Stackapella Open the app

Unit 2 · The vowel switch

Open below, narrow above

Switch vowel at the flip, an open "yo" on the low chest note and a narrow "hee" on the high head note, to help the voice tip over, then sing hooks in time.

Sing this lesson

Free in the app: sing one lesson of each course with no account; a free account opens the course unit by unit.

More in The vowel switch

What it teaches

Yodelers switch vowel at the flip: an open vowel on the low chest note, a narrow one on the high head note. It helps the voice tip over.

Warm up first. A lip trill or a quiet siren, up and down

"yo" low, "hee" high. Open, then narrow

High voices: "oo" first. "ee" up high can pinch

What you sing

  1. Trace the yodel: the ribbon jumps straight up and back. Jump with it, light at the top.
  2. Listen, then sing "yo-hee-o" back.
  3. And "lo-ee-o".
  4. The guide sings two hooks, then drops out: breathe, then sing two more, in time. Just listen to the guide's two.

Singing safely

Voices that are still breaking should wait before yodeling. Keep every flip light and at a medium volume, land gently, and stop if anything tightens, tickles or hurts.

Free tools by Stackapella

All of these are free, and so is every course.

Stackapella teaches you to sing harmony one part at a time, right in your browser.

Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up.
  • A guide sings your partHear your line over the others, slow it down, then take your turn.
  • Your notes light upEach note shows where you landed, and a hint when to go up or down.
  • Record every part yourselfStack your takes in time until you're the whole choir.
Start the beginner course Open the app How Stackapella works

More free tools

No account, no ads. Each one keeps working offline once you've opened it.

See all 17 tools