Scat Singing: The Syntax of Jazz Vocals

However, from a linguistic perspective, scat singing is far from random. It is a highly sophisticated form of non-referential communication. It possesses a phonology, a syntax, and a distinct prosody. Scat singing is the art of stripping language of its semantic meaning (definitions) while retaining its structural beauty to imitate the timbre and articulation of musical instruments.

When a jazz vocalist scats, they aren’t just making noise; they are engaging in a complex act of instrumental mimicry using the raw materials of human speech. Let’s dive into the grammar of the groove and examine the linguistics of scat.

The Phonology of Percussion and Brass

In linguistics, a phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in speech, like the /b/ in “bat” or the /k/ in “cat.” We combine these to form words that carry meaning. In scat, singers curate specific phonemes not for their dictionary definitions, but for their percussive and tonal qualities.

Consider the anatomy of a trumpet. It produces sound through the buzzing of lips and the attack of noteg. When Louis Armstrong—the father of the improvised solo—scatted, he was essentially translating the mechanics of his trumpet playing into his vocal tract.

• Stops and Plosives (b, d, p, k, t): These consonants stop the airflow and release it in a burst. In scat, these are used to mimic the sharp “attack” of a trumpet note or the hit of a snare drum. A phrase like “Bap-de-da” provides a hard, rhythmic onset that a vowel-heavy “Ooo-eee-aaa” cannot achievements.
• Fricatives (sh, z, f, v): These sounds create friction. Jazz vocalists often use them to simulate the breathiness of a saxophone, the brush on a snare drum, or the decay of a cymbal crash (“Tshhh”).
• Liquids and Nasals (l, r, m, n): These allow the sound to flow smoothly, imitating the legato lines of a trombone or a bowed bass.

By consciously selecting these phonemes, the singer creates a “sonic vocabulary.” When Dizzy Gillespie sang, distinct from Armstrong, he often used sharper, angular phonemes (like “Ool-ya-koo”) that mirrored the complex, rapid-fire nature of the Bebop sub-genre.

The Syntax of Rhythm

If phonemes are the words of scat, rhythm is the syntax. In spoken language, syntax governs the arrangement of words to create coherent sentences. In jazz, musical phrasing governs the arrangement of sounds to create coherent melodies.

Linguists often study prosody—the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech. Scat singing is essentially prosody in its purest form, unburdened by vocabulary. A scat singer must adhere to the “grammar” of the underlying musical structure, typically the standard jazz chord progressions (like the II-V-I).

The “Bebop” Accent

Just as languages have stress-timed or syllable-timed rhythms (comparing English to French, for example), jazz has a specific rhythmic dialect known as “swing.”

In standard English, we might place equal stress on syllables in a robotic fashion. But in the dialect of scat, the singer utilizes the schwa sound (the neutral ‘uh’ sound, represented as /ə/) to “ghost” certain notes, making them barely audible, while accenting others. A phrase written as “Doo-ba-doo-ba” is rarely sung with four equal stresses. It is usually syncopated: “Doo-BA-doo-BA.”

This mimics the tongue articulations used by horn players. Jazz educators actually use “scat syllables” to teach instrumentalists how to articulate. They might tell a saxophone player, “Don’t play that as ta-ta-ta; play it as doo-dat-da.” Here, the linguistics of the mouth instructs the mechanics of the instrument.

Idiolects: The Unique Dialects of the Masters

In linguistics, an idiolect is the unique way an individual uses language—their personal vocabulary, grammar habits, and pronunciation. In jazz, every master scatter has a distinct musical idiolect determined by the instrument they are emulating.

Louis Armstrong: The Trumpet Syntax

Armstrong’s scat was granular and guttural. He often utilized a “New Orleans” dialect of scat, heavily reliant on the “Ah” and “Oh” vowels, punctuated by hard “D” sounds. This mirrored the broad, brassy, declarative nature of early jazz trumpet.

Ella Fitzgerald: The Big Band Texture

Ella Fitzgerald is perhaps the most linguistically advanced scatter in history. Her idiolect was vast. She mimicked not just one instrument, but the entire band. She would use rapid-fire syllables to imitate a saxophone solo, then switch to quoting actual lyrics from other songs, then dissolve back into nonsense syllables.

Ella frequently used the syllable “Dwe” or “Dl” (as in “Dwe-ya-dwe-ya”), a complex cluster that allowed her to navigate rapid chord changes with the agility of a virtuoso saxophonist like Charlie Parker.

Sarah Vaughan: The Cello and Oboe

Vaughan had an operatic range and often treated her voice like a bowed string instrument. Her scat syntax was less about the rhythmic “attack” (the plosives) and more about the vowel shapes—morphing “Ooo” into “Ah” into “Ee”—mimicking the vibrato and tonal shifts of a cello.

Scat and Universal Grammar

Is scat singing unique to American Jazz? Not entirely. From a linguistic anthropology standpoint, using nonsense syllables to transmit musical information is a global human phenomenon.

• Konnakol (India): The art of performing percussion syllables vocally (e.g., “Ta Ka Di Mi”). It has a strict grammar where specific syllables correspond to specific beat subdivisions.
• Lilting (Ireland): Also known as “mouth music”, acts as a placeholder for a fiddle or flute when no instruments are present (e.g., “Did-dle-i-dee”).

This suggests that there is a universal link between the human articulators (tongue, teeth, lips) and musical rhythm. We are hardwired to translate rhythm into speech sounds. Scat is simply the African-American vernacular iteration of this universal trait, evolved through the complex harmonic structures of Western music.

The Semantics of Pure Sound

Finally, we must ask: If scat has no words, does it have meaning? In semantics, we look for definitions. But in pragmatics (the study of how context contributes to meaning), scat is incredibly rich.

When Louis Armstrong dropped his lyric sheet while recording “Heebie Jeebies” in 1926 and allegedly began scatting to save the take, he conveyed the joy, spontaneity, and humor of the moment perfectly without a single dictionary word. Scat communicates affect—pure emotion and kinetic energy.

The next time you hear a jazz singer launch into a “Ski-ba-bop-ba-dop-bop”, don’t listen for words. Listen to the phonetics. Hear the plosive mimicry of the drums, the fricative hiss of the cymbals, and the syntax of the swing. They are speaking a language fluently; it just happens to be a language where the definitions have been replaced by the groove.