![]() When used tastefully and with well-placed accents, triplets will enhance phrases significantly, which is shown in example 3. It's safer, but unfortunately there's a significant damper on solos that use mostly quarter and duple rhythms. Novice scat solos often reveal a weakness in rhythmic vocabulary. Additionally, as a general rule, the first note of any tied notes should be accented because it often indicates upbeat anticipation. When notating scat, these rest configurations don't necessarily have to be written the note can be "naturally" accented by simply changing the vowel. Example 2 employs accented notes both preceding and following rests. Since spoken scat is indefinitely pitched, it's important to use vocal inflection to suggest melodic contour, punctuate rhythms with indicated markings, and, most important, to articulate accents. Because most folks associate scat singing with a swing eighth-note feel, I have chosen to use a jazz swing feel for the purpose of exemplification. When calling out these rhythmic phrases, teachers should also consider employing some vocal nuance to avoid sounding mechanical. The consonants B and D are standard articulations for attacking a note. But I highly recommend using three or more in longer phrases for additional color and symmetry. ![]() Note that in one-bar phrases, there is no need for more than two vowel sounds. Example 1 introduces vowel sounds ah and oo and the short quarter note and syllable dn that is never accented and functions as a rhythmic ghost note. In the first meeting of most language classes, basic vocabulary is taught by ear. The first music example is in a casual call-and-response style that uses spoken, nonpitched rhythmic figures (see page 29). After listening to Jon Hendricks, Louis Armstrong, and Ella Fitzgerald for many years and drawing on my experience as a trumpet player, it was easy to come up with a "Scat As a Third Language" syllable primer. The best part of using your voice as a musical instrument is that you don't need to practice everything in 12 keys! Vocal articulation is the foundation of good scat singing, so let's begin with a simple and non-intimidating rhythmic approach.Īlthough I encourage students ultimately to make up their own syllables, I work with many students for whom English is a second language who have urged me to offer a basic vocabulary of clinically tested and officially approved scat syllables. What scares some folks is that the whole body is your instrument - very exposed sans convenient brass or wooden camouflage for cover. The mouth is an embouchure that can shape, color, and affect the sound in a variety of ways. Learning how to use different body resonance chambers (the head, nose, throat, and chest) can change tone quality and timbre. With no keys, valves, or strings to press, the larynx has to be trained to change pitch accurately on command. Having no mouthpiece, reed, bow, or mallets, vocalists need to rely on the lips and tongue to articulate sound. I encourage students to "play" their voices by simulating the motions used to navigate a brass, woodwind, string, or percussion instrument. One of the best ways to learn how to sing scat is to think of the voice as a musical instrument after all, it was indeed the first instrument. With that in mind, here are some simple, non-intimidating vocal exercises that I use to teach novice improvisers. ![]() Overcoming this psychological barrier adds another dimension of challenge to teaching improvisation. When faced with the prospect of using their voice to improvise, many students express unfounded feelings of fear and intimidation. In my 35 years of teaching vocal improvisation, I've never encountered a student who, with some basic training, was truly incapable of scat singing. He is completing a new book, Vocal Improvisation: The Berklee Method. He penned the books Scat!, Vocal Improvisation Techniques, and Blues Scatitudes and Body Beats. ![]() Bob Stoloff is the assistant chair of Berklee's Voice Department and an in-demand clinician and adjudicator.
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