Learn to yodel from the Swiss!
"Yodelayheeho," sang a group of men in round black hats and bright red waistcoats in the high mountains of the Swiss Alps, and this marks the start of the Swiss Federal Yodelling Festival! This festival was first held in 1924 and since then, it has been taking place every three years. Participants share and celebrate mountain folk music and the region's centuries' old traditions. This year, the event took place at Davos and was broadcast live on Swiss television and radio, attracting 10,000 participants and 100,000 fans.
Swiss Yodelling Festival 2014 in Davos, Switzerland. Photo credits: www.jodlerfest-davos.ch
"It's all in the technique. You flip between singing from your head and your diaphragm (a thin sheet of muscle in our bodies that helps us to breathe)" said 35-year-old Roger Bider, one of an eight-man group who performed at the event.
Although there are judges in the festival, there are no prizes. Other than enjoying the music, the festival is a good time for people who share the same interest in yodelling to meet one another and make new friends.Most yodellers in the festival are from Switzerland's German-speaking regions and they speak in a special dialect that is common in traditional Swiss yodel songs. Similar to other folk music, yodel songs tell stories of love and hardship. "Culture and tradition are important," said Peter Sutter, a 59-year-old yodeller for 30 years.
Yodelling began hundreds of years ago in the Swiss Alps as a way for people to talk to one another as they spent a long time on the mountains and could not see one another. However, yodelling is not only found in Switzerland, but also in Austria and along Central Europe's mountain ranges, from Poland to Romania.Today, yodelling festivals and events bring people together to share and celebrate the music. Some musicians even add new sounds to traditional yodelling to create a modern style of the folk music. Excited to know how does yodelling sound? Here's a folk song with yodelling- enjoy. CLICK ON THE ORANGE PLAY BUTTON BELOW: https://soundcloud.com/yodelking59425/01-wylie-and-the-wild-west Can you yodel?
