Yodeling
Yodeling (or yodelling) is a form of singing that involves singing an extended note which rapidly and repeatedly changes in pitch from the vocal chest register (or "chest voice") to the head register (or "head voice"), making a high-low-high-low sound. This vocal technique is found in many cultures throughout the world.
In Swiss folk music, it was probably developed in the Swiss Alps as a method of communication between mountain peaks, and it later became a part of the traditional music of the region. In Persian and Azeri Classical musics, singers frequently use tahrir, a yodeling technique that oscillates on neighbor tones. In Georgian traditional music, yodelling takes the form of krimanchuli technique. In Central Africa, Pygmy singers use yodels within their elaborate polyphonic singing. Yodeling is often used in American bluegrass and country music.
Technique
All human voices are usually thought of as having at least two distinct vocal "registers", called the head and chest voices, which result from different ways that the tone is produced by the human body. Most people can sing tones within a certain range of relatively lower pitch well in their chest voices, and then a certain range of relatively higher pitch in their head voices. There is often a gap between these ranges, especially in inexperienced or untrained singers. Experienced singers, who often have control of their voices to the point where these ranges overlap, can switch between them easily to produce high-quality tones in either. Yodelling is one of the most developed uses of this technique, wherein a singer will switch between these registers several times within the same note, at a high volume. Going back and forth over this "voice break" repeatedly produces one of the most distinctive types of sounds in music.
For example, in the famous example syllable "Yodl - Ay - EEE - Ooooo", the "EEE" is sung in the head voice, while all other syllables are in the chest voice.
Miscellany
"Appenzeller" and "Bravourjodler" are yodeling standards which are performed by many different singers.
The best places for Alpine-style yodelling are those with an echo. They include lakes, rocky gorges, anywhere with a distant rock face, the outdoor areas between office buildings, in a canoe next to a rocky shoreline, or down a long hallway, and best of all, a mountain range.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary the word yodel is derived from a German word jodeln (originally Bavarian) meaning "to utter the syllable jo".
The most well-known child ever to yodel is the famous Taylor Ware, who has showcased her talent for yodeling in many TV shows, fairs, and talent shows.
See also
External links
- The Internet Yodeling Course (ten step course with audio samples)