Yodelling tradition finds new home in Graz's underground car park
In the Austrian city of Graz, a yodelling teacher is holding lessons inside an underground car park, where the acoustics echo the mountains. The unusual setting is being used to bring the tradition to new audiences.
In Graz, Austria, around 30 singers spent more than an hour following teacher Anna Maria Gutschi through the Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Kai underground car park, gradually moving toward its deepest section in search of the richest sound. There, the acoustics proved especially strong, with broad corridors and reflective walls producing echoes similar to those found high in the mountains.
The underground venue offers an unusual response to Graz's geography. Rather than sitting high in the Alps, the city lies in a broad, relatively flat basin, surrounded by hills and low mountain ranges along its eastern edge.
Open to all skill levels
No prior musical training was required for the course, which brought together both beginners and experienced singers. The Styrian Folk Song Association has also organised yodelling sessions in canals and at petrol stations, using the distinctive acoustics of unexpected locations to introduce the tradition to new audiences.
Yodelling originated in Alpine communities, where herders and farmers used it to communicate across valleys and between mountain pastures. Over time it evolved into folk music and spread to choirs, festivals and music schools, while also finding a place in unconventional urban settings such as underground car parks.
