Rebop

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A fast, complex style of jazz that emerged in the 1940s, built on intricate melodies and rapid improvisation
2. An early modern jazz idiom known for quick tempos, sophisticated harmonies and virtuosic solos by small ensembles
3. Bebop, the mid-twentieth-century jazz genre characterized by speedy phrasing and inventive, angular improvised lines

Etymology: "Rebop" is a variant of "bebop," the fast, complex jazz style of the 1940s, and it started life as nonsense. Singers doing scat, improvising with wordless syllables in place of lyrics, strung together sounds like "rebop" and "bebop" because they fit the rapid rhythms of the music. The syllables carried no meaning; they were chosen for their bounce and their ability to mimic the notes. The word belongs to a family of similar sung syllables. The source compares it with "doo be doo be doo," the scat-style refrain, and with "doo-wop," a later vocal style built on the same kind of nonsense sounds. The name for the style therefore came from the sound of the music itself, not from a term that described its ideas or its players.