Vocal jazz improvisation

[Andrea]

Are there any tips or tricks out there to learn how to do those vocal jazz improvisation? I want to go "doo-bi-doo-ba-doo-di" like Ella and all, but I feel silly (and I think I sound silly too).

Any help? Thanks.

[Andrea]

Can anyone share some exercises or techniques on how to scat? There aren't any books available here where I am on scat/vocal improvisation, and ordering online is way beyond my budget. I'd appreciate any help. Thanks.

[solarjazzband]

I think you just should imitate the scatting like ella. Then you'll learn it, and than form your own scatting-articulating.

[El Gaucho]

maybe transcribe some good scat solos

works for instruments

[DrB3Kansas]

One of the most "universal" study tunes I've come across is the vocal rendition of James Moody's solo "I'm In the Mood for Love", known as "Moody's Mood for Love" by King Pleasure. I have the lyrics, the original recording of the solo and the vocal version, PLUS the latest recorded version by Quincy Jones. These arrangements go thru a handful of changes and chord types. I don't know why no one else has recommended it. This is actually called "vocalese" (voice+lyrics to do a instrument solo improv), but you can add your own "doo-bop-dee-wah's" as you FEEL them (emphasis on FEEL!):D If you would like, contact me for the MP3 and lyrics.

The Doctor

[xa_kraw4d]

Hey Andrea,
Learning to scat a lot of times mostly involves just practicing it. Try listening to instrumental jazz without any singing, and just listening to the chord changes; then try singing to them. You'll become more comfortable with it after a while. Sorry, this doesn't sound very deep but its the best advice that I got. And it doesn't have to be "doo-bi-doo-ba-doo-di" either, try some zabadoowayoh's also. ;)
Good luck with your scats; Once you start it you'll be hooked, I promise.
xa_kraw4d

[Andrea]

Thanks, all! I'm having trouble getting those syllables out. I found short exercises on the net, I'm trying to practice them. Anyway, I'd appreciate any tips you guys might have. Thanks so much!

[zaragemca]

I'm sorry Andrea that i didn'y see the post before,for voicing in it important the exercises for using the diaphram,middle range and rhrino- pharingeal- range,accomodation of the vocal chords,Respiration,Dynamics,etc., as much as singing.http://www.drumweb.com/member/zaragemca/

[Scottone]

hi--

first of all, you must understand that improvisation requires the same musical skills and understanding, regardless of the instrument: studying harmony and rhythm, knowing the form of the tunes AND having a feel for what kind of moods are created by certain sounds.

most people would tell you to listen to scat singers and copy those, and that is one way to go. another method would be to listen to INSTRUMENTAL music. scat singing is merely improvising without words, the same as what a horn would do. the syllables you use just serve to puncutate the lines: if you sing "ah" all the way through, we wouldn't get the rhythmic inflection so vital to jazz.

every good scat singer develops their own vocabulary of sounds. knowing an Ella line from a Sarah line, a Betty Carter from a Betty Roche, is as important as a saxist hearing the difference between Pres and Trane, Dex and Shorter. eventually, though you will find what sounds work best for you.

the main problem for singers is they are usually unwilling to put in the time to really learn what they're doing, so copying someone successful seems more attractive.
believe me when I tell you: there is no shortcut.

learn to sing the arpeggios of the chords in the song; then the scales that go with those chords. run up and down thoses scales on quarter notes, then eighths, then swing eighths, then triplet-eighths, then sixteenths. move on to uneven patterns: dotted quarter/eighths, triplet quarters; eighth-quarter-eighth; 4 swing eighths, then 2 pair of triplet eighths. so on and so on.

listen to recordings and identify the rhythm patterns you hear; identify the chords. so on and so on.

a jazz singer who has learned the words and the melody has reached the kindergarten level; true jazz improvisation is graduate work.

some people have a natural feel for rhythm, or a gift for hearing harmony.
but to organize all of that information, to learn to use it in performance- instantly listening, editing, leading, following, suggesting, reacting AND, most importantly, projecting emotion, engaging in storytelling, openly and honestly presenting oneself- this is not possible from a weekend clinic. it is the result of years of dedication and listening and living and trying and failing and living and listening some more.
the illusion of jazz mastery is a journey, not a destination.
it's a worthwhile trip: enjoy it...

[DrB3Kansas]

Scott,

Great solid advice. I agree with the "technical" aspects of your information, but take a word from an "old cat" (62) with over 40 yearrs in the biz, nothing replace the human ear and desire to learn. I have found through experience that too much technical information upfront tends to "scare-off" promising talent.

