Mongolian people, regardless of age or sex, love to sing. They respect singers and people who are good at singing. Mongolian folk songs are mainly divided into two categories: ceremonial songs and pastoral songs. Liturgical songs are used on wedding banquets and other festive occasions. Their main content is singing about pure love, singing about heroes, and singing about winning horse racing riders. Pastoral songs are mostly sung during grazing and relocation. The content is mostly about praising hometown and expressing emotions about objects. Mongolian folk songs have free rhythm, many and delicate decorative sounds, and have strong recitability. Its bright, long and friendly tune is refreshing. The lyrics of pastoral songs are not only good at expressing emotions, but also focus on describing scenes, blending scenes, and expressing the harmonious relationship between man and nature. The rhythm of pastoral songs is generally long, slow, and free, and often adopts the rhythm of "dense-dense-dense-dense". Generally speaking, the rhythm of the ascending phrases of the pastoral is long and slow; the descending phrases often use an active and dancing triplet rhythm, forming a gorgeous cadenza phrase.

Mongolian folk songs are famous for their grand and majestic sounds and high-pitched and melodious tunes. They are very rich in content, including those describing love and marriage, some praising horses, grasslands, mountains, and rivers, and some praising grassland heroes, etc. These folk songs vividly reflect the customs and customs of Mongolian society.

In terms of musical characteristics, Mongolian folk songs can be roughly divided into two categories: "long tune" and "short tune".

1. Long-tune folk songs. Long-tune folk songs are pastoral genres that reflect the nomadic life of the Mongolian people. They have a relatively long length, free rhythm, broad breath, deep emotions, and are decorated with unique and delicate vibrato. Long-tune folk songs are sung in Mongolian, with a slow and free rhythm, few words and long accents, and their styles vary from region to region. The long-tuned folk songs of the Xilin Gol grassland have a loud and long sound. Popular songs include "Little Yellow Horse" and "Walking Horse". The long-tuned folk songs of Hulunbuir Grassland are passionate and unrestrained, including "Broad Grassland", "Horse Stealing Girl", etc. Folk songs in the Alxa area have a slow rhythm, and popular ones include "The Rich and Vast Alxa" and "Farewell". The folk songs of Horqin Grassland are mainly lyrical, and popular ones include "Homesickness Song", "The Mighty and Powerful Horse", etc. Popular folk songs in Zhaowuda grassland include "Cui Ling", "Meng Yang", etc. Long-tune folk songs can freely extend the singing of some long notes according to the singer's mood. The melody style and singing style have the characteristics of vast, bold and rough grassland folk songs. The lining words of long-tune folk songs all use "ta 咿", "咿yo", "咿yo" and so on. Lining words in high pitches are generally open or half-accented; liners in mid-pitched sounds are more flexible, and those at the end are generally in half-open or closed accents.

The "Hymn" in the large-scale music and dance epic "The East is Red" that was popular in the 1960s, as well as songs such as "Walking to the High Xing'an Mountains" whose artistic charm has not faded to this day, are based on Created based on the power of long-key folk songs. ?

2. Short-key folk songs. The obvious difference from long-key folk songs is that short-key folk songs are shorter in length, have compact tunes, neat and distinct rhythms, and a relatively narrow range. Short tunes are generally two lines, two or four sentences with rhyme, and the beat is relatively fixed. The lyrics are simple but not dull, and are characterized by the extensive use of word duplication in phonology. Short-key folk songs are mainly popular in semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral areas where Mongols and Han people live together. It is often improvised singing and very flexible. Popular ones include "Siba Lama", "Genghis Khan's Two Green Horses", "Fine Wine as Sweet as Honey", "Twelve Zodiac Signs of the Brother Who Pulls the Camel", etc. Short-key folk songs are popular in the fertile Hetao Plain. The folk songs in the Tumochuan Plain and other agricultural and semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral areas in the autonomous region are all short-key folk songs. Short-tuned folk songs are also called climbing tunes, mountain tunes, and are mostly sung in Chinese. Therefore, not only the Mongolians in western Inner Mongolia like to sing, but also the Han and other ethnic groups like to sing this kind of folk song. ? Among Mongolian folk songs, there are many long narrative songs, such as the famous "Gada Meilin", which narrates the hero Gada's struggle against King Darhan and the reactionary warlord Zhang Zuolin for the pastures of the Mongolian people and the survival of the herdsmen. story.

Love songs occupy a huge proportion in short-key folk songs. Such as "Senjidma", "Dagula", "Little Lover", etc., profoundly reflect the good wishes of Mongolian young men and women to pursue freedom and happiness. Secondly, they reflect the Mongolian people's resistance to aggression, expose the criminal acts of the feudal ruling class, and revolutionary folk songs produced during the revolutionary struggle, such as "Du Gui Long", "Li Hongzhang Who Led the Wolf into the House", "Anti-Japanese Song", etc. A masterpiece of tanka.

