Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 5: Basic beatboxing techniques
• Part 2 of 5: Intermediate beatbox techniques
• Part 3 of 5: Advanced beatbox techniques
• Part 4 of 5: Singing and beatboxing
• Part 5 of 5: Patterns
• Custom Drum Table
• Bass drum
• Snare drum
• Hi-hat
• Others
• Basic beat
• Double hi-hat
• Custom double hi-hat
• Advanced beat
• Techno beat
• Drum and bass basic beat
• Simple but cool beat
• Great "This is why I'm hot" beat
• The standard hip-hop beat
• Snoop Dogg's "Drop It Like It's Hot" beat
• Creating your own patterns
• Tips
• Warnings

Understandably, there are quite a few people out there who want to learn how to beatbox. It may seem difficult at first glance, but beatboxing is actually not very different from normal human speaking. You just need to have a little sense of rhythm and learn to pronounce certain letters and vowels in a special way, until you gradually master the beatbox language. You start with the basic sounds and rhythms, and as you get better at them, you move on to the more refined rhythms and sound patterns.

To step

Part 1 of 5: Basic beatboxing techniques

1. Learn to master the different sounds. To start, you need to master the three basic sounds of beatboxing: the bass drum {b}, the hi-hat {t} or {ts}, and the snare drum {p} or {pf}. Practice combining these sounds into an 8-beat rhythm, for example: {b t pf t / b t pf t} or {b t pf t / b b pf t}. Pay attention to the correct timing. Start slow and build speed later.
2. Practice the bass drum {b}. The easiest way to produce a bass drum sound is to say the letter "b". To make the sound louder and spicier, you can do a so-called lip oscillation. In doing so, you let air vibrate past your lips - something like imitating a fart with your mouth with the tip of your tongue between your lips. Once you can do this, make the sound as short as possible.
   • Make the b sound like you are saying the b of the word balloon.
   • Now, with your lips together, let the pressure increase.
   • You need to control the release of your lips just enough to make them vibrate for a short while.
3. Then try making a hi-hat sound {t}. Make a simple "ts" sound with your teeth together. Place the tip of your tongue behind your front teeth for a soft hi-hat sound and use the regular t-position for a heavier hi-hat sound.
   • Exhale longer to create the sound of an open hi-hat.
4. Try out consecutive or advanced hi-hat sounds. For example, you can make consecutive hi-hat sounds by doing "tktktk", using the center of your tongue for the "k". You can create an open hi-hat sound by exhaling longer at the "ts" to make it more like "tss". Another way to produce a realistic high-hat sound is to do the "ts" with your teeth on top of each other.
5. Try making the sound of a snare drum {p}. The easiest way to make a snare drum sound is to say the letter "p". But making a "p" noise is actually too quiet. There are several things you can do to make it louder: the first is to use lip oscillation. You force the air past your lips, making them vibrate. In the second way, you exhale while simultaneously making a "ph" sound.
   • To make the "p" sound more interesting and snare-drum-like, most beatboxers add a second sound to the initial "p" sound: pf ps psh bk.
   • The {pf} variation is similar to the bass drum, except you use the front of your lips instead of the side, and you tighten them more.
   • Tuck your lips in a bit so that your lips are kind of hidden, like you don't have any teeth.
   • Build up a little air pressure behind the hidden lips.
   • Swing your lips out (not literally) and just before they return to their normal position (unhidden), let go of the air with a "p" sound.
   • Immediately after releasing the air and making the "p" sound, put your lower lip tight against your lower teeth and make a "fff" sound.

