Scat Singing and Nonsense Songs: Playing with Words

Folks have been doing the verbal two-step with scat singing for a hundred years. The creativity and virtuosity that scat allows a singer to display within the confines of any song make it a popular medium. And some of the most fun songs take scat to a new level, making an entire tune of nonsense sounds and creating a scaffold for vocal expression. Even slower, more bluesy songs are lifted out of the ordinary by the judicious application of a little (or a lot of) scat.

Along the way, vocal copies of instruments included percussion. While at first glance beatboxing may not have much in common with its jazzier cousin, scat singing, in reality they follow very similar paths. Both are difficult to do, both are impressive when done well, and both are a part of the musical history of people playing with song.

I'm a fan of scat singing. I also enjoy fun and frivolous nonsense songs. On this lens, I'm going to try to bring together examples of scat from across the decades, from such greats as Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald and from modern performers like Dianne Reeves and Dee Dee Bridgewater. I'll also include modern beatbox performances. Please let me know what you think of scat singing and beatbox, and share your favorites, as well. For a quick example of the fun that people can have without words, try Mumbles from Oscar Peterson, in which Clark Terry does just that.