# What's the name for the "non-words" of backup singers?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-name-for-the-non-words-of-backup-singers/609684>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 16, 2012, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-name-for-the-non-words-of-backup-singers/609684 "2012-01-16T12:32:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\
**Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-name-for-the-non-words-of-backup-singers/609684/1 "2012-01-16T12:32:54Z")

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When the backup singers sing “doo wah” or “doo bee do”, what is the “doo” called?

It’s not a word, and its not a note - so what is one such sound called?

When Ella Fitzgerald improvised the whole process was called “scat”, but what are the _parts_ called?

This question has got me Pip’d.

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**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\
**Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-name-for-the-non-words-of-backup-singers/609684/2 "2012-01-16T13:08:43Z")

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They’re nonsense words and nonsense syllables.

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-name-for-the-non-words-of-backup-singers/609684/3 "2012-01-16T13:43:33Z")

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[Non-lexical vocables.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-lexical_vocables_in_music)

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**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\
**Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-name-for-the-non-words-of-backup-singers/609684/4 "2012-01-16T13:44:34Z")

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Sometimes it’s called “scat singing”.

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**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\
**Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-name-for-the-non-words-of-backup-singers/609684/5 "2012-01-16T14:30:04Z")

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Isn’t it “doo wop”?

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**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\
**Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-name-for-the-non-words-of-backup-singers/609684/6 "2012-01-16T15:28:13Z")

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> [@kayT](#):
>
> Isn’t it “doo wop”?

That’s a name for the general style, like “scat”. It’s a better term for the style the OP is describing, I think, but it’s still not a name for the individual phrases sung:

> **[Doo-wop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doo-wop)**
>
> Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. It features vocal group harmony that carries an engaging melodic line to a simple beat with little or no instrumentation. Lyrics are simple, usually about love, sung by a lead v Doo-w...

At one point that article refers to them as “doo wop syllables”, which might be as good a term as any.