Carnegie Hall

The rhythm section is the core of most jazz ensembles. Made up of piano, bass, and drums, it establishes the underlying rhythm, harmony, and beat of the music. The rhythm section lays the foundation for the melody and improvisation and gives different jazz styles their distinct character.

• Explain that scat singing is a technique in jazz in which singers improvise using wordless syllables. Often, they are mimicking with their voice the sounds of the instruments in the jazz ensemble.
• Listen to the audio track “Take the A Train” Brianna trumpet scat. Note that Brianna uses scat syllables to imitate the trumpet solo.
  • Which syllables and sounds did you hear Brianna use to imitate the trumpet?
• Create a list as a class of the scat syllables that were heard. Then add some others that could also mimic the trumpet.
• Using the audio track “Take the A Train” trumpet call and response, have students take turns echoing the trumpet using their scat syllables.
• Try the same activity, this time imitating a different instrument.
  • What instrument do you want to be?
  • What scat sounds would that instrument make?
• Listen to the audio track “Take the A Train” scat conversation. Note that this time, Brianna and the trumpet are having a conversation, in which the trumpet calls, and Brianna responds with her own improvisation. Have students listen for the syllables.
• Add any additional scat syllables heard in this recording to your list.
• Using the audio track “Take the A Train” trumpet call and response, have students take turns having a scat conversation with the trumpet.

• Listen to the audio track “Take the A Train.”
  • How do you know the song is about a train?
  • Which instruments do you hear?
• Explain that this song has a soundscape, which is the section of sounds that portray or characterize a specific environment.
• As a class or in small groups, have your students pick a place in your school that has distinctive sounds, for example, the copier running or telephones ringing in the reception office; the squeaks made by feet and bouncing balls in the gym; or the scrapes of food trays in the cafeteria.
• Ask them to close their eyes and listen for the sounds around them for a few minutes. You can have your students use Explore the Sounds of Our City (PDF) to help them record what they have heard.
• Back in the classroom, try to replicate the sounds that were heard by asking them to use their voices, classroom instruments, or additional sound-making items.
• Here’s a tip: If your students do this activity in small groups, when you bring the class together, you can ask the rest of the class to guess the location of the soundscape of each group.

Add the words rhythm section, scat, and soundscape to the Musical Word Wall.

Image Credits

Detail, Spirit of Harlem, Louis Delsarte 2005 © Courtesy of DPS/Atlanta, GA, photo by Trish Mayo, 2018.