Balle songs: Ballad songs have short melody, neat structure, and strong rap style. The singing style is all self-singing, accompanied by instruments such as Sihu or Morinqin. The singer can also insert commentary dialogue at any time according to the needs of the plot and character portrayal. It was produced and developed in the agricultural area of ??eastern Inner Mongolia. The themes reflected mainly include praising people's uprising struggles and heroes, such as "Gada Merlin", "Song of the Hero Taoketu", etc. Those that express tragic love stories, such as "Noli Gelma", "Dana Bala", etc. Those who oppose religious constraints and yearn for secular life, such as "The Great Lama Dongkel", "The Great Lama Baoyin Hesige", etc.

Haolaibao: also known as "Haolaibao". The traditional Mongolian rap art developed from oral literature. Popular in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, it is said to have a history of more than 700 years. It is often sung at festivals, weddings and festive occasions. "Haolibao" is the transliteration of Mongolian, which means "connection". There is a fixed tune, and the singing forms include single, double and multiple people, but most of them are single singing. The contents generally include homesickness, praise for horses, folklore, and adapted classical chapter novels, as well as those composed based on the situation and the mood. It can be both narrative and lyrical, both praising and satirical. The repertoire includes both long and short pieces. The lyrics are composed of four sentences into one section, with alliteration. There may be four lines that rhyme, or two lines that rhyme, or there are dozens of lines that rhyme to the end. The accompaniment instruments are mostly morinouqin and sihu. The melody is bold and simple, with more elements of recitation and a strong flavor of the grassland. In addition to famous singing songs such as "Princess Yandan", "Rich Chagan Lake", "It's Better to Be an Artist", etc., there are also historical stories of the Han nationality such as "The Story of Wang Zhaojun", "Water Margin" and "Three Kingdoms". Romance".

★The perfect unity of the sounds of nature and the sounds of the heart

Listening to a long pastoral song is like standing in the vast grassland and expressing your experience to nature. This artistic realm is called "the perfect unity of the sounds of nature and the sounds of the heart" by many musicologists and singers, while aesthetes call it "the highly free and perfect unity of man and nature." This unique artistic conception and charm of the blending of scenes, following nature, and the unity of nature and man have highlighted the high aesthetic value of Mongolian long-melody folk songs today when mankind has entered the era of large-scale industry and the natural ecological environment has been severely damaged.

It is understood that Mongolian polyphonic music Chao Linduo, as long as one person leads the long-key melody and three or five people sing the continuous bass, it will produce a solemn, majestic, glorious and magnificent momentum; A Morinouqin folk solo song "Walking Horse" will have an overwhelming spirit. Both can give people a majestic and sublime experience. "The Vast Grassland" is a model of long-key pastoral song. The musical language and musical form structure are concise and concise. The whole song only has two dual phrases, but it is passionate and unrestrained, achieving the perfect unity of image and artistic conception, man and nature. , also gives people a vast and bold masculine beauty. The ancient banquet song "Sixty Beauties" sings sixty beautiful things in a simple song with only one section. The song lists grassland land, life and youth, cattle, sheep and horses, migratory birds and geese, sunshine and mist, bright moon and stars, mountain scenery, sea scenery, blooming flowers, clear water, plucked strings, loud singing, parents The kindness of the people, the friendship of the brothers, the teachings of the elders, the peace of the world... This song is simply a wonderful textbook of ideological morality and aesthetic education. The aesthetic value and educational significance are self-evident.

Ke Qinfu, a famous musician in our district, believes that because of this, Mongolian music is increasingly loved by people of all ethnic groups in our country, and with its amazing artistic charm, it attracts music students and experts from all ethnic groups Walk into the grassland and get close to the Mongolian people.

This is the case for many famous musicians such as Xin Huguang, Du Zhaozhi, Lu Hongjiu, Narisong, etc. They learned Mongolian and Mongolian, even took on Mongolian names, found Mongolian life partners, and ate Mongolian milk food... He wholeheartedly integrated into the Mongolian music culture and even the Mongolian nation, and selflessly dedicated his beautiful youth, life-long energy and talents to the grassland and to the cause of Mongolian music.

★Historical Origins of Long-Tune Folk Songs

"At the foot of the Chile River, under the Yin Mountain, the sky is like a dome, covering the four fields. The sky is blue, the fields are vast, and the wind blows the grass, and you can see cattle and sheep. "This popular Chile song that originated in the Southern and Northern Dynasties of our country vividly outlines the magnificent picture of the northern grasslands. When we are intoxicated by the beautiful scenery depicted in this poem, we will naturally think of this "Qionglu". The "song" that accompanies the poem comes.

