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YODELINGby
George Lester |  |
Not
many people can yodel. Even some of the best singers in the world can't yodel.
It is almost a lost art and the number of yodelers is dwindling each year. If
you have never tried it yourself stop for a second ands see if you can yodel.
O.K., now you see what I mean. That's the way I felt the first time I attempted
to yodel. I guess I was about nine. Back then the airwaves were filled with yodelers.
One of the greatest was Patsy Montana, especially when she sang "I Want To Be
a Cowboy's Sweetheart". There were many great male yodelers too and the one I
think about most was "The Singin' Brakeman" Jimmy Rogers. When he sang "Waitin'
For a Train" I could hardly wait until he got to the yodeling part. It sounded
easy so I figured I could do it. My folks had always told me I had a good singing
voice. As soon as Jimmy Rogers finished I turned off the radio, walked out into
the cotton field and started practicing. The whole idea is to jump from your natural
voice to an octave higher in falsetto. Well, the going up part wasn't too hard
but coming back down to a note an octave lower and staying on pitch was more than
I had bargained for. Even I knew I sounded horrible on my first attempt. I was
glad I was out there among the cotton stalks where nobody could hear me. It was
early summer to best of my recollection and I kept at it every day and always
away from critical ears. One day, after weeks of working at it I went up an octave
to the falsetto and came back down right on pitch. It startled me. It was a great
thrill but I knew I wasn't ready for prime time yet so I kept working at it. I
sang every cowboy yodeling song I knew over and over again.
I think it
was about September and when I came in the house after I returned from school
I found that some kin folks and dropped in for a visit. After we exchanged the
usual greetings my father asked me to sing for our company. This was my big chance
and I wasn't going to let it get away. I reared back and let go with one of my
favorite cowboy songs and showed my stuff when I got to the yodeling part. Our
guests and even my parents sat there with their mouths open when I finished. When
my dad finally gained his composure he asked me when I learned how to yodel like
that. I told him how I had been practicing all summer. Someone in the group said
that it was remarkable how I had taught myself how to yodel. What I said next
seemed perfectly logical and normal to me at the time. "You won't believe it,
but I couldn't yodel a lick last year". The laughter seemed to go on for ever
and I was totally mystified why. No amount of coaxing could get me to yodel for
anyone again. |
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