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Folk Arts

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Folk art organizations are prevalent all over Switzerland and help keep this culture alive. Swiss folk art mainly consists of music, dance, poetry, wood carving, and embroidery. While yodeling has been a Swiss stereotype for years, it is not highly popular, and neither is the accordion, which is really a German instrument often mistaken for a Swiss one.

If you’ve ever seen a Ricola throat lozenge commercial on television, you know what an alphorn is. It’s a long trumpet-like instrument that is made of wood and the bottom part of the horn rests on the ground while it is being played. In Switzerland, the alphorn is thought to have the perfect form for a wind instrument. This instrument is mainly found in mountainous areas.

Different regions in Switzerland have different-sounding folk tunes. For instance, in pastoral areas the songs are soft and flowing with a wide range (meaning from low to high). In the Alps, the songs are more melodious but have a smaller range. Most songs are about love or about Switzerland, but there are also lots of patriotic, hunting, and ambient songs.

The Schuplattler is one of many characteristic expressive dance of Alpine culture. It is made up of rapid movements, jumping, and hopping. Also part of Alpine culture are small music groups, usually found in the French-speaking mountainous area of Switzerland.

Chip carving is the most common type of wood carving. It is normally used to decorate everyday objects like milk stools, bells, wooden spoons, and walking sticks. Carving figures is also a common pastime, especially the carving of Nativity figures. In some areas, the houses are decorated with wood carving, especially in the Protestant-minded Bernese Oberland region. This is not common in Roman Catholic regions.

Embroidery was usually found on women’s clothing, most often on cuffs, hats, and scarves. In the northeast and east of Switzerland, embroidery was formerly a home industry. It was also used for decoration on fabrics. More recently, it is attractive mostly to tourists and is not worn by Swiss women.

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