# Yodeling-  from the Alps to the Rockies?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yodeling-from-the-alps-to-the-rockies/216382>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 2, 2003, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yodeling-from-the-alps-to-the-rockies/216382 "2003-12-02T01:08:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![toque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9e8a1a/32.png) [@toque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toque)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yodeling-from-the-alps-to-the-rockies/216382/1 "2003-12-02T01:08:45Z")

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How did yodeling come to be associated with western cowboy music, when its’ only other context, as far as I know, is among Alpine lederhosen types? What sort of cultural journey did it make, or did it develop independently and separately?

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**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yodeling-from-the-alps-to-the-rockies/216382/2 "2003-12-02T03:23:45Z")

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Legend has it that Jimmie Rodgers – who some consider to be the father of country music, though he’s really more of a blues singer – heard a troupe of Swiss yodelers and later incorporated some of that singing style into his own material. After that, people just copied him, so the real question is how Rodgers made that link. Some sources I dug up:

- [American Yodeling 1911-1946](http://www.trikont.com/catalogue/246_american_yodeling/246_american_yodeling.html)
- [Yodel Role Models](http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/03.28.96/yodel-9613.html)

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**Author:** ![toque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9e8a1a/32.png) [@toque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toque)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yodeling-from-the-alps-to-the-rockies/216382/3 "2003-12-02T12:51:03Z")

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Wow. Much appreciated, **Earthling**.

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**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yodeling-from-the-alps-to-the-rockies/216382/4 "2003-12-02T13:29:45Z")

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I asked this same question before the Winter of Our Lost Content, and while Jimmie Rodgers’ name came up, we also determined that there was a sizeable German and Swiss migration to the Western U.S. during the 1800s and they probably carried some of their musical traditions with them.