Yodel-ay-hee-hoo: Swiss university offers yodelling degree
Students can study for a three-year bachelor’s or two-year master’s
Warblers can now “get a degree-he-heeee” in yodelling, according to media reports.
Switzerland’s University of Lucerne of Applied Sciences and Arts is offering a three-year bachelor degree, and a two-year master’s, in the 500-year-old singing style, says the Daily Mail. The new course, named Jodel, will be taught by yodelling star Nadja Rass, a Swiss Music Prize nominee, and Sarah Buechi, a renowned jazz and folk musician.
“The whole yodelling scene will benefit from [the students’] new skills,” Rass told Swiss newspaper Tribune de Geneve.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The warbling singing style, traditionally used by herders in the Alps, was popularised back in the 1960s by the film The Sound of Music. It had another revival last year when Romania’s Eurovision contestants scored a top ten placing with their party song Yodel It! - a mix of rap, rock and yodelling.
The yodelling degree will be part of the folk music programme at Lucerne University. As well as learning how to yodel, students will also complete modules on the history and theory of the singing style, as well as business workshops.
Not everyone is singing the university’s praises, however.
The Daily Telegraph notes that Karin Niederberger, president of the Federal Yodelling Federation, warns that academic rigidity could undermine the regional variations and unique traditions of the art form.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Political cartoons for October 25Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include hospital bill trauma, Independence Day, and more
-
Roasted squash and apple soup recipeThe Week Recommends Autumnal soup is full of warming and hearty flavours
-
Ukraine: Donald Trump pivots againIn the Spotlight US president apparently warned Volodymyr Zelenskyy to accept Vladimir Putin’s terms or face destruction during fractious face-to-face
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designationThe Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago