I just tried to do what I heard the horns in the band doing. — Ella Fitzgerald · Smartyfair

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I just tried to do what I heard the horns in the band doing. — Ella Fitzgerald · Smartyfair

I just tried to do what I heard the horns in the band doing.

Ella Fitzgerald1917–1996 · musician · 1900s USAElla Fitzgerald was an American jazz singer known as the "First Lady of Song" for her pure tone, perfect pitch, and dazzling improvised scat singing.1 quote

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In plain words

She learned to sing by copying the sound of the horns in the band.

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tried
heard
horns
band

Where these words come from

How sure this is: 45% sureLots of sources credit Ella Fitzgerald with this, and they agree with each other. The book or the speech it first came from hasn't turned up yet.
What turned up: Wikipedia-footnoted quote on developing her scat singing alongside Dizzy Gillespie's band.
Work: biographical account (Wikipedia-footnoted)
Occasion: 1940s · USA · describing how she developed scat singing by mimicking band instruments
Sources checked: en.wikipedia.orgChecked using claude-sonnet-5, 21 August 2026Footnoted direct quote, scat-singing development

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