In vocal jazz, scat singing is a kind of vocal improvisation characterized by the use of rhythmic rhythms and melodies as well as vocal harmonies. Singing involves improvising rhythms and melodies by using sounds to imitate melody lines. The singer sings the lyrics of a song with melody improvisations, just like an instrumental artist does in an improvisation performance.
In scat singing, the improvised sounds and syllables can be used to “scat” an instrumental track. Scat songs allow a jazz singer to reproduce improvised rhythms and melodies by creating the equivalent of soloistic instrumental music with just the voice.
The conscious choice of scat syllables is also a key element of vocal jazz improvisation. This type of jazz singing is called vocalese, and this kind of singing may have been around for a long time in the past. Scat singing has its own identity, which is very different from earlier melodies.
The choice of scat syllables can also be used to reflect the sound of different instruments, and humor can be conveyed by the use of a variety of sounds such as horns, drums, trumpets, saxophones, basses, trombones, etc.
Scat singing is a great way to find a melody without getting burdened by lyrics, and rappers and hip-hop artists have used scat in their upcoming songs. Leo Watson, who appeared in the canon of American pop music, used nursery rhymes for his “Scatting.” The idea of scat – sing also fits perfectly with the music of hip hop and rap.
It may seem very free – fluent and improvisational, but often it follows a given formula or pattern, and often it does not.
Ella Fitzgerald is considered one of the most famous scat singers of all time and the first female singer-songwriter. The most famous “scat musicians” who have learned, practiced and perfected the art of scat are Ella Fitzgerald, Eliza Doolittle, Ethel Mertz, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, the Dixie Chicks, George Benson, Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello and many others.
By using the voice as an instrument and not as a speaking medium, a singer can improvise melodies and rhythms. There is no melodic line in improvised scat singing, as is the case with instrumental improvisers. Instead, the singer improvises the melody and rhythm with the help of a guitar, piano or other instrument such as drums, bass, guitar strings and / or a piano keyboard. There is also no melodic line, because it is improvised in the same way as instrumental improvisation, which in this case is played by an instrumental improviser.
The deliberate choice of scat syllables is also a key element of vocal jazz improvisation, and the choice of these syllables may also be suitable to reflect the sound of different instruments.
Humour communicated through the use of scat syllables as a means of communication in a variety of ways, such as humor, sarcasm and humor – communication.
This article is intended to give those who may not know him a little knowledge about scat singing in jazz. This way of singing is actually a combination of two different musical styles, jazz and classical. Jazz scats vocals sing nonsense words that have no meaning, while jazz singers use syllables to form the equivalent of solo instrumental music, in which only the voice is used.
This rhythmic variation can undoubtedly produce complex and more pleasant scat solos without necessarily producing crazy vocal registers and notes.
If you want to become a versatile jazz singer who can improvise and scat, you should learn the basics of chord sequences. Knowing the next chord change in the song allows you to adjust the melody accordingly and become a master of chord sequence, and that is the first step to becoming a great scat singer / soloist. The melody and chords that great scats singers and soloists sing are usually included.
Louis Armstrong took scat singing to new heights in the 1920s, but it is more likely that it was the sound of jazz instruments that the jazz singers of the United States imitated. The drum pattern can change the vocal line by assigning a standard rhythm to each syllable. There are many different types of drum patterns in jazz music and there is a wide variety of drum patterns for different instruments.
In the 1930s, Cab Calloway’s “bop” idioms transformed the art form into a more complex bop idiom, and it was Ella Fitzgerald who was known for imitating jazz instruments in the 1940s and 50s. With the increasing popularity of Armstrong and later Cab Calloway’s recordings, Scat became one of the defining features of jazz modernity, making him decidedly hip with his syncopation, improvisation and unusual playing.
Instead of a vocal form, it represented an important ideology of freedom of expression that underpinned the whole enterprise of jazz music – making music in its early days.
My passion for singing sparked when I played a small part in my high school play. Although I was terrible at it, there was a sense of liberation that washed over me.
Ever since that moment I have been practicing on perfecting my skill and I’m lucky enough to build a career out of it! I have sung on several movie sound tracks, contracted choirs for films, and has been teaching voice and piano in the Atlanta area for over 10 years.
I want to help people understand the fundamentals of singing, how to prepare the voice and keep it strong for performances, how to juggle singing with a jam-packed schedule, and the need to operate on a budget.