Isn't this an interesting coincidence. I was just driving home last night thinking bad thoughts about the friend to whom I loaned my "Songs of the Hawaiian Cowboys" CD and then I finally have time to sit down and cruise the 'Cat and I see this thread. Very interesting stuff here. I don't know anything about the origins of yodeling, other than what's been mentioned before, but do know that there is a definite difference between the "Swiss" style and the "Hawaiian" style. It seems to me the cowboy songs involve a lot more of the slower style that is consistent with the Hawaiian singers, and that as you get up into the northeatern U.S., you get a lot more of that atheltic, rapid-fire Bavarian yodeling.

And besides, those cowboys were sitting around for hours and hours through the long nights all alone on the prairie, trying to keep themselves awake. What ELSE were they going to do besides experiment with funny voices? (Down, Catspaw, down ... )

And thanks WYSIWYG, I appreciate the compliment. Yep, I'm staying right busy with my day gig these days and haven't yodeled a lick in months. However, I'm heading to Lawrence, KS, tomorrow for a flat-picking contest and included in the festivities is a workshop for shape-note singing that I"m looking forward to a great deal.

Yodeling is a musical condiment -- nice to use sparingly, but a lot becomes too much very quickly. So if you're a yodeler, remember the advice Gypsy Rosalie's mom gave her nearly nekkid daughter -- Always leave them begging for more.

WW