Editing Scat singing (section)

== Characteristics ==
=== Structure and syllable choice ===
Though scat singing is improvised, the melodic lines are often variations on [[Musical scale|scale]] and [[arpeggio]] fragments, [[lick (music)|stock patterns]] and [[riff]]s, as is the case with instrumental improvisers. As well, scatting usually incorporates musical [[Musical form|structure]]. All of [[Ella Fitzgerald]]'s scat performances of "[[How High the Moon]]", for instance, use the same [[tempo]], begin with a chorus of a straight reading of the lyric, move to a "specialty chorus" introducing the scat chorus, and then the scat itself.<ref name=f145>{{Harvnb|Friedwald|1990|p=145}}</ref> [[Will Friedwald]] has compared Ella Fitzgerald to [[Chuck Jones]] directing his [[Roadrunner cartoon]]—each uses predetermined formulas in innovative ways.<ref name=f145/>

The deliberate choice of scat syllables is also a key element in vocal jazz improvisation. Syllable choice influences the pitch, [[articulation (music)|articulation]], coloration, and [[Sonorant|resonance]] of the performance.<ref>{{Harvnb|Berliner|1994|p=125}}</ref> Syllable choice also differentiated jazz singers' personal styles: [[Betty Carter]] was inclined to use sounds like "louie-ooie-la-la-la" (soft-tongued sounds or liquids) while [[Sarah Vaughan]] would prefer "shoo-doo-shoo-bee-ooo-bee" ([[fricatives]], [[plosives]], and [[open vowels]]).<ref>{{Harvnb|Berliner|1994|pp=125–126}}</ref> The choice of scat syllables can also be used to reflect the sounds of different instruments. The comparison of the scatting styles of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan reveals that Fitzgerald's improvisation mimics{{efn|name=Fitzgerald|In her 1949 performance of "Flyin' Home," Fitzgerald alternates the bilabial "b" and "p" plosives with the alveolar plosive "d".<ref name=s65>{{Harvnb|Stewart|1987|p=65}}</ref> The "b" and "p" sounds are formed similarly to the sounds of jazz wind instruments, which sound by the release of built-up mouth air pressure onto the reed, while the "d" sound is similar to the tonguing on jazz brass instruments.<ref name=s65/> William Stewart, a Seattle researcher, has proposed that this alternation simulates the exchange of riffs between the wind and brass sections that is common in big bands.<ref>{{Harvnb|Stewart|1987|p=66}}</ref>}} the sounds of [[swing-era]] [[big band]]s with which she performed, while Vaughan's mimics{{efn|name=Vaughan|Sarah Vaughan tends to use the fricative consonant "sh" along with the low, back of the mouth "ah" vowel. The "sh" closely resembles the sound of brushes, common in the bop era, on drum heads; the "ah" vowel resonates similarly to the bass drum.<ref>{{Harvnb|Stewart|1987|p=69}}</ref>}} that of her accompanying [[Bebop|bop]]-era small combos.<ref>{{Harvnb|Stewart|1987|p=74}}.</ref>

=== Humor and quotation ===
Humor is another important element of scat singing. Bandleader [[Cab Calloway]] exemplified the use of humorous scatting.<ref>{{harvnb|Crowther|Pinfold|1997|p=129}}</ref> Other examples of humorous scatting include [[Slim Gaillard]], [[Leo Watson]], and Bam Brown's 1945 song "Avocado Seed Soup Symphony," in which the singers scat variations on the word "avocado" for much of the recording.<ref>{{Harvnb|Edwards|2002|p=627}}</ref>

In addition to such nonsensical uses of language, humor is communicated in scat singing through the use of [[musical quotation]]. Leo Watson, who performed before the canon of American popular music, frequently drew on nursery rhymes in his scatting. This is called using a compression.<ref>{{Harvnb|Friedwald|1990|p=140}}</ref> Similarly, Ella Fitzgerald's scatting, for example, drew extensively on popular music. In her 1960 recording of "[[How High the Moon]]" live in Berlin, she quotes over a dozen songs, including "[[The Peanut Vendor]]," "[[Heat Wave (Irving Berlin song)|Heat Wave]]," "[[A-Tisket, A-Tasket]]," and "[[Smoke Gets in Your Eyes]]."<ref>{{Harvnb|Edwards|2002|p=623}}</ref>