An Austrian Went Yodeling

Austrian Went Yodeling: Teacher Notes

My third graders learned this song over the course of the last few weeks in class.  We sang through the song, learned some body percussion actions, tackled critical thinking questions related to the featured vocabulary, and lots more.  If you want to see my lesson process for teaching this song you can watch a video about the process here.  What I'm including in my digital learning lesson below are the extension activities that I would have included in class if we had the time. 

What I share with kids:

Remember the song we learned called "An Austrian Went Yodeling," about the young man who walks out in the Alps and sings his song?  Here's a slightly different version of the song that we learned in class.  Can you spot all the ways that this video is similar and different from the version we learned?

What is Yodeling?
Most experts agree that yodeling was used in the Central Alps by herders calling their flocks of cows or sheep or to communicate between Alpine villages (villages in the Alps). The multi-pitched "yelling" later became part of the region's traditions and musical expression.
​
Here's a video of a famous yodeler Franz "Franzl" Lang  known as the Yodel King.  Franz was an alpine yodeler from Bavaria, Germany. 

Walmart Yodeling Kid
Yodeling has changed and evolved over the years.  Often you'll find country singers "yodeling" in their songs.  This little boy, Mason Ramsey, was video taped in a Walmart doing his version of a famous song by the famous singer Patsy Cline.

Yodeling boy performs on Ellen
Ellen saw Mason's performance in Walmart and decided to bring him to her show.  Here's a video of him singing and talking with Ellen about how he got into yodeling.  Would you be nervous performing for an audience like that?

After appearing on the Ellen show Mason Ramsey was asked to perform at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN.  Wow!  What an honor!  

I don't think that Mason ever guessed that Ellen would see his video or that he'd get so famous so fast.  It took a lot of courage for Mason to go out and sing in Walmart in front of all those people and EVEN MORE to perform for Ellen or at the Grand Ole Opry.  But what he did wasn't anything crazy.  He just sang the songs that he loved.  

Can you think of a song or two that you know that you could sing for your family?  As practice, trying singing in a mirror, singing for your stuffed animals or toys, singing outside, or singing for your dog.  Then when your'e ready, share a song with your family!  Are there any songs from our music class that you could sing for your family?  Leave a sentence or two below with a song you could sing.