Scat, or scat singing, is the act of "singing" nonsense syllables and sounds, as if they were an instrument. It is the maximum creative and spontaneous expression of a vocalist, allowing him to make unplanned melodies and solos, those that you cannot do with previously written lyrics. That said, it is much more difficult than it sounds.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Get used to scat singing
Step 1. Use improvised syllables and sounds to make instrumental tracks
Scat is the act of turning the voice into an improvisational instrument, removing real words, and only focusing on noise, melody, sound, and pitch. As such, everyone can scat immediately, even if it feels weird or uncomfortable. Just start making noises that sound good with the song you're listening to.
- Before, listen to some classic scat singers for inspiration. Sarah Vaughan's "Lost", Ella Fitzgerald's "Them There Eyes", and Louis Armstrong's "Heebie Jeebies" are all incredible examples.
- Scat is generally a jazz skill, but in modern times artists like Scatman and Bobby McFerrin have expanded it to other genres.
Step 2. Practice "calls and responses" with scat singers and instrumental lines
You must get used to using your voice not only as a means of speaking, but as an instrument. When starting out, just copy your favorite singers. Play a couple of bars of scat, then try repeating it verbatim to start learning the sounds, tricks, and melody construction.
- The blues, with simple chords, calls, and built-in responses, is a good style for beginners to practice. Try "Centerpiece" by Lambert, Hendricks and Ross.
- Try to imitate the sung lyrics, but don't use the words. Practice capturing the singer's melody with random syllables instead of words to get used to the scat.
- As you get better, begin to copy the guitar, horn, and other sounds with your mouth, using whatever syllables come to mind to reproduce the sound. When you do the scat you don't make noise, you don't limit yourself.
Step 3. Start with simple rhythmic syllables, focus on the melody rather than the new sounds
As you begin to improvise the sounds themselves, start with a couple of "accepted" scat words and syllables. Simple and percussive sounds are the easiest way to start, use sounds like "bob", "beep", "ski", "du", etc. Remember that you are not trying to say anything. You are playing with musical notes, not with words.
The musical scale do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si and do, made famous in "La novicia rebelde" (The Sound of Music), is a great way to start
Step 4. Accentuate, modulate and have fun with the syllables
Scat is about using the whole body to make noises and sounds, not just improvising using syllables. As you get better and more used to dispersion, start practicing with the following variables to expand your musical vocabulary as you sing.
- Volume- Engage the audience by going from the quietest and then re-generating a louder crescendo with bigger and louder syllables.
- Doorbell: How do you sound with your chin tucked in? Swollen chest? How does the shape of the mouth change with the sound of singing?
- Tone: perhaps the most important, the pitch consists of is how high or low the notes are. As you get used to inventing syllables, you begin to work on tones that vary with each word. Songs get boring when they stay in the same key for too long, give it a melodic variety.
Step 5. Practice with a metronome or instrument track to make sure you are on time
Scat is an intensely rhythmic art form, your voice is percussive (like a drum) and melodic (like a trumpet, piano, etc.). As such, you have to be able to stay in time while improvising, like any other instrument, you have to keep up with the beat. While good singers should be comfortable with this by now, newbies should practice with a metronome or a backing track to get used to keeping time at all times.
- Always start at a speed that you can comfortably maintain. While you can set whatever rhythm you want, scat has more than 3/4 of the "swing feel" of jazz.
- That said, practicing syllable improvisation without music or metronome is still a valuable skill. You only need to train your ear so that you can attach yourself to a reinforcement band when the opportunity arises.
Method 2 of 2: Improve Scat
Step 1. Introduce a little rhythmic variety with doubles and triples
Once you're comfortable with simple rhythms, it's time to start playing with shorter, but more complex phrases. Doubles are just two sounds made together quickly ("da-DA"), and triples are three sounds ("BIP-da-BOP"). Instead of using quarter notes, where you have a sound per beat (1, 2, 3, 4), start practicing with these other phrases, leaving spaces between them for a rocking and bouncing feel.
- Hold a few notes for three bars, enter 10 notes in two beats, and then leave a bit of silence before singing them again. Rhythmic variety is about playing to the beat to create tension and surprise.
- Alternating different types of rhythms is a great way to make a nice complex scat solo without crazy notes or vocal range. Just look at Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, for example, in "Stomping at the Savoy" for a masterclass in rhythmic variation.
Step 2. Give the scat a little twist
An extension of rhythmic variation, it is the act of transcending "written" rhythm and into the song with improvised fervor. Most of the dispersion is due to a swing feel, where the 2nd and 4th rhythms are emphasized. Think about counting the "1 and, 2 and, 3 and, 4 and"with a little extra emphasis on these two beats. If you're going to play a high note, or pause and re-enter, do so on the oscillating rhythms.
Step 3. Learn the chord progressions to improvise like a jazz singer
Great scat singers, like any great soloist or musician, lock themselves into the underlying chords and melody of the song they sing about. They know when the chord changes will occur, and they adjust to the melody just in time with the rest of the band. Listen to the song several times until the chords feel natural, and you will know exactly what the band is doing behind you. If you are hoping to sing professionally, there are a few progressions you should know:
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Play the 12-bar blues:
the most common progression in western music. No matter what the key is, the chords will always change in the same order, which means you can quickly expand any 12-bar blues once you know the shape.
- I got rhythm (I got rhythm)- Known as the most widely used chord progression in jazz, these changes are found in hundreds of songs, including popular music. Listen to the versions of Duke Ellington and Django Reinhardt
Step 4. Use the scat of the single vowels to join the classical chant and the dispersion
If you train in a traditional way, there is no reason to give up skills just to start dispersing. Perform the exercises, scales, and warm-ups with improvised syllables and sounds, and begin to put the vocal scales to music. As a warm-up, read the music but ignore the lyrics, try to sound only with the notes of the vocal scores, woodwinds and woodwinds.
Step 5. Play with tone, voice, and color
Listen to Ella Fitzgerald closing "Tenderly", an esteemed, calm and loving song, with a deep and almost monstrous scat sound. And yet it fits in complimenting her soft tone of voice and an unexpected burst of passion and power. Scat is not about sounding "human". So the more you can modulate and adjust your voice to sound more instrumental, the better scat singer you'll be.
Advice
- If you do a very intense scat (like at the beginning of "I'm a Scat Man"), try moving your tongue towards the back of your mouth and doing a kind of "halahlahlah".
- If you miss a sound or sing the wrong note, try to find a way to "correct" it with the next few notes. The best scat singers can make a "mistake" feel completely intentional.