The Evolution of Ella Fitzgerald's Syllabic Choices in Scat Singing: A Critical Analysis of Her Decca Recordings, 1943-52

Thumbnail image of item number 1 in: 'The Evolution of Ella Fitzgerald's Syllabic Choices in Scat Singing: A Critical Analysis of Her Decca Recordings, 1943-52'.
Thumbnail image of item number 2 in: 'The Evolution of Ella Fitzgerald's Syllabic Choices in Scat Singing: A Critical Analysis of Her Decca Recordings, 1943-52'.
Thumbnail image of item number 3 in: 'The Evolution of Ella Fitzgerald's Syllabic Choices in Scat Singing: A Critical Analysis of Her Decca Recordings, 1943-52'.
Thumbnail image of item number 4 in: 'The Evolution of Ella Fitzgerald's Syllabic Choices in Scat Singing: A Critical Analysis of Her Decca Recordings, 1943-52'.
Showing 1-4 of 145 pages in this dissertation.

PDF Version Also Available for Download.

Description

This study examines the evolution of Ella Fitzgerald's scat syllable vocabulary during a key developmental period in her career when she was recording for Decca Records. Between 1943 and 1952, Fitzgerald established the syllabic vocabulary that would serve as a defining characteristic of her improvisational style for the rest of her career. Fitzgerald is commonly praised as the greatest vocal improviser in jazz history, but while much has been written about Fitzgerald's melodic and harmonic approach to jazz improvisation, little has been written about her syllabic approach. Timbre and articulation are considered to be vital elements of any jazz musician's … continued below

Physical Description

viii, 136 pages : illustrations, music

Creation Information

Binek, Justin May 2017.

Context

This dissertation is part of the collection entitled: UNT Theses and Dissertations and was provided by the UNT Libraries to the UNT Digital Library, a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries. It has been viewed 5216 times, with 223 in the last month. More information about this dissertation can be viewed below.

Who

People and organizations associated with either the creation of this dissertation or its content.

Author

Chair

Committee Members

Publisher

Rights Holder

For guidance see Citations, Rights, Re-Use.

  • Binek, Justin

Provided By

UNT Libraries

The UNT Libraries serve the university and community by providing access to physical and online collections, fostering information literacy, supporting academic research, and much, much more.

About | Browse this Partner

Contact Us

Corrections Questions

What

Descriptive information to help identify this dissertation. Follow the links below to find similar items on the Digital Library.

Degree Information

Description

This study examines the evolution of Ella Fitzgerald's scat syllable vocabulary during a key developmental period in her career when she was recording for Decca Records. Between 1943 and 1952, Fitzgerald established the syllabic vocabulary that would serve as a defining characteristic of her improvisational style for the rest of her career. Fitzgerald is commonly praised as the greatest vocal improviser in jazz history, but while much has been written about Fitzgerald's melodic and harmonic approach to jazz improvisation, little has been written about her syllabic approach. Timbre and articulation are considered to be vital elements of any jazz musician's style; the study examines the changes in Ella Fitzgerald's syllabic approach through transcription and analyses of thirteen scat solos recorded during this time period, using scat syllable choices to discuss timbre and articulation. This analysis provides a model for further research of its kind, as well as informing historically accurate performance practice by both teachers and students of jazz singing.

Physical Description

viii, 136 pages : illustrations, music

Subjects

Keywords

Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Language

Item Type

Identifier

Unique identifying numbers for this dissertation in the Digital Library or other systems.

Relationships

Collections

This dissertation is part of the following collection of related materials.

UNT Theses and Dissertations

Theses and dissertations represent a wealth of scholarly and artistic content created by masters and doctoral students in the degree-seeking process. Some ETDs in this collection are restricted to use by the UNT community.

About | Browse this Collection

Related Items

Doctoral Recital: 2015-03-06 - Justin Binek, jazz voice and piano (Sound)

Doctoral Recital: 2015-03-06 - Justin Binek, jazz voice and piano

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Kenton Hall.

Relationship to this item: (Has Part)

Recital: March 6, 2015, ark:/67531/metadc983852

Doctoral Recital: 2014-11-03 - Justin Binek, Jazz Voice (Sound)

Doctoral Recital: 2014-11-03 - Justin Binek, Jazz Voice

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Kenton Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.

Relationship to this item: (Has Part)

Recital: November 3, 2014, ark:/67531/metadc948583

Doctoral Recital: 2016-02-29 - Justin Binek, jazz voice and piano (Video)

Doctoral Recital: 2016-02-29 - Justin Binek, jazz voice and piano

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Voertman Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.

Relationship to this item: (Has Part)

Recital: February 29, 2016, ark:/67531/metadc850025

What responsibilities do I have when using this dissertation?

Digital Files

When

Dates and time periods associated with this dissertation.

Creation Date

  • May 2017

Added to The UNT Digital Library

  • July 12, 2017, 3:17 a.m.

Description Last Updated

  • April 29, 2020, 4:12 p.m.

Usage Statistics

When was this dissertation last used?

Yesterday: 2
Past 30 days: 223
Total Uses: 5,216
More Statistics

Interact With This Dissertation

Here are some suggestions for what to do next.

Start Reading

Thumbnail image of item number 1 in: 'The Evolution of Ella Fitzgerald's Syllabic Choices in Scat Singing: A Critical Analysis of Her Decca Recordings, 1943-52'.
Thumbnail image of item number 2 in: 'The Evolution of Ella Fitzgerald's Syllabic Choices in Scat Singing: A Critical Analysis of Her Decca Recordings, 1943-52'.
Thumbnail image of item number 3 in: 'The Evolution of Ella Fitzgerald's Syllabic Choices in Scat Singing: A Critical Analysis of Her Decca Recordings, 1943-52'.
Thumbnail image of item number 4 in: 'The Evolution of Ella Fitzgerald's Syllabic Choices in Scat Singing: A Critical Analysis of Her Decca Recordings, 1943-52'.

PDF Version Also Available for Download.

Citations, Rights, Re-Use

International Image Interoperability Framework

IIF Logo

We support the IIIF Presentation API

Links for Robots

Helpful links in machine-readable formats.

Archival Resource Key (ARK)

International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF)

Metadata Formats

Images

URLs

Stats

Binek, Justin. The Evolution of Ella Fitzgerald's Syllabic Choices in Scat Singing: A Critical Analysis of Her Decca Recordings, 1943-52, dissertation, May 2017; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc984212/: accessed April 13, 2021), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .