Scat singing is the most joyful sound in jazz. When Ella Fitzgerald launched into a scat solo, she did not just sing — she played her voice like a horn, inventing melodies in real time with an agility and imagination that rivalled any instrumentalist on the bandstand. Scat turns the human voice into a jazz instrument, and it is one of the few techniques that is uniquely and entirely jazz.

The good news: you do not need a conservatory degree to start. If you can sing a melody in tune and feel a rhythm, you can learn to scat. Here is how.

What Is Scat Singing?

Scat singing replaces words with nonsense syllables — doo, ba, bee, bop, shoo-bee-doo, dwee-da-dee — using the voice as an improvising instrument. The syllables have no verbal meaning; they are chosen for their rhythmic and phonetic qualities. A hard 'b' or 'd' creates a percussive attack. A smooth 'doo' or 'shoo' creates a flowing, legato line. The choice of syllables affects the rhythmic feel and texture of the improvisation, just as a saxophonist's articulation (tonguing, slurring) affects their sound.

A Brief History

Vocal improvisation existed in African American musical traditions — field hollers, spirituals, gospel — long before the word 'scat' was coined. But the technique entered the jazz mainstream through Louis Armstrong. On his 1926 recording of 'Heebie Jeebies,' Armstrong — according to legend — dropped his lyric sheet mid-take and improvised a chorus of nonsense syllables rather than stop the recording. The result was electrifying, and scat singing became a permanent part of the jazz vocabulary.

The technique reached its pinnacle with three vocalists:

• Ella Fitzgerald: The greatest scat singer in history. Her 1960 Berlin concert version of 'How High the Moon' features over four minutes of scat improvisation so inventive, so rhythmically precise, and so joyful that it remains the benchmark for all vocal jazz improvisation.
• Sarah Vaughan: Vaughan's scat was darker and more harmonically adventurous than Ella's, with a contralto richness that gave her improvisations an orchestral quality.
• Bobby McFerrin: McFerrin extended scat into new territory, using his four-octave range, body percussion, and overtone singing to create one-man jazz performances of astonishing complexity.

Getting Started: The Imitation Method

The best way to learn scat singing is the same way jazz instrumentalists learn to improvise: by imitating the masters. Here is the process:

1. Choose a recording: Start with a trumpet or saxophone solo you love — Miles Davis and Chet Baker are ideal because their lines are melodic and not too fast.
2. Sing along: Play the recording and sing the solo using syllables. Do not worry about matching the exact pitches at first — focus on the rhythm and phrasing. Use whatever syllables feel natural: 'doo-da-dee,' 'ba-da-bop,' 'shoo-bee-doo.'
3. Memorise phrases: Once you can sing along with the solo, try singing parts of it from memory. These memorised phrases become your vocabulary — stock melodic ideas you can draw upon when you improvise.
4. Mix and match: Take phrases from different solos and combine them. Change the rhythm. Start a phrase from one solo and end it with a phrase from another. This is how your personal scat vocabulary develops.

Building Your Syllable Vocabulary

Different syllables serve different musical purposes:

• Percussive syllables (bop, dit, dat, dap): Create rhythmic emphasis and swing. Use them for bebop-style lines with clear articulation.
• Smooth syllables (doo, shoo, loo, mah): Create flowing, legato lines. Use them for ballads and lyrical passages.
• Growl syllables (grr, ruh, brrr): Add grit and intensity. Louis Armstrong and Clark Terry used growling effects extensively.
• Rhythmic syllables (ski-ba-bop-ba-dop-bop, doo-wop-a-doo): Create complex rhythmic patterns. Ella Fitzgerald was the master of these multi-syllable rhythmic figures.

Experiment with different syllable combinations over the same melody. Sing a phrase with 'doo-ba-dee' and then try it with 'shoo-bee-doo-wop' — the feel changes completely, even though the notes are the same.

Practising Over Chord Changes

Once you are comfortable imitating solos, start improvising your own melodies over chord changes. Use our Scale Finder to see which scales fit over each chord type, and our ii-V-I Generator for common progressions to practise over.

Start with a simple 12-bar blues. Set a slow tempo (use our BPM Tap Tool), play a backing track, and scat over the changes. Begin with simple, short phrases — two or three notes, then silence. Leave space. The silence between phrases is as important as the notes themselves.

As you gain confidence, try longer phrases, wider intervals, and more rhythmically complex figures. But never sacrifice musicality for complexity. The greatest scat singers — Ella, Sarah, Bobby — always prioritised melody and feeling over technical display.

Essential Listening

Study these recordings to hear scat singing at its finest:

• Ella Fitzgerald — 'How High the Moon' (Mack the Knife: Ella in Berlin, 1960)
• Louis Armstrong — 'Heebie Jeebies' (1926)
• Sarah Vaughan — 'Shulie a Bop' (1954)
• Bobby McFerrin — 'Round Midnight' (The Voice, 1984)
• Al Jarreau — 'Take Five' (Look to the Rainbow, 1977)
• Cécile McLorin Salvant — any live recording (contemporary)

Scat singing is ultimately about freedom — the freedom to use your voice as a pure musical instrument, unbounded by words. It is the most direct expression of the jazz spirit: spontaneous, creative, and joyful. Start with imitation, build your vocabulary, and then let go. The music is already inside you.