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Non-lexical vocables in music

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Non-lexical vocables, which may be mixed with meaningful text, are used in a wide variety of music. A common English example would be "la la la".

In traditional music

Non-lexical vocables are used in Blackfoot music and other American Indian music, Pygmy music, the music of the Maldives and Highland Scots music. Vocables frequently act as formal markers, indicating the beginning and end of phrases, sections or songs themselves (Heth, pg. 368-369), and also as onomatopoeic references, cueing devices, and other purposes ().

The Blackfoot, like other Plains Indians, use consonants h, y, w, and vowels. They avoid n, c (ts) and other consonants. i and e tend slightly to be higher pitches, a, o, and u lower ones (Nettl 1989, p.71).

  • Canntaireachd (ancient Scottish practice of noting music with a combination of definite syllables for ease of recollection and transmission)
  • Eefing (Appalachian vocal technique similar to beatboxing)
  • Puirt à beul (traditional Scottish and Irish song form that sometimes employs nonsense syllables)

In jazz music

Scat singing is a type of voice instrumental music. A scat is vocalized either wordlessly or with nonsense words and syllables (e.g. "bippity-bippity-doo-wop-razzamatazz-skoobie-doobie-bee-bop-a-lula-shabazz") as employed by jazz singers. Scat singing gives singers the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms, to create the equivalent of an instrumental solo using their voice. Legendary jazz artist Scatman John (John Paul Larkin) renewed interest in the genre briefly during the mid-90s.

Vocal improviser Bobby McFerrin’s performances at major concert halls worldwide show that “wordless singing has traveled far from the concepts demonstrated by Louis Armstrong, Gladys Bentley, Cab Calloway, Anita O’Day, and Leo Watson”.

Another method of scat singing is practiced by guitarists who scat along with their solos note for note. Notable practitioners include George Benson, Sheldon Reynolds, and Rik Emmett.

In music teaching

In popular music

  • A cappella (singing without instrumental accompaniment, sometimes accompanied by a chorus of nonsense syllables)
  • Beatboxing (vocal percussion)
  • Doo-wop (style of rhythm and blues music that often employs nonsense syllables)
  • Hopelandic (gibberish language employed by the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós)

Van Morrison employed scat in his performances.

Scat singing influenced the development of doo-wop and hip hop. It has also appeared in various genres of rock music. Jim Morrison of The Doors sings a chorus of slow scat on the song "Cars Hiss By My Window", trying to replicate a harmonica solo he had heard and it also notably opens the b-side of Joe Walsh's 1973 album The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get with the song "Meadow". The technique was employed in the song "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd.

Scat also makes appearances in newer genres, including industrial music, in the chorus of Ministry's 1991 song "Jesus Built My Hotrod"; nu metal, in the band Korn whose lead singer Jonathan Davis has incorporated scat singing into songs such as "Twist", "Ball Tongue", "Freak on a Leash", "B.B.K.", Beat it Upright and "Liar"; and the heavy metal subgenre of death metal, where scat singing is used by John Tardy of the band Obituary. Jack Black incorporates scat into several Tenacious D songs, most notably: Tribute, The Cosmic Shame, Classico Double Team (live) and Bowie. Singer JoJo does ad-libbed scats on the track "Yes or No". Other modern examples include "Rag Doll" by Aerosmith, "Under My Voodoo" by Sublime, "Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz" by Mr. Bungle, "In My Bed" by Amy Winehouse, "Stuck in the Middle" by Mika

Disney "Nonsense Word" Songs

A signature of some Disney musical films is the creation and use of trademarkable "nonsense words", the longest and most famous of which is from Mary Poppins entitled: "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious". A close second is "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" from Song of the South which also won the Academy Award for "Best Song" of the year. Nonsense word song titles include:

References