What is the origin of Mongolian folk songs? Li Shixiang, director of the Music Department of the Art College of Inner Mongolia University, is the first researcher in our region to publish a monograph on Mongolian long tunes. Regarding the historical origins of long-tune folk songs, Li Shixiang believes that based on the current historical materials and Mongolian research results, the history of Mongolian music development can be divided into three major historical periods from a macro perspective, namely, the mountain hunting music culture period, the grassland hunting music culture period, and the grassland hunting music culture period. The period of nomadic music culture and the period of both farming and pastoral music culture.

Li Shixiang told reporters that before the 7th century AD, the Mongolian ancestors had been living in the Greater Khingan Mountains and the Ergun River Basin, and their production methods were mainly hunting. During their long life, the Mongols created their own music culture with hunting characteristics, such as hunting songs and dances, shamanistic songs and dances, etc. Generally speaking, the music style of this period is represented by short tunes. Folk songs have the characteristics of short structure, concise tones, clear rhythm, many words and few accents. The overall music style is narrative, song-and-dance, and weak in lyricism, which is also the unique characteristic of human music art in the primitive period. It can be seen from the existing data that some Mongolian folk songs with obvious musical and cultural characteristics of this period are still circulating among the people, such as "Hunting and Fighting Wisdom Song" and "White Sea Blue Dance".

Since the 7th century AD, the Mongolian people who lived along the Ergun River in northeastern my country and made a living by hunting began to leave the mountains and forests and gradually moved westward to the Mongolian Plateau. While forming a nomadic production method, Gradually become stronger. In 1206 AD, when the great Mongolian historical figure Genghis Khan unified all the Mongolian tribes in the northern grasslands, it was announced that the Mongolian nation had officially entered the historical stage of the northern grasslands. Following the historical trend, it naturally became the master of northern grassland culture. After taking over the baton of northern grassland culture, the Mongolian people injected fresh blood and new impetus into it in their own way, making the northern grassland music culture develop rapidly. Along with the transformation of the hunting production mode to the nomadic production mode, the music style also evolved from short-key folk songs to long-key folk songs, forming a period of grassland nomadic music culture in the history of Mongolian music.

Li Shixiang believes that the musical cultural phenomenon of the grassland nomadic period is extremely complex. From the perspective of musical morphology, this period not only retained and developed the short-key music style of the hunting period, but also gradually innovated and formed Long music style. As far as the long-tune folk songs themselves are concerned, this period also experienced a long inheritance and development process from simple to complex, from low to high. Therefore, in the thousand-year history from the 7th century AD to the 17th century AD, the general trend of the development of Mongolian folk songs can be summarized as: a period in which short-key folk songs are based on short-key folk songs, long-key folk songs are innovative, and long-key folk songs gradually dominate. It is also an important historical period for the formation of the overall Mongolian music culture style.

Li Shixiang said that since about the 18th century AD (the middle and late Qing Dynasty), with the historical changes and development, the connection between the northern grasslands and the mainland of the Central Plains has been further strengthened, and the pace of integration and exchanges among various ethnic groups has accelerated. The agricultural-based production methods in the Central Plains have also penetrated into some northern grasslands, and cultural exchanges have become more frequent.

Against this historical background, short-key narrative songs and long-form rap songs have gained new development, forming a period of Mongolian music culture that combines farming and animal husbandry. The musical style characteristics of this period can be summarized as follows: short-key folk songs regained new life and developed rapidly, while long-key folk songs maintained their characteristics and became more mature.

★Long tunes are emotional and introverted

People who are not familiar with the long tunes of the Mongolian people who are not familiar with the nomadic peoples of the northern grasslands often think that Mongolian music (folk songs) should also be like other countries. In terms of personality, he is always sonorous and full of fierceness. In this regard, Li Shixiang, director of the Music Department of the Art College of Inner Mongolia University, believes that this is really a misunderstanding.

Li Shixiang told reporters that there are many such proverbs among Mongolian folk: "If your teeth fall out, they are swallowed in the stomach; if your arms are broken, they are hidden in your sleeves." This introverted character is reflected in Mongolian folk songs and even the entire In terms of artistic aesthetic concepts.

“We generally have an understanding of the character of the northern grassland nomads as “brave and good at fighting, rough and bold”, but rarely understand their other side of “delicate emotions, kindness and worry”. If we compare the rough and bold Seen as an external character, kindness and worry are inner characters. This yin and yang complement each other exactly. This inner character is more reflected in the music and art of the Mongolian nation. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand Mongolian folk songs. The appearance of "more slow and less fast, more sorrow and less joy", and the formation of the inherent lyrical expression of long-tuned songs is inevitable.

★Love is the fundamental theme of long-tuned songs

In a sense, there would be no human world without love, and art would be impossible. However, due to different living habits, religious beliefs, and living environments of various ethnic groups, the expression of love is also natural. It will not be consistent.

Li Shixiang believes that the Mongolian people’s living environment has always been vast and sparsely populated, and their unique nomadic lifestyle has given them their own thoughts on love and their unique expression of love. Therefore, the essence and connotation of this kind of love are always reflected in long-tune folk songs.