Overtone singing is the technique of producing two pitches simultaneously with a single voice: a low, steady drone and a clear, flute-like melody above it. You do this by reshaping your mouth and tongue to amplify specific harmonics that are already present in your voice. The skill is learnable, and most people can isolate their first audible overtone within a few practice sessions.
How Your Voice Produces Overtones
Every note you sing contains a series of higher frequencies called harmonics, stacked above the note you hear as the main pitch. Normally, your ear blends these into a single tone. Overtone singing works by turning your vocal tract into a precision filter: you hold a steady low note with your vocal folds while adjusting the shape of your mouth to boost one harmonic loud enough to ring out as its own distinct pitch.
The physics behind this involves two resonant frequencies in your throat and mouth (called formants) clustering together to amplify the same harmonic. Research using vocal tract imaging has shown that the second formant is controlled primarily by the back cavity of your mouth, while the third formant is controlled by the front cavity, which acts like a small tunable chamber. The tongue tip position and lip opening are what tune that front chamber. When you align both resonances on the same harmonic, that overtone jumps out of the mix and becomes clearly audible.
The Basic Technique
Start by singing a comfortable, steady, low-pitched note. A relaxed “ooo” or “ahhh” works well. Keep your volume moderate and your throat as relaxed as possible. This low note is your drone, and it needs to stay constant while you change everything above it.
Now, very slowly, transition the vowel shape inside your mouth from “oo” to “oh” to “ah” to “eh” to “ee.” Do this as one continuous, slow glide while holding the same pitch. Listen carefully as you move through these vowels. You should hear a faint whistling tone rise in pitch as you slide from “oo” toward “ee.” That rising whistle is the overtone you’re learning to control.
The key insight is that you’re not changing your sung pitch at all. Your vocal folds keep producing the same low drone. What changes is the shape of the resonating space above them, which selects different harmonics from the series.
Tongue Position and Mouth Shape
Your tongue is the primary tool for isolating overtones. It divides your mouth into two chambers: a back cavity between the tongue root and your throat, and a front cavity between the tongue tip and your lips. The size ratio of these two chambers determines which overtone rings out.
For lower overtones, your tongue pulls back and down. The front cavity is large, the tongue tip curls back (similar to the position for a strong “R” sound), the larynx drops low, and the throat narrows slightly. Vocal tract imaging of overtone singers confirms this: the lowest isolated overtones correspond to a retracted, curled-back tongue blade with a maximally lowered larynx and narrow pharynx.
For higher overtones, the tongue arches up and forward toward the hard palate, similar to saying “ee.” The front cavity shrinks, the larynx rises, and the throat opens wider. At the highest overtones, the tongue shape closely resembles a palatalized “ee” vowel with a raised larynx and enlarged pharyngeal space. Think of it as a smooth continuum: low overtones live in the “ah” and “R” territory, high overtones live in the “ee” territory, and everything in between is a gradual transition.
A useful reference point is the “L” position. Place the tip of your tongue gently on the bony ridge just behind your upper front teeth. This creates a clear division between the front and back chambers. From this anchor point, you can experiment with raising or lowering the body of your tongue to shift between overtones while keeping the tip in place.
Exercises for Your First Overtone
The single most effective beginner exercise is the slow vowel sweep. Sing a steady, low drone and glide from “oo” through “ee” over about 10 seconds. Do this repeatedly until you can reliably hear the faint whistling overtone rise in pitch. At first, just hearing it is the goal.
Once you can hear the overtone, try pausing at the vowel position where it sounds loudest. Hold that shape. Subtle adjustments to your tongue height, lip rounding, and jaw opening will either strengthen or weaken the overtone. Spend time exploring tiny movements. You’re looking for a “sweet spot” where the overtone suddenly pops out and becomes much louder than the surrounding harmonics.
Next, try narrowing your lip opening slightly while keeping the tongue position fixed. Smaller lip openings often sharpen the overtone by further tuning the front cavity. Imagine you’re shaping your lips as if sipping through a straw, but not quite that extreme.
Another helpful drill is to alternate between two vowel positions: pause on “oh” for a few seconds, then slide to “eh” and pause again. Each position should produce a different overtone. Once you can reliably land on two distinct overtones, you’ve begun to develop the muscle memory for overtone melodies.
Common Mistakes That Block Overtones
The most frequent problem is too much tension. If your throat tightens, the drone becomes strained and the harmonics get muddy. Overtone singing in the Western style (as opposed to some Tuvan styles) relies on a relaxed throat with precise tongue and lip control. If you feel strain, drop to a lower pitch and ease up on volume.
Another common issue is changing the fundamental pitch while moving through vowels. Your drone must stay locked on one note. If the pitch wobbles, the harmonics shift unpredictably and you can’t isolate any of them. Practice sustaining a single note for 15 to 20 seconds before adding any tongue movement.
Breathing is also critical. You need a steady, controlled airflow. If your air pressure fluctuates, the overtone fades in and out. Diaphragmatic breathing, where your belly expands on the inhale and contracts slowly on the exhale, gives you the stable support you need.
Three Styles of Tuvan Throat Singing
If you want to explore further, the Tuvan tradition offers three distinct approaches to working with overtones, each with a different sound and physical technique.
Khoomei is the gentlest style and the closest to Western overtone singing. The stomach stays fairly relaxed, throat tension is minimal, and the harmonics above the drone sound clear but somewhat diffused. The fundamental sits in the low-to-mid range of the singer’s voice. This is the most accessible starting point.
Sygyt produces a strong, piercing, flute-like harmonic that can carry complex melodies. It requires more tension at the throat than khoomei, and the tongue is raised higher to filter out more of the lower harmonics. Skilled sygyt singers can nearly eliminate the audible fundamental, making the overtone melody the dominant sound. Think of it as a more extreme, focused version of the basic technique described above.
Kargyraa is fundamentally different. It engages a second set of folds in the larynx, called the ventricular folds (or “false vocal folds”), which vibrate at half the speed of the true vocal folds. This produces an extra sound one octave lower than the normal voice, creating a deep, rumbling drone with a pulsating quality. The throat constricts slightly above the vocal folds to activate the ventricular folds. Within kargyraa, there are substyles: the “mountain” version emphasizes deep chest resonance with less throat tension, while the “steppe” version is sung at a higher pitch with more throat tension and a raspier character.
What to Expect as You Practice
Most beginners hear their first faint overtone within the first session, simply from the vowel sweep exercise. Making that overtone ring out clearly and loudly enough for someone else to hear typically takes a few weeks of daily practice, around 10 to 15 minutes per session. Controlling which overtone you produce, well enough to play a recognizable melody, can take several months.
Your ear develops alongside your technique. At first, you may not even recognize the overtone as a separate pitch. Recording yourself and listening back through headphones often reveals overtones you couldn’t hear in real time. Over time, your perception sharpens and you’ll begin to hear overtones in everyday sounds: bells, vowels in speech, even the hum of appliances. That growing awareness feeds directly back into your control over the technique.