HOW TO YODEL

There are two basic kinds of yodeling that are popular. The first is Alpine yodeling (jodeln, jodler, jodel, if you're searching for Swiss and German yodeling). Alpine yodeling originated in Switzerland and the countries surrounding the Alps. It's thought that it started as a way to communicate across the high mountains and slowly developed into a musical form. Popular musical alpine yodeling started to be really developed in the 1800's. It had swings in populararity through the following years. Alpine yodeling can be quite varied and complex.

Cowyboy yodeling started in the USA after we began developing the western part of our country. Cowboy/country singers became popular in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Jimmy Rogers, often called The Father of Country Music, is also credited with establishing the popularity of yodeling. Cowboy yodeling is often more simple than Alpine yodeling, but a talented cowboy yodeler can come up with a yodel to compete with the best alpine versions. Each style has it's simple yodel and those yodels that leave you breathless at the range and dexterity of the yodel.

Once you learn how to achieve the "break" from your chest voice to your head voice you will most likely be able to yodel in either style. Try a lot of different yodeling, you'll find the style that's right for you. Then you're on the road to yodeling fun!

The first thing you have to learn, is how to "break" your voice. Don't worry, it's not painful at all. In fact it a very pleasant sensation. Everybody has a natural break in his or her voice as it moves from low register sounds (these sounds come from your chest) to higher sounds (sounds made in your head). If you don't have a "break", it's not a yodel. Professional singers work hard to eliminate this break in order to transition smoothly from lo to high registers and back again. Guys have an advantage in that we all experienced this break around the age of 12 or 13 (yyou remember..."Oh Mo-O-om").

You can find your break by singing a high note from the head voice (falsetto) and sustain that note as you move down to a lower note in the chest . ( LISTEN ) At some point midway you'll feel a "catch" or "break". If that doesn't work, try starting in the low voice and move up to a falsetto. You might not experience a strong break, but take notice of that little jump from high to low (or vice versa). This is the feeling you'll want to develop as you start practicing and singing along with yodeling songs.

Kerry Christensen, In his U 2 Can Yodel CD recommends practising a "wolf cry" in order to develop your break. Wylie Gustafson has one of the best methods I've heard that helps you develop that break. Check out his Learn to Yodel CD below.

(For those of you who MUST KNOW...the "break" is created by the epiglottis, a flap at the back of your tongue that prevents you from inhaling food when you eat. For more details and pictures...do you really want to see an epiglottis?...go here ( EPIGLOTTIS )

Now it's time to YODEL! Start with any mid range note in your chest using the sound "oh". Now jump up to a high note in your head using the sound "ou" (that's "you" without the "y"). ( LISTEN ) Once you have this down pat, all you have to do is practice, practice, practice. I recommend you get some yodeling recordings and practice by singing along. Check out my links in this lens or start searching on our own. That's how I learned!

(For those of you who are musically inclined, the range from one yodel note to another is usually decribed as a 5th. That is often the case, but really anything goes. I've seen and heard 3rds, 6ths, up to octaves and higher. In fact there's also the "sideways yodel" in which you create the break between two sounds of the same note. It's tough to do but sounds very cool.)

Here are links to my practice yodels. If you're looking for more, visit my website:
SOWNSEW.COM

EASY ALPINE YODEL

EASY COWBOY YODEL

ALPINE YODEL CHALLENGE

COWBOY YODEL CHALLENGE

There are several other yodel lessons I can recommend. They each have their merits and you may find one of those listed below more to your liking. Take a look and see if they're right for you.

This course has been around for a while and I suspect it's the one that Taylor Ware used when she learned how to yodel. Apparently Bette Midler used it many years ago to learn how to yodel for her ill-fated movie JINXED. That yodel at the opening of the movie was the only good thing about it. It's my number three choice ( after U 2 CAN YODEL and HOW TO YODEL) because, while you certainly can learn how to yodel using it, I didn't find the instructions fun and they were too formal for my taste. But then, I'm just doing this for the fun or it and I'm pretty sure that America's Got Talent is not going to come knocking on my door looking for a yodeler. For those of you who are muscians, the book includes tabs and musical notation so that might be a plus for you. The "book" that I got is a spiral bound photocopy. Still, you can learn how to yodel from this course. (No tricks on how to find your "break.)

How To Yodel The Cowboy Way by Rudy Robbins and Shirley Fields. This is my #4 recommended Yodel course. A bit rough around the edges but here are a couple of old-timers who know what they're doing and they can teach you to yodel. I was thrown off occasionally but some off-key notes, but still it's interesting listening to these long-time veterans. The book is soft bound and done in a professional manner with musical notation and lyrics (it's verbatim of the CD). The best part is Shirley's closing song (one she wrote), obviously recorded a while back, "The Man In the Moon Is A Yodeler". (No tricks on how to find your "break".)

How to Yodel by Rusty Hudelson and Tania Moody. This is an older video and usually shows up on eBay as a VHS cassette. They seem to have disappeared from the net - their site doesn't work well. I really enjoyed this course and they include the "trick" to find your break...so important! It's a pleasure to listen to this Father-Daughter duet perform together and it's worth searching out just for that. Oh, and you can learn how to yodel from this video. (Tania is very cute in her black and white cow patterned outfit!)