I think your artist references were SUPER and what better history to pull from. Might I add for YOU Al Jarreau (alive and well), King Crimson (deceased, but before Ella and the rest), Dizzy Gillespie (long live Diz), Jon Hendricks (of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross specializing in vocalese) and Manhattan Transfer (vocalese and scat). Vocalese and scat are like football and rugby, similar, but not the same. Listening to "the masters" and applying the try and try again you mentioned will eventually brighten the light if a sound dose of DEDICATION is the fuel.

Doc

[Scottone]

Thanks for your post. While I agree that some are intimidated by technical demands, I know an 'old cat' like you is aware of the attitude some players have toward untrained singers: all looks, all style, but musically illiterate- therefore, not REALLY 'one of us'.

The singer's frustration of trying to lead a band when he/she can't read, or can't speak in musical terms to ask for what one wants, just adds to all the other little things that go with being a bandleader. A little study would go a long way to easing that strife.

As for the topic of vocalese/scat, they are somewhat similar: while they do require the same vocal dexterity, one focuses on memorizing someone's performance of another's solo; the other emphasizes the instant composition of something original-- improvising.

Your list of vocal folk is also great. Jon Hendricks- although not the originator, certainly the master of vocalese lyric writing (if for nothing but sheer volume); his mentor King Pleasure (not Crimson- a TOTALLY different bag!); and Al Jarreau, whose 'Spain' and 'Blue Rondo a la Turk' earn him a spot in the vocalese Hall of Fame.
When it comes to non-playing vocalists (those who do not perform regularly on an external instrument) the Big 3 are still Ella, Sarah and Billie, with Betty Carter and Carmen McRae in the second wave. I feel the singing players- Diz, Chet, Jack Teagarden, Nat Cole (when he was playing) and the others give special lessons to upcoming singers- in phrasing, personal style, just overall musicality. They embody music; the instrument is almost irrelevant.

Again thank you, and please keep sharing your knowledge with us!

SW

[DrB3Kansas]

Hey Scott,

'Scuse an old dude :embarass:

Too many low-pay gigs doin' Top 40 in the Rockies, in the winter, in the 80's :laugh: ( i.e. King Crimson)

I shared a "partial clip" of Moody's Mood for Love with the young lady in Manila the version: King Pleasure and of course James Moody's original cut and James Moody's most recent cut and Qunicy Jones version of same using Take 6 and various other artisits, including James Moody. A senior (killer) tenor player, Ben Young (no kin to Prez) turned me on to it over Chivas Regal Sitdown one Sunday and I have been working on it with my wife for almost 6 months ( we won't do it in public till it's right!). She is the singer and I play B3. Good additional artists you passed on to me...forgot about Jack Teagarden...one of the masters as well.

Keep bringin it! We might get this subject even fatter.

All the best to you,
Doc

[Andrea]

Thank you very much, gentlemen, for all your responses. They're very informative and helpful (but also intimidating, I must admit). I'm considering getting lessons and buying instructional books, but those would have to wait until I get the funds, hehe. Anyway, right now, I'm doing what I can with the Aebersold recordings I have here, now my trouble is with the syllables. I can't seem to get them right. Any tips?

[clave]

I know what you mean about the syllables and woiuld reiterate what others have suggested -- wordless vocals.

You don't need to use syllables yet; just concentrate on using you voice like an instrument.

I hope this is helpful!

[Scottone]

Hi, Andrea--
While every good scat singer develops her own vocabulary of sounds, there are a few guidelines that may help.
>The three main rhythm patterns we sing are 2s, 3s, and 4s. Finding syllabic phrases that are comfortable to sing in those patterns will make scatting much easier for the beginner.
First, 2s. doo-ba, ba-doo, bedda all work because, when singing fast, you are using a back-front, front-back articulation in the mouth. 'Be' is made with the lips; 'dda' is made with the tongue. This rocking between lips and tongue is easier to enunciate than dadadadadada or bebebebebe. One can also use the tip of the tongue and the mid-hump of the tongue: la-da, godda, dugga. When you listen to scat singing, you'll hear different syllables for 2s, but the clearest, cleanest diction will come from some form of rocking motion in the mouth.
>3s, the triplet. This, of course, will usually be a back-front-back or a front-back-front motion: badda-la, rubba-da, bebba-ka, etc.
>4s can be sung as a pair of 2s, but in many cases it is better to explore different 4-note phrases. The do-re-mi-so pattern, popularized by Coltrane in his Giant Steps, Moment's Notice period, can be practiced on for clarity: bo-da-lugga, doo-ba-rebba, and so on. By having specific notes to work with, you can free up the other side of your brain to try other syllable combos.

