 8 participating countries (Mongolia, Korea, China, Russia, USA, Germany,
France, Japan) - and planned for May 2012. Here, many amateurs come and play freestyle pieces,
but also a professional contest is held and an instrument making competition.
During June, the "Roaring Hooves" festival is held. This is a small festival for professional skilled
players - but unfortunately a closed festival. These recordings are often shown in TV reports later.

On the national festival "Naadam" praise songs are played for the most magnificent horse and for
the highest ranked wrestler and archer. The songs are called "Magtaal" and accompanied by a
unique style of praise and morin khuur.

Many Mongolians have the instrument in their home because it is a symbol for peace and
happiness.

During the winter time, but also at the beginning of the spring time, a morin khuur player is called in
for the "жавар үргээх", the "ceremony for scaring away the frost". In general, many traditional
pieces are played, divided in the different styles: "уртын дуу", "urtiin duu" (long song), "магтаал",
"magtaal" (praise songs) and "татлага", "tatlaga" (solo pieces, mostly imitating horses or camels).

The fourth style, the "биелгее" is rarely played in these ceremonies, but in western Mongolia it is
common for accompanying "tatlaga dancing" in 3 times - like a waltz, but with dance movements
imitating daily tasks of a nomad's family.

A number of folk metal and folk rock bands from Mongolia and the Chinese autonomous region of
Inner Mongolia have combined heavy metal and rock music with traditional Mongolian lyrical
themes and instruments, including the morin khuur; some of these bands include Altan Urag, Nine
Treasures, Tengger Cavalry, Hanggai, the Hu, and Uuhai.

Animal psychological healing use by Gobi Desert farmers

In the Mongolian Gobi herder's daily life, the Morin Khuur has another important use. When a mother
camel gives birth to a calf, sometimes she rejects her calf due to various natural stress situations.
Mongolian camel herders use Morin Khuur-based melodies alongside special low-harmonic types of
songs called "Khoosloh" to heal the mother camel's stress and encourage her to re-adopt her calf.
While re-adoption in animal husbandry practice is widely used in various nomadic civilizations
worldwide, uniquely for Mongolian Gobi herders, only this instrument is used with camels. If a
mother camel dies after giving birth to a calf, the herder would use this Khoosloh technique
alongside Morin Khuur melodies to encourage another mother camel who has her own calf to adopt
the new one. The practice is well documented in the documentary called Ingen Egshig directed by
Badraa J. in 1986[4] and was also remade in 2003 by director Byambasuren Davaa with a different
title of The Story of the Weeping Camel which was nominated in 2005 Academy Award for Best
Documentary.
See also

Batzorig Vaanchig

Music of Mongolia

List of Mongolian musical instruments

Topshur

References

1. Монгол ардын хөгжмийн зэмсэг (http://www.travelnews.mn/index.php?songolt=content&ta

sk=content_item&id=1845) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20110722220013/http://
www.travelnews.mn/index.php?songolt=content&task=content_item&id=1845) 2011-07-22
at the Wayback Machine. Accessed 23 April 2010.

2. "Morin khuur" (https://web.archive.org/web/20131019144259/http://www.silkroadproject.org/

MusicArtists/Instruments/Morinkhuur/tabid/318/Default.aspx) . www.silkroadproject.org.
Archived from the original (http://www.silkroadproject.org/MusicArtists/Instruments/Morinkhu
ur/tabid/318/Default.aspx) on 2013-10-19. Retrieved 2010-04-24.

3. CD booklet notes, Mongolia: Traditional Music, 1991, Auvidis-UNESCO D 8207

4. "Asia-Pacific Database on Intangible Cultural Heritage(ICH)" (http://www.accu.or.jp/ich/en/art

s/A_MNG5.html) . www.accu.or.jp. Retrieved 5 February 2019.

Bibliography

Marsh, Peter K. (2004). Horse-Head Fiddle and the Cosmopolitan Reimagination of Mongolia.
ISBN 0-415-97156-X.

Santaro, Mikhail (1999). Морин Хуур - Хялгасны эзэрхийгч, available in cyrillic (ISBN 99929-5-
015-3) and classical Mongolian script (ISBN 7-80506-802-X)

Luvsannorov, Erdenechimeg (2003) Морин Хуурын арга билгийн арванхоёр эгшиглэн,

ISBN 99929-56-87-9

Pegg, Carole (2003) Mongolian Music, Dance, and Oral Narrative: Recovering Performance
Traditions (with audio CD) ISBN 978-0-295-98112-3
External links

Mongolian art and culture (https://web.archive.org/web/20050309091906/http://www.mongolart.

mn/traditional_instruments.html) traditional instruments

Embassy of Mongolia Seoul (http://mongolembassy.com/eng_aboutmongol/culture.asp)

Mongolian culture, including the morin khuur.

Music Tales (https://archive.today/20121210055857/http://musicaltales.wordpress.com/categor

y/introduction/index.php) Mongolian culture, introduction into the principles of Mongolian lyrics
and to Mongolian folk songs

Playing Chuurqin (solo 5:58~15:37) (accompaniment 15:37~18:49) (https://web.archive.org/web/

20110722031407/http://v.youku.com/v_playlist/f3638874o1p0.html)

A typical Chuurqin (http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/WQ-3GJQvk68/)

Chuur huur folk song (http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzk1NDM1Mjg=.html) (seems a variant,

but not the Xinagan Chuur variant)

The relation between Morin huur and Chuurqin (https://web.archive.org/web/20110707013004/ht

tp://www.0438.cn/Html/caifu/3735.html)

Mu. Burenchugula's Harchin epic «Manggusuyin Wulige'er» (legend of the monster) played with a
Morin huur's Chuur method playing (http://www.zwbk.org/zh-cn/zh-tw/Lemma_Show/77441.asp
x) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20191207110458/http://www.zwbk.org/zh-cn/zh-tw/
Lemma_Show/77441.aspx) 2019-12-07 at the Wayback Machine