The Yodel’s Cultural Bridge

Swiss emigrants brought the vocal technique to America’s founding colonies.

"Driving Down the Cattle From the Alps," 19th century, by Josef Thoma. Dairy farmers in the country’s Alpine region yodeled to communicate with fellow herders across the vast, mountainous area, and to herd their cattle and cows. Public Domain

When Europeans sailed to North America in the 1700s, they brought a variety of instruments with them, including flutes, violins, and harpsichords. But one instrument making the journey required no extra packing—the human voice. Many of America’s early settlers brought with them the tradition of the yodel. Used as a form of communication in Switzerland, the yodel would transform into an art form as the New World transformed into a country.

America now has a vibrant yodeling tradition of its own. But it wouldn’t have been possible without a place that music writer Bart Plantenga called “a spiritual center for yodeling.”