 rival minstrels (minstrel) compete in wit and virtuosity. Such trials of skill are most notable among the Kyrgyz, Kazaks, and Mongols (Mongol). The contests follow strict rules of versification, musicality, and procedure. Often the loser must pay a forfeit to the victor, who receives acclaim from the audience and gifts from wealthy patrons; a singer's reputation may be made or broken in a single afternoon. Frequently a contestant will vilify the clan championed by the opposing singer and laud his own faction. In Siberia another type of entertainment is the widespread practice of bear festivals at specific times of the year, during which a bear is killed and its head displayed, to the accompaniment of music, dance, and games.Instrumental and vocal stylesAcross the region the principal instrument types are lutes, with two or three strings, the necks either fretted or fretless; fiddles, largely horsehair fiddles; flutes, mostly open at both ends and either end-blown or side-blown; and jews' harps, either metal or, often in Siberia, wooden. Few percussion instruments are found, except for the shaman's magic drum. Considerable instrumental polyphony is played on lutes and fiddles, particularly among the Turkic peoples. Vocal polyphony may occur in special ways: singers among the Mongols and Tuvins (Tuvan) (a Siberian people northwest of Mongolia) can produce two parts while singing solo, as in the example below, by strongly reinforcing upper partials (overtones) while singing a very deep fundamental pitch. West of the Urals, Bashkirs may hum a basic pitch while playing solo flute pieces, and certain Siberian peoples may sing choral overlapping responsorial songs (in which group and soloist alternate, one beginning slightly before the other finishes).The vast geographic stretch of the region produces musical links to neighbouring areas as well as highly distinctive local styles. The Turkmen live in Afghanistan and Iran as well as Turkistan and manifest some Persian influencein musical terms and instruments, yet they possess unique vocal and instrumental styles. Particularly striking is their series of guttural sounds serving as vocal ornaments. The Kyrgyz and Kazaks, closely related musically, maintain ties to Mongol and northern styles (e.g., of the Bashkir and Tatar peoples, west of the Urals) as well as to Turkistan. Nevertheless, their relaxed voice quality, musical scales, and distinctive instrumental polyphony set them off. Noteworthy here is the versatile polyphonic style of the three-stringed Kyrgyz komuz lute, based on extensive development of short melodies called kernel tunes. In the komuz piece shown below, the kernel tune is stated in the first two measures and is varied and developed elaborately as the piece progresses. Another Kyrgyz-Kazak specialty is programmatic music (program music), in which instrumentalists suggest situations or tell specific stories without words, through musical images alone.The Mongols display links to both Chinese and Tibetan music. Chinese influence is apparent in the use of certain instruments (e.g., some flutes and fiddles) and perhaps in the structure of melodies; Tibetan impact appears in the religious music and musical instruments of Tibetan Buddhism, introduced in the 16th century. Mongolian music also has its own distinctive profile, sporadically documented since the 13th-century Secret History of the Mongols, the first written Mongolian chronicle. Of interest is the fact that Arghūn Khān, Mongol ruler of Persia, sent a musician as emissary to Philip IV the Fair of France in 1289. Because of the focal position of Mongolia at the heart of Central Asia, some Mongol epic melodies have spread westward as far as the Kalmyks (Kalmyk) on the Volga River and eastward to the Ainu of Sakhalin Island, north of Japan. Mongol songs may be either quick and marked rhythmically or drawn-out in free rhythm, with extensive melodic ornamentation. The Mongol horsehair fiddle accompanies a singer with simultaneous variations on the melody, a technique called heterophony.Siberian music includes a b