Yodeling: Natural and Synthesized

As already mentioned, country music has its origin in European folk music, particularly the British Isles. There is another feature often heard in the vocals of country music which is not rooted in the folk music of the British Isles, but rather Austria, Switzerland, and Italy – it is known as yodeling. Yodeling “involves the alternating between a natural tone (lower pitch) and a falsetto tone (higher) pitch). This folk technique was used by popular and folk musicians in other parts of the world and was adopted by the cowboy singers of the American West.”

Listen to Patsy Montana yodel in the song “I Want to be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart.”



What is the function of the yodeling in this song?

Listen to Hank Williams use the yodeling technique in the song “Lovesick Blues.” Note how his use of the yodeling technique is different from Patsy Montana’s.



Now listen to modern artists that replicate the yodel effect synthetically through controllers (for example by using Auto-Tuners or Vocoders).

Cher singing “Believe” (1998):



Kanye West performs “Heartless” (2008):



Former member of Korea’s hip-hop/pop band Big Bang, G-Dragon (Kwon Ji-Yong) performs “Heartbreaker” (2009).



The song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” by the Beatles, which we have listened to a number of times already, was one of the first songs that manipulated the voice electronically. Of course, in “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” the manipulation of the voice was not as clear and obvious as in Cher's "Believe," West’s “Heartless,” or G-Dragon’s “Heartbreaker.” These modern songs recreates the yodeling effect, using synthetic (electronic) manipulation.