Ella Fitzgerald: Scat Singing

Considering our recent discussion about jazz syllables and vocalization, I thought it would be appropriate to post an example of scat singing. I posted this particular clip because it is an impressive demonstration of Ella Fitzgerald’s ability to convey a distinct musical idea with her choice of syllables.

One example of this is at 3:02 where Fitzgerald starts her “drum solo”. She uses sounds like “shah, pah, diggidy-diggidy-boom, and rrrrrrrrrha-huh” that to me sound like plausible sounds for a drum kit. A second example is around 5:03 where she throws in (what I am interpreting as) a “trombone solo” that has a very brassy sounding “bwwwweeeeee-bop-biiii-bweeeeee-bop”.

Along with being an entertaining performance, I am impressed by Fitzgerald’s ability to sing in a way that reminds the listener of other instruments. She obviously has a thorough understanding of (or at least exposure to the music of) a variety of jazz instruments from which to draw inspiration. Having this understanding of other instruments can help us to really internalize the melodies, rhythms, and styles of the music we play.

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