Swing it Ella!

The One Note Samba featuring Ella Fitzgerald scatting away. In class we have you sing your parts, in hopes that you'll internalize and solidify musical passages and then put them on your instrument the way you sang them. It also doesn't hurt your future sight reading. Perhaps (and by "perhaps" we mean do this) you might try scatting a few choruses over the 12 bar blues track on your jazz band disk (in the safety of your own room). Next if you want to take it to a higher level (also a strong suggestion), record yourself and transcribe what you sang. (Note to self: destroy tape before sister finds it and makes copies for her friends). One other option, put the CD in your car stereo, and trade vocal fours with your friends on the way to Jazz band practice. If you're into the female jazz vocal thing, there are three you should check out first...Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. All three are legendary.