Jazz Jargon Scat

Dee Dee Bridgewater scats; so did Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. The word "scat" can be used as both a noun and a verb, but in jazz circles it definitely is NOT a synonym for "shoo, shoo." So what is scat and what are you doing if you're scatting?

Cecil Bridgewater (jazz trumpeter/arranger): What a singer does when they "scat" is the opposite of what instrumentalists do. Instrumentalists imitate the voice when we improvise, singers imitate instrumentalists when they improvise via "scatting." It's improvisation!

Rachael Lee (jazz singer): What is scat and what am I doing if I'm scatting? Well, I'm singing the song without any lyrics. When I scat I feel as though I'm a horn, I'm able to be a little more improvisational since I don't have to worry about the words. Scatting is definitely something that you "feel" instead of learn. I think it's also something that you have to do often to be very good at it. You have to be very relaxed and very "into" the music that you're scatting.

Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: As a noun, scat is jazz singing with nonsense syllables. As a verb, scat is a vocal style in which the singer improvises nonsense syllables to instrumental accompaniment, essentially becoming an instrumentalist by using nonsense syllables instead of words.