The undulating melody of Urtiin Duu (long song), the resonant sound of Morin Khuur (horse head fiddle) and the unparalleled singing of Khoomei (throat singing) are regarded as three artistic treasures of the Mongolian nomads which best manifested the unique living environment and ethnic spirit. These three forms of ethnic art have also been inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. 

There is no doubt that Morin Khuur is the most representative traditional instrument of Mongolia: its shape, timbre and music style are the best portrayal of the “ethnic community on horseback”. The history of the Morin Khuur can be traced back about 2000 years ago. Nowadays, the Morin Khuur is made of wood, with a bow and two strings made of horsehair and a trapezoid-shaped sound box. Many of the Morin Khuurs are decorated with elaborated cravings. When rubbing the bow against the strings, the instrument produces a profound and rich sound, whose expressive and narrative feeling vividly reflects the Mongolian way of life: endless grassland, rustling wind, galloping steeds, joyful madrigals and soulful legends. 

With accompaniment of the Morin Khuur, Urtiin Duu is the most important vocal genre of Mongolian traditional music. Based on a pentatonic scale without semitones, the Urtiin Duu is characterized by long and lax melody, an abundance of ornamentation, an extremely wide vocal range, drifting between actual voice and falsetto with a free compositional form that implies an evocative rhythm. The themes of Urtiin Duu are often related to the praise of nature and life, legends of heroes and expression of love between family members, friends and lovers. As a ritual associated with important celebrations and festivals, Urtiin Duu plays a significant and honored role in Mongolian society. The extensively broad vocal sound and alternating rhythm of Urtiin Duu embody the experience of nature, history and life of the Mongols. 

However, the most surprising form of Mongolian traditional music will unquestionably be Khoomei, whereby a singer simultaneously emits two or more vocal sounds. The origins of Khoomei are hazy among academics, but Mongolian legends hold that the throat singing technique is developed by their ancestors living in the remote mountains on the Mongolian Plateau through imitating the sounds of nature and animals as a means to communicate and live in harmony with the universe. In Khoomei, the performer first sings a hoarse, continuous drone and then produces overtones above the fundamental note of the drone by skillfully modulating the resonant oral cavity, thereby creating a higher-pitched whistle one or several octaves above the bass note.