scat singer
Bebop syllable vocalizer
A scat singer is a jazz vocalist who improvises wordless phrases using nonsense syllables—sounds like "doo-ba-dee-bop" or "shoo-be-doo-wah" rather than lyrics.
The technique treats the voice as an instrument, allowing singers to improvise melodic lines the way horn players do: Ella Fitzgerald was the greatest scat singer of all time.
- improvisationSpontaneous, unplanned creation
- bebopFast, complex jazz style
- EllaFemale given name
- vocaleseLyrics set to solos
- doo-wopFifties vocal harmony genre
riffing · nonsense · syllables · jazz · jazz standard · swing · swing era · big band · crooning · melody · Louis Armstrong · call and response · solo break · jive · hep · cat · microphone · nightclub
vocal technique
scat singerlyricist
Writer of song texts
opera singer · spoken word artist · torch singer · crooner · chanteuse
scat, singer, sing, sang, sung, singing, sings, singers, scatting