Not all phrases are attacked the same. These examples I've given are for learning precision and clarity; scoops, slides, bends, shakes and other devices will require other ideas: dipthongs, consonant blends, tonal shifts, etc. Dow-oo, dow-oo. Drrrebba-doo-wee. Bweee-dabba bwee-poppa. Ree-ow, rare-negga-degga. Hee-yare, hee-yare, nigh-rabba. So many possibilities.

Finally, a vowel at the end of a syllable leaves a note open to be followed smoothly by another note in a phrase; ending with a consonant puts punctuation in your phrases: boo-depp, boo-depp, lugga-doo-bopp.

Hopefully, these little tips will help get you started. As I say, you will need to allow your scatting to evolve on its own. Listening to others is great to start with, but when you are improvising, you will no longer listen to an Ella record in your head, and begin listening to your own ideas and feelings.

The great thing about scatting is, unlike singing lyrics, there will always be more that your voice and mouth can do, more places your imagination can take you.

Enjoy the journey

SW

[Tenorman]

Just a thought: noting Andrea's location. Scat is often heavy on the explosive consonants to emphasise beat. This can be more difficult for those whose first language is one of the oriental languages that are light on such sounds.

If this is the case Andrea, you should develop the sounds with which you are most comfortable rather than trying to imitate the anglo sounds that you hear from most scat vocalists

[Fran]

Seems to me that none of the scat-ters took scatting lessons. Few really knew music like a musician, or played an instument, and most all came up through the vocalist ranks.
I don't think most women singing scat do a very good job of it. Ella was probably the best and she often sounded silly or rediculous. (She is my fav vocalist however). So I suggest an interested novice listen and copy.
Diz had the sounds right, so did Babs Gonzales, and the very best of all was Buddy Stewart along with Dave Lambert. You have to develop the ear know what the horn your emulating is playing.

[Tenorman]

Dee Dee Bridgewater - probably the best of today's scat exponents

[Scottone]

I agree, Fran, that a lot of singers scat because they feel they should, not because they've really developed a feel for what they're doing.
Ella was a wonderful scat singer in what she could execute. She worked a lot of things out beforehand, but the end result was often very very good. As for your 'silly or ridiculous' comment, I suggest you listen to what she was doing in the 30s and 40s, not necessarily her later years when even her lyric singing was uneven at times.
There are few singers who get more silly or ridiculous than Dee Dee Bridgewater. All that out-of-control hollering, banging one note for days, and generally making pitifully unmusical sounds may go over in her live appearances, but it is truly sad stuff. I usually steer newbies away from listening to singers that are singing jazzy instead of really trying to improvise and create some melodic stories.
For different scat styles, I suggest these:

Leo Watson
Jon Hendricks
Betty Roche
Betty Carter (1955-1980 especially)
Mark Murphy
Sarah Vaughan
Judy Neimack
JD Walter
Mark Ledford
Leon Thomas

Not all you'll find by these people will grab you, but they each have found a personal sound, and that's what we all strive for: an identifiable, individual vocal approach.

Also, for Tenorman (thanks, as always, for your input): the syllable examples I gave to Andrea are just that: examples. The rhythm patterns are characteristic of the music of jazz, but the sounds a singer makes to articulate the lines should always be their own. We all need to start somewhere, and to work within the framework of what is can be less daunting than saying "pick a sound".
However, I suggest to you that the sounds used in scat singing are not merely Anglo: they are african, cuban, gypsy, brazilian, cajun and creole. They are emotive, gutteral and onomatopoeic. But certainly not just Anglo...

SW

[theox]

http://www.visual-jazz.com/download.htm

There's a chapter in the third book about vocal improvisation worth checking out.

Actually, all five books are worth checking out, they're EXCELLENT and (why, I don't understand) FREE!

[Jazzvox]

Andrea:

You need to check out Micheele Weir's Book: Vocal Jazz Improvisation
published by Advance Music.

Also, check out a site called www.larrysimprovpage.com

I am a contributing memeber and add mini-lessons on vocal improv from time to time (look for Tim Brent).

Also, if you are a fan of vocal jazz then you need to check out my wife's web site: www.valeriaproano.com

She does Brazilian/Latin Jazz singing as well as the standards.

Let me know if you need some more information!

Best of luck...

[Mim]

Andrea, as well as listening to vocal scat, which is great, listen to instrumentalists, transcribe their solos. Try and shape your syllables as best you can to match the sounds created by the horn or whatever instrument you're listening to.

Listening to Chet Baker is a good place to start because he plays trumpet as well as singing. You might feel less silly trying Chet's syllables, because they are very neutral sounding vowels that he uses. When he scats he shapes his mouth the way he would if he played the same lines on trumpet. A lot of his trumpet improvisations are very singable, because he phrases them like he would sing them.