The first written sources describing the art of throat singing date back to the mid-19th century. Naturally, such a unique art form caused at least surprise among Europeans, who were accustomed to completely different musical traditions. For example, the ethnographer E.K. Yakovlev described the throat singing he heard in Tuva. "The unique impression created by 'singing without words' cannot be conveyed in words. This singing is called "kumailer" (i.e., "hoomeyleer") and consists of "a whole range of wheezing sounds." The singer inhales as much air as their lungs can hold, and then begins to "extract strange, rumbling sounds from the depths of their insides," the continuity and duration of which depend entirely on their ability to control their diaphragm.

This is followed by a new deep breath and the continuation of the "mysterious sounds, accompanied by an accompaniment on the two-stringed topsulurm," an instrument consisting of a long neck and a body with a hollow, bladder-covered shell, which is far away, until the singer abruptly stops, completely unexpectedly for the listener, without any tonal or rhythmic end, so that the entire sequence of "mysterious sounds" cannot be described as a melody.

According to most experts, Tuvan throat singing, or khoomei, is significantly different from the similar art of the Altai, Buryat, and Mongolian peoples, primarily due to its wide variety of styles. The main styles include kargyraa, khoomei, sygyt, ezengileer, and borbannadyr, and there are also several variations such as dumchuktar (novelization), khorokteer (breast singing), and khovu kargyraazy (steppe kargyraa).

Legends and stories have been preserved about the origin of different types of Tuvan throat singing. For example, one legend says that in ancient times, the kargyraa style was popular among camel herders. Kargyraa originated as an imitation of the voice of a camel mother: when a camel baby dies, the mother camel jumps around, making sounds similar to kargyraa. The term kargyraa itself has a sound-like basis, referring to wheezing or sounds similar to wheezing. For example, in the modern Tuvan language, there is an onomatopoeic verb kargyraar (kargyra), which means:

1) to wheeze, to make wheezing sounds;

2) to boil (when boiling, for example, porridge).

Let's also compare "kark" - imitation of the sound made by a crow. The origin of the term "hoomei" is interpreted in different ways. Some associate it with the name of the art of sound imitation, a special manner of sound extraction "hooleer", which means to hum or produce a sound similar to a hum, others - with the Tuvan name of the throat, larynx ho, hoozu.

In the Mongolian language, there is also a word "hoomiy", which means throat, nasopharynx, throat singing. It is quite possible that the term was borrowed by the Mongols from the Tuvans.

The hoomei style is acoustically associated with a heavy, low, buzzing sound of extremely low frequencies. Usually, the sound itself in the hoomei style is considered more important than the poetic text. Unlike the Mongolian singing, the Tuvinian hoomei can be performed without text, or with the text of a lullaby genre. This is a significant aspect of ancient Tuvinian music.

According to a Tuvan legend, an orphaned young man lived alone for three years at the foot of a cliff that echoed in the surrounding valley. The movement of air currents under high pressure created a resonant effect between the rocks. Nature itself seemed to encourage people's creativity in their search for self-expression when they were left alone with the turbulent elements. One day, the young man sat and made sounds that mimicked the buzzing sounds coming from the cliff. The wind carried the sound to the people, and they called it "hoomei."

Tuvans, who live in isolated compact groups in northwestern Mongolia, also sing in the Khoomei style.

The Tuvan style of sygyt most likely originated from the verb sygyr — to whistle. There is a noun sygyt (whistle).

The term sygyt means lamentation, crying as a derivative of this word sygytchy — wailing or moaning. This suggests a direct connection between the Tuvan sygyt style and the funeral rite, but this idea needs scientific evidence.

The name of the Ezenghileer style comes from the word "ezengi," which means "stirrup," and it is perhaps the most accurate way to describe the main meaning and character of its music. When riding a horse, the silver bridle and saddle blanket, which were attached to the saddle, would make a specific rhythmic sound when they came into contact with the stirrups. To produce these sounds, the rider had to take a specific position in the saddle and ride at a canter. The Ezenghileer style emerged as an imitation of these sounds.

The name of the borbannadyr style comes from the Tuvan verb "borbannat" - to roll something round. This style has rhythmic forms.

There are several theories about the origin of throat singing as an art form. One of the most widely accepted theories is that the origin of solo two-voice singing can be traced back to its connection with the Lamaist religion. According to this theory, the people initially developed this form of singing in Lamaist monasteries, but over time, it evolved into a distinct form of vocal art. This opinion cannot be accepted, as Lamaism entered Tuva in the 17th century and was established as the official religion of the Tuvans in the second half of the 18th century, that is, much later than the emergence of throat singing. With this approach, this art is simplified. This phenomenon is not the remnants of the former religious songs, which allegedly turned into a ritual genre. A much more reasonable approach to this genre is to view it as a vocal art that originated in the form of lyrical, love-themed songs that were not originally associated with shamanic incantations or funeral rituals.

Unlike the melodic solo duet of the Tuvans, the singing of the Tuvans, Mongolians, or Tibetans can be described as a collective harmonious polyphony performed with a guttural sound.

Guttural singing is the result of a specific guttural singing style and the musical-poetic thinking of the people. For the Tuvans, for example, it is driven by their boundless love for nature. Therefore, nature was the measure of all things and the source of inspiration for the ancient master singers. The value and beauty of sound were measured by the ability to convey "living life" not only through imitation, but also by penetrating its essence.

The aesthetic perception of traditional onomatopoeia by the Tuvans, such as hunting and shamanic onomatopoeia, is evident in the special, entertaining nature of everyday, vocal, and instrumental imitations of domestic animals, forest animals, and the surrounding nature, which have neither a productive nor a magical function.

Based on traditional sound imitations of an entertaining nature, in which the Tuvans' heightened sensitivity to the sounds of animals and birds, the calls of cranes, orphan geese, the roar of bulls, and the imitation of the singing of yellow-breasted titmice, the two-voice throat singing that is common in Tuva has developed, where two distinct musical voices can be heard in the same performance.

Since ancient times, throat singing has been one of the traditional forms of Tuvan musical art and has been an integral part of festivals, rituals of everyday life, and has been vividly reflected in the heroic tales and fairy tales of the Tuvan people, carefully preserved and passed down from generation to generation over the centuries. So, in the legend "Old Man Boraldai, who has a horse named Boka Shokar" is mentioned: "When Boraldai looked inside the yurt, he saw a golden princess... Six girls were weaving silver and gold threads into their braids, three girls were tying on beads and jewelry, and six boys were performing kargyraa, khoomei, and sygyt."

While some researchers attribute the origins of the Tuvan heroic epic to the early stages of feudal relations in Tuva, which occurred in the 6th to 8th centuries, the exact time of the emergence and development of throat singing is uncertain. Undoubtedly, the traditions of this genre were established much earlier.