Photo: AP Photo/Michael Probst.
Yodel teacher Nadja Räss yodels with students at the HSLU university music department in Lucerne, Switzerland, in October 2025.
When I was a child, we had a babysitter who was Swiss German. Her name was Frieda, and I remember her with fondness because she was kind in a funny, sharp way and had a different way of thinking about things than my parents did.
Frieda taught me a yodeling song. I got the yodeling down more or less, but I’m sure I make mincemeat of the German words, the only German I ever learned.
Here’s a story about how the art of yodeling is expanding to new enthusiasts.
Jamey Keaten wrote in November at the Associated Press, “Yodel-ay-hee … what?! Those famed yodeling calls that for centuries have echoed through the Alps, and more recently have morphed into popular song and folk music, could soon reap a response — from faraway Paris.
“Switzerland’s government is looking for a shout-out from U.N. cultural agency UNESCO, based in the French capital, to include the tradition of yodeling on its list of intangible cultural heritage. A decision is expected by year-end.
“Modern-day promoters emphasize that the yodel is far more than the mountain cries of yesteryear by falsetto-bellowing male herders in suspenders who intone alongside giant alphorn instruments atop verdant hillsides. It’s now a popular form of singing.
“Over the last century, yodeling clubs sprouted up in Switzerland, building upon the tradition and broadening its appeal — with its tones, techniques and tremolos finding their way deeper into the musical lexicon internationally in classical, jazz and folk. U.S. country crooners prominently blended yodels into their songs in the late 1920s and 30s.
“About seven years ago, the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts became the first Swiss university to teach yodeling.
“ ‘For me, actually, in Switzerland we have four languages but I think really we have five languages. We have a fifth: The yodel,’ said Nadja Räss, a professor at the university, alluding to the official German, French, Italian and Romansh languages in Switzerland. Yodeling exists in neighboring Austria, Germany and Italy, but Swiss yodeling is distinctive because of its vocal technique, she said.
“In its early days, yodeling involved chants of wordless vowel sounds, or ‘natural yodeling,’ with melodies but no lyrics. More recently, ‘yodeling song’ has included verses and a refrain.
“The Swiss government says at least 12,000 yodelers take part through about 780 groups of the Swiss Yodeling Association.
“In Switzerland, Räss said, yodeling is built on the ‘sound colors of the voice’ and features two types: one centering on the head — with a ‘u’ sound — and one emanating from deeper down in the chest — with an ‘o’ sound.
“And even within Switzerland, styles vary: Yodeling in the northern region near Appenzell is more ‘melancholic, slower,’ while in the country’s central regions, the sounds are ‘more intense and shorter,’ she said.
“What began as mostly a male activity is now drawing more women. …
“UNESCO’s government-level committee for Intangible Heritage will decide in mid-December in New Delhi. The classification aims to raise public awareness of arts, craftsmanship, rituals, knowledge and traditions that are passed down over generations. …
“The list is different from the UNESCO World Heritage List, which enshrines protections for physical sites that are considered important to humanity, like the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
“Last year, Japan’s famed sake — the smooth rice wine — was one of more than 60 honorees in the intangible heritage list, alongside things like the Nowruz spring festival in parts of central Asia, and the skills and knowledge of zinc roofers in Paris.
“Räss of the Lucerne university says that candidates for the intangible heritage list are asked to specify the future prospects of cultural traditions.
“ ‘We figured out some projects to bring it to the future. And one of those is that we bring the yodel to the primary school,’ said Räss, alluding to work along with the Swiss Yodeling Association and a folk music center known as the Roothus Gonten. She said 20 Swiss school teachers know how to yodel and are trying it with their classes.
“ ‘One of my life goals is that when I will die, in Switzerland every school child will be in contact with yodeling during their primary school time,’ she said.”
More at AP, here. The rest of the story: Yodeling did get UNESCO recognition!
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