Scat During Worship?

Sometimes during worship, I fail to find words to encompass what I have to say to God in my head. During those moments I can just think of melodies in my head, so I just scat them out, since I sometimes don't have a keyboard/guitar on hand.

 

So is it alright to scat as a form of worship? Because the Bible warns against babbling and the word "scat" itself means "feces"

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Permalink Reply by Robert MacFarland on February 26, 2010 at 4:30pm
Yes, tounges has still eluded me, it is one of God's great mysteries that is yet to come for me...but I often scat, it seems to come naturally. I have wondered if there is any 'similarity'...
I cannot really say because I have not spoken in tounges....however, I imagine that speaking/singing in tounges could be in the form of scatting.
Permalink Reply by Stevo on February 23, 2010 at 10:37pm
Can you tell us what scat means here?
Permalink Reply by Shane Goh on February 24, 2010 at 4:05am
Listen to "Common Pleasure" or "1000 Things" by Jason Mraz, the choruses of those songs are more or less examples of scat. Basically it's a flow of syllables or sounds meant to simulate an instrument, allowing for gifted vocalists to do "instrumental solos" with their voices
Permalink Reply by Guitarearl on February 24, 2010 at 11:31pm
And Jason Mraz does this to prove his abilities as a singer. That would be my concern as a worshipper standing in front of my seat on Sunday morning...that it was a performance rather than submitting to God's authority.

What kind of feedback do you receive about this? Does it open the congregation up to worship the Lord freely, or does it cause them to watch and pay attention to you? Is the quality of this scatting as good as a skilled instrumentalist playing a concert instrument?

I think your pastor is probably the final authority on all of this anyway. If your pastor doesn't approve, then it's time to set aside pride, lead worship without the scatting, then go to open mic night at your local coffee house and have at it.
Permalink Reply by Robert MacFarland on February 27, 2010 at 2:51am
Well...I am proof that it is not reserved for 'gifted vocalists'......Anybody can scat....just catch a groove and let it rip. I guess I just watched Jungle Book too many times. Dat monkey King is one cool cat....and Baloo the bear can sure get a groove on. (sorry, Ha Ha)
Permalink Reply by bet nich on February 24, 2010 at 4:49am
Like what Jazz singers like Cab Calloway and Ella Fitzgerald used to do. Secular 'tongues' ;-)

....and Shane, I wouldn't worry about it too much, God knows your heart and the spirit in which it is offered to Him.

Now if it were someone who was up there doing their 'thing' to show off every Sunday, well...
Permalink Reply by Wayne Pau on February 24, 2010 at 4:16am
So I've actually done this one Sunday when we did a song with the intro with some inspiration from Queen's Under Pressure. It was somewhat spontaneous and very last minute.

Mm ba ba de
Um bum ba de
Um bu bu bum da de


However, looking back I'm not sure I'd do it again. Got a lot of weird looks. I think it turned into more a concert than corporate worship. Usually the goal is more audience participation. Worship is not a spectator sport. ;)

Not saying I'd never do it again, but I'd think twice before I did it. I also wouldn't do it too often.

However, with that said... more to the original post: many modern worship songs have have non-verbal parts. Like Every Move I Make by David Ruis. I have a lot of respect for David Ruis, so if he's good with it... I'm good with it.
Permalink Reply by Peter Park on February 24, 2010 at 3:30pm
I know sometimes people don't like it when worship leaders do that, but I feel like it's okay as long as your heart is in the right place. After all, you are the worshipper.
Permalink Reply by Stevo on February 24, 2010 at 6:03pm
You really have to be careful - a lot of things are justified by "as long as your heart is in the right place". My take is that an instrumental or vocal "instrumental" is ok as a bit of accent or fill, but not sure what it's accomplishing beyond that. The main question to ask is: what use does it have in the service? Does it help the congregation to worship? Are others edified spiritually by it?
Permalink Reply by Benjamin Luce on February 24, 2010 at 10:00pm
Right. And is it a distraction?
Permalink Reply by Elman Authement on February 25, 2010 at 3:46am
I felt I must make a statement concerning some earlier statements about the "tongues" issue. I know Stevo made certain statements about tongues but we must try to remember, on this site, that there are some doctrinal differences as to the use of tongues in different churches. In some churches, the gift of tongues and the prayer lanquage of tongues are considered two different things and one does not require interpretation. I understand that not all people believe that and I'm not saying this to start a doctrinal discussion but if that's OK in your church, then scat, sing in tongues and give worship to God providing it's acceptable in your church.
Permalink Reply by Lorraine Doswell on February 25, 2010 at 6:18pm
Yes, I have read on many occasions that there is your own personal prayer language and tongues that need interpretation. It is very rare that I feel strongly prompted to speak out (and believe me - I need a really strong prompting) and from my own experience, the words used are different from, what I call, my personal prayer language. I was at a conference a couple of weeks ago and a lady started speaking in tongues, it went on and on and I was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Now, I could be completely wrong, but I felt within my heart, that it should not have been spoken out for all...........and as is happens, there was no interpretation.

Please don't take what as I am saying as 'this is how it is' far from it, I am only telling of my own personal experience.

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