# Term for la la la's in song **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 26, 2007, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-la-la-las-in-song/393663 "2007-02-26T01:24:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tidela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9e8a1a/32.png) [@tidela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tidela)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-la-la-las-in-song/393663/1 "2007-02-26T01:24:06Z")
What’s the proper term used to describe the parts of songs that go for e.g, la la la, doo wop doo wop, etc…? ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-la-la-las-in-song/393663/2 "2007-02-26T01:26:00Z")
If it’s Jazz, then the term is “[scat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scat_singing),” ---
**Author:** ![tidela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9e8a1a/32.png) [@tidela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tidela)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-la-la-las-in-song/393663/3 "2007-02-26T01:32:51Z")
No, it’s not scat. I think that’s a genre more than a technical term. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-la-la-las-in-song/393663/4 "2007-02-26T02:25:54Z")
[QUOTE=tidela] No, it’s not scat. I think that’s a genre more than a technical term. [/QUOTE] Scat is improvised singing, basically like a vocal solo. Your thinking more like "la la la"s that are structured like: Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye That sort of thing? Or, There she was just-a walking down the street singing Doo wah diddy diddy dum diddy doo. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-la-la-las-in-song/393663/5 "2007-02-26T02:27:46Z")
If it’s the names of the notes, it’s solfege. I may not have spelled it right. Yesh, solfege. Also: solmization. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-la-la-las-in-song/393663/6 "2007-02-26T02:45:03Z")
[QUOTE=tidela] What’s the proper term used to describe the parts of songs that go for e.g, la la la, doo wop doo wop, etc..? [/QUOTE] Nonsense syllables. Solfege refers to Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Ti-Do, etc. where each syllable is assigned to either[ul][li]a number of the scale (1=Do, 2=Re, whether or not 1 is pitch C), or[\*]a fixed note set like Do=pitch C, Re=pitch D, etc.[/ul]The first kind is called “movable Do,” the second, “fixed Do.”[/li] [Scat singing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scat_singing) is when a vocalist ad libs nonsense syllables in a jazz improvising manner, sort of like a sax player might do, but having the added possibilities voice provides. I would not call “fa la la” scat or solfege. Tommy Smothers once claimed that Fa la la’s were invented because the medieval madrigal singers didn’t know the words or were covering up dirty ones, but I have a feeling he was doing a comedy bit. ---
**Author:** ![tidela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9e8a1a/32.png) [@tidela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tidela)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-la-la-las-in-song/393663/7 "2007-02-26T02:48:44Z")
[QUOTE=1920s Style “Death Ray”] Scat is improvised singing, basically like a vocal solo. Your thinking more like "la la la"s that are structured like: Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye That sort of thing? Or, There she was just-a walking down the street singing Doo wah diddy diddy dum diddy doo. [/QUOTE] I don’t really understand the difference in your examples but I don’t think structure plays a part in the use of the term. The one and only time I heard the use of this term was by Paul McCartney on the radio when asked by the DJ if those la la la’s, or na na na’s, etc used in Beatles somgs had a proper word for it. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-la-la-las-in-song/393663/8 "2007-02-26T02:55:22Z")
[QUOTE=tidela] I don’t really understand the difference in your examples but I don’t think structure plays a part in the use of the term. [/quote] There wasn’t meant to be a difference between the examples. They were both supposed to be examples where the nonsense syllables were carefully written into the song as opposed to scat which is improvised and may be different each time the song is played. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-la-la-las-in-song/393663/9 "2007-02-26T02:59:31Z")
[QUOTE=tidela] I don’t really understand the difference in your examples but I don’t think structure plays a part in the use of the term. The one and only time I heard the use of this term was by Paul McCartney on the radio when asked by the DJ if those la la la’s, or na na na’s, etc used in Beatles somgs had a proper word for it. [/QUOTE] I’ve only heard it referred to (as **Musicat** writes) as nonsense syllables or scat singing (if it is of an improvisatory nature). The nonsense parts of “Minnie the Moocher” would be a popular, if not completely archetypal, example of scat singing. Scat singing need not be only in a jazz context–it may exist in other musical forms as well. It’s also popular to “scat” a melody during an improvised instrumental solo, but I’m starting to veer outside of the OP’s question. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-la-la-las-in-song/393663/10 "2007-02-26T03:00:26Z")
You might be thinking about [Doo Wop.](http://www.answers.com/topic/doo-wop) Shang a lang, shang a lang a ding dong; Wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boom; Ba ba ba, ba babra Ann; Shing, shang, shing a ling a ding dong; Doo be doo be doo; Doo be doo wop; Ba da, ba dada da; Tutti frutti, oh rooti… There’s more to Doo Wop than just syllables. It is typically a simple chord progression as well. Doo Wop is not typically improvised in a performance, but scat is. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-la-la-las-in-song/393663/11 "2007-02-26T03:08:56Z")
Filler: a thing or substance used to fill a gap, cavity, or the like. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-la-la-las-in-song/393663/12 "2007-02-26T06:48:01Z")
There’s a (primarily) jazz variant called vocalese. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-la-la-las-in-song/393663/13 "2007-02-26T08:37:30Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] Filler: a thing or substance used to fill a gap, cavity, or the like. [/QUOTE] Or, as I like to put it, the songwriter was too lazy to think of an actual lyric, so he wrote “la la la la …” I remember attending church when I was a kid, and instead of hymns we sang these little “praise choruses”. Many of these were simple little ditties with only four or five lines of lyrics. Because they were so short, we’d repeat them over and over and over. After the seventh repetition, the songleader would realize he was getting tired of singing the same thing over and over, but the song was still too short, so he’d say, “Sing la’s”, and then we’d repeat it again, replacing each syllable with “la”. Then for the next repetition we’d hum the tune, and then finally repeat the lyrics one last time. This was a big part of why, when I was finally old enough to pick my own church, I started attending a traditional church that sang hymns. I’d go on, but I’m probably off-topic enough as it is. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-la-la-las-in-song/393663/14 "2007-02-26T11:25:24Z")
I knew this once. The Smothers Brothers explained it once in relation to the Chrstimas song _Deck The Halls_. Sorry, I can’t pull it into memory. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-la-la-las-in-song/393663/15 "2007-02-26T15:00:01Z")
How about those alternating lines in old madrigal songs like “Cruel Sister?” They are the same set of lines repeated over and over in each verse, and move the plot along not at all. Any special term for those?