yodel

/ˈjoʊdl/

/ˈjʌʊdəl/

Other forms: yodelling; yodels; yodeled; yodelled

To yodel is to sing with a rapid, dramatic change in pitch. When you yodel, your voice veers quickly between a low register and a very high falsetto.

When someone yodels, it can sound almost like a strange cry, and you can call this sound itself a yodel as well. The yodel is often connected with the Bavarian alps, where it has a long rural tradition, although people in parts of Central Africa have long used a yodel as a form of communication, and it's been part of US country music since the 1920s. The German root word is jodeln, "to utter the syllable jo."

Definitions of yodel

1. noun

   a songlike cry in which the voice fluctuates rapidly between the normal voice and falsetto
   type of:

   call, cry, outcry, shout, vociferation, yell

   a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition
2. verb

   sing by changing register; sing by yodeling
   “The Austrians were yodeling in the mountains”

   synonyms: descant, warble

   type of:

   sing

   produce tones with the voice