[Dixielandjazz] Re: Yodeling in Ascona

[Bill Gunter]

Hi Bill Haesler,

You wrote:

>Dear Bill,
>I was told years ago how easy it was to yodel.
>All you do is sing, in English, "A little old lady too".
>I wonder what the Italians say?

I'll let you all know as soon as I find out. I'll wager it's pretty much 
what you might hear anywhere in Switzerland.  Yodelling is basically the art 
of singing random syllables while rapidly alternating between normal and 
falsetto voicings. It's like "scat" singing. You don't actually use real 
words, you simply sing random syllables in a rhythmic and syncopated way.

Such vocalizations are valid in any language.  It's like that banjo solo . . 
. was it in Polish or Italian? Such distinctions are meaningless. "oodle ee 
op a bob a deedle ee boppa doo bay!" Now was that English of Swedish?  Har!

However, I'll launch into a scholarly study of the matter as soon as I set 
foot in Switzerland. That country is a great source of art . . . yodeling, 
cuckoo clocks, chocolate, mountain climbing, and now -jazz!!

Best,

Bill
jazzboard at hotmail.com

I really plan to throw myself into the study of chocolate!

-bg