The inner life
Overtone singing
Direct answer
Overtone singing is a way of shaping the voice so that a listener hears two notes at once: a low sustained note and, above it, a clear whistling one picked out from its overtones.
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At a glance
- Also called
- throat singing, khoomei, harmonic singing, tuvan throat singing
- Found in
- Consciousness & Spiritual Psychology
- Related
- Singing bowl, Gong, Resonance, Mantra
Overtone singing is a way of shaping the voice so that a listener hears two notes at once: a low sustained note and, above it, a clear whistling one picked out from its overtones.
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What is overtone singing?
Every sung note is a bundle of pitches: the note we name and a ladder of fainter, higher ones called overtones or harmonics. In overtone singing the singer holds a steady low note and shapes the tongue, lips and throat so that one of those higher pitches rings out on its own. By moving the mouth the singer plays a melody on the overtones while the low note stays fixed.
The art is best known from Tuva and Mongolia, where it is called khoomei and has several named styles, some bright and whistling, some deep and growling. Herders are said to have learned it from wind and water, and it is sung to the land. Tibetan monks of the Gyuto and Gyume colleges chant in a very low voice that also brings out overtones, as a part of their rites.
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What sets Overtone singing apart
Other singing hides the overtones inside the colour of a vowel; this art pulls one of them out and makes it the tune. The singer does it by narrowing the mouth into a small resonating chamber, with the tongue raised toward the palate, and tightening the throat so that the low note is rich in upper partials. The notes to be had are fixed by nature: they are the harmonic series of the note being held, which is why the melodies sound like bugle calls. Tuvan singers name styles by their sound, among them sygyt, the whistle, and kargyraa, the deep growl.
- Tuvan name: khoomei, also the name of one of its styles
- Main styles: khoomei, sygyt (whistling) and kargyraa (deep)
- Notes to be had: the harmonic series of the held note, from about the 6th to the 12th
- Physics set out by: Hermann von Helmholtz, On the Sensations of Tone, 1863
- Heritage listing: Mongolian khoomei, UNESCO, 2010
Often mistaken for something else: Tibetan monastic chant keeps a very low voice whose overtones colour the sound; in overtone singing a single overtone is isolated and carries a melody.
The story behind Overtone singing
Throat singing is old among the peoples of the Altai and Sayan mountains, though it was first described in writing by Russian travellers in the nineteenth century. Tuvan singers toured abroad from the 1980s, and Mongolian khoomei was added to UNESCO's list of intangible heritage in 2010. The physics was set out by Hermann von Helmholtz in 1863, who showed that vowels are made by strengthening particular overtones. In the West the technique was taken up by composers and singers from the 1960s, Karlheinz Stockhausen's Stimmung of 1968 among the first works to call for it.
Why Overtone singing matters
Overtone singing makes audible a fact about all sound, that one note contains many, which is the plain physics behind the rich tone of bowls and gongs as well.
How to read Overtone singing
The term answers the listener who hears a Tuvan recording or a monk chanting and asks how a single voice can sound like two.
Overtone singing in practice: an example
A singer holds one low note without a break while a thin flute-like tune seems to float above it, both from the same mouth.
Where readings of Overtone singing go wrong
Overtone singing is a vocal skill and a living folk art. Claims that overtones retune the body have no evidence, and forcing the throat can strain the voice.
Sources and editorial method
This entry summarizes the tradition in the Almanac's own words; where no source is listed, it is an editorial summary rather than a primary text, and symbolic readings are named as the tradition's, not as fact.
- Source
- The Great Almanac Dictionary
- Category
- Consciousness & Spiritual Psychology
- Aliases
- throat singing, khoomei, harmonic singing, tuvan throat singing
- Last updated
- 2026-09-26
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Common questions
What is overtone singing?
It is a way of singing in which the mouth and throat are shaped so that one of the high overtones of a low sung note rings out clearly, and a listener hears two notes at once.
Where does throat singing come from?
Its best known homes are Tuva, in southern Siberia, and Mongolia, where it is called khoomei. Related styles are found among other peoples of Central Asia and in the chanting of some Tibetan monasteries.
Can anyone learn overtone singing?
Most people can learn to bring out a few overtones with a teacher and patience. The deep and growling styles ask more of the throat and are best learned from a singer who knows them, to avoid strain.
