How to Scat

The first thing I learned about scatting is that no one can actually teach you how to do it. This is a problem for college-aged girls in a Jazz Vocal Ensemble at an institution of higher education. At the beginning of class last year, those who had never attempted to scat before asked the “how” question, and instead of receiving a set of rules, our teacher at the time, Miles, cackled, and screamed, and wailed, and told us that he was going to “shoot us” and make us “get crazy” in a faux Caribbean accent. The other girls in my ensemble stared at him. His outburst was completely unhelpful to them, but I think I understood. Scatting is just like talking… if you happened to be crazy. Week after week during vocal jazz rehearsals Miles would stand before us wailing on the microphone, and then tell us it was our turn. If someone asked a question, he would sing in response. While it was inspiring to listen to Miles’ vocal acrobatics, our own attempts at scatting were squeaks and whimpers by comparison.

This semester, the Jazz Vocal Ensemble has a new instructor, Christine, and her approach is much different. She thinks there are things one can learn about scatting, and she uses language to try to pull sounds out of us. She tells us to “open up” and “use all of our range.” She asks us to sing minor seconds. She pulls out a ‘lick’ as we are singing and asks us to repeat it as a “motif.” One of her strangest commands is that we “color” our voices or “dirty” the tone. Using her words, she gives us visual imagery to shape our sound because, unlike a pianist or trumpeter, the singer’s instrument is inside, and in its way imaginary.

For the past couple weeks, Christine has been sending us home with recordings of Chet Baker and Charlie Parker so that we can “learn” their solos with repeated listening. As we mimic their sounds and phrasing, I cannot help but think of babies mimicking their parents when learning their first words. The only difference is that with scat-singing we never really get beyond the baby talk.