Part 2 of 5: Intermediate beatbox techniques

1. Practice until you are ready to begin the intermediate techniques. After you've mastered the three basic beatbox sounds, it's time to move on to these intermediate techniques. These may be a bit more difficult, but practice makes perfect.
2. Develop good bass drum sound. You do this by pressing your lips together and building up pressure with your tongue and jaw, pushing your tongue forward from the back of your mouth and at the same time closing your open jaws. Open your lips briefly on the sides so that the air can escape and a bass drum sound is created. Add some pressure with your lungs, but not so much that you hear a light sound afterward.
   • If you don't get a nice bass sound, you need to relax your lips a bit more. If it doesn't resemble a bass drum sound at all, you should tighten your lips a bit, or make sure that the air escapes better around the sides of your lips.
   • Another way to approach it is to say "puh". Then you omit the "uh" so that everything you hear is the first "p" that comes out as if you were opening a bottle of champagne. Do your best not to make a "uh" sound, and try not to make a breath or air sound with it.
   • If you're comfortable with that, you can tighten your lips a little more and force a larger amount of air through your lips to get a louder bass drum sound.
3. Explore different ways to make a snare drum sound. Bring your tongue to the back of your mouth and build up pressure with your tongue or lungs. Use your tongue if you want speed, or use your lungs if you want to make noise and inhale at the same time.
   • Say "pff" and stop the "ff" as soon as possible after the "p". By pulling up the corners of your mouth and holding your lips very tightly together when making the first "p", it sounds more realistic. You can also change the pitch of the snare drum sound using this technique.
4. Add a drum machine snare sound to the mix. First say "ish". Then try saying "ish" without the "sh" at the end. Make it very staccato (short); you will get a kind of groaning sound in the back of your throat. Overdo it a bit so you hear a clear, accented beat.
   • Once that works out, add the "sh" to the end and you get a synthesizer-like snare sound. You can also work on moving the groan so that it feels like it's coming from the top of your throat for a higher drum sound, or it feels more like it's coming from the bottom of your throat for a lower drum sound.
5. Add the spit snare. The spit snare is mostly used in trap beats, as it is a very sharp and fast snare sound. You can also hum along at the same time, adding a little more tonal variety and musicality to your repertoire. However, this sound is quite difficult to master, so be patient and don't give up.
   • There are three variations of the spit snare: upper lip over the lower lip, both lips equal, and lower lip over the upper lip. They don't differ much in sound and are done in almost the same way, so just do whatever works best for you.
   • Fill your cheeks with air and release it through your lips in one of three ways you have chosen. Slowly push the air out. Once you can do that, force the air out quickly and you have the spit snare.
6. Don't forget the cymbals. This is one of the easier sounds to make. Whisper (not out loud) "chish". Then do it again, but this time clench your teeth and take out the vowel, go from "ch" straight to "sh" with little or no transition, and you have a pelvic sound.
7. Learn the pinched cymbal sound. Place the tip of your tongue where your upper teeth and palate meet. Keep your lips about half an inch apart and breathe in forcefully through your mouth. Notice how the air whizzes past your teeth and tongue, making a kind of small, hasty sound. Then take another strong breath, but then suddenly close your lips; you should have the feeling that they are closing, without making a clapping noise.
8. Do not forget to breathe! You will be surprised how many human beatboxers pass out because they forget that their lungs need oxygen. Maybe you can start recording your breath into the beat. Eventually, you will notice an increase in lung capacity as you practice.
   • An intermediate technique is to inhale during a snare drum sound as it requires the least amount of lung capacity. A good beatboxer will often have practiced letting the breath continue while beatboxing each individual sound (see previous step), separating the breath from the beat. This allows different types of bass sounds, snare drum sounds, and even some hi-hat sounds to continue without a break.
   • As an alternative to breathing exercises, there are many sounds you can make while inhaling, such as variations on the snare drum and hand clapping sounds.
9. Developing the inward-looking sound technology. Something that often surprises people is how beatboxers can beatbox for a long time without running out of breath. Well, the answer is, while making sound, you inhale at the same time! We call this inward directed sounds. You will find that some of the best sounds are made this way.
   • There are many ways to make inward sounds. Almost any sound that can be made outward can also be made inward - although it takes some practice to get it right.
10. Hold the microphone firmly. Microphone technique is very important for a good performance, or if you just want to amplify the sounds you make with your mouth. There are several ways you can hold a microphone. You can hold the microphone just as you would when you sing, but some beatboxers find that placing the microphone between your ring and middle fingers with your index fingers on top of the microphone bulb and your thumb on the bottom will result in a cleaner, clearer sound.
    • Try not to breathe into the mic while you beatboxing.
    • Many beatboxers perform poorly because they hold the microphone incorrectly and therefore do not get the most out of the power and clarity of the sounds they produce.

Part 3 of 5: Advanced beatbox techniques

1. Keep practicing until you are ready for the more advanced techniques. Once you've mastered the basics, it's time to learn some advanced techniques. Don't worry if it doesn't work right away. With a little practice, you can eventually do them all.
2. Developing a sweeping bass drum sound (also called a lip oscillation) (X). You can use this instead of the regular bass drum. It takes about 1 / 2-1 beat. To do a sweeping bass drum, start like you are about to do a regular bass drum. Then let go of your lips so that they vibrate when you blow air past them and make sure to focus the vibration on the front part of your lips. Then touch the inside of your lower teeth with your tongue and push it forward. You can create different sounds and pitches by making an "s" or "sh" sound on the exhalation.
3. Work on a techno-bass technique (U). This is done by making a "practice" sound, like being punched in your stomach. Keep your mouth closed. You should feel it in your chest.
4. Add a techno snare to the mix (G). This is done in the same way as techno bass, but you put your mouth as if you were going to make a "shh" sound. You can still make the bass sound at the same time.
5. Don't forget scratching. This is done by reversing the airflow of one of the previous techniques. Scratching is an often misunderstood technique and involves different tongue and lip movements depending on the instrument you are trying to scratch. To understand it better, you record a beat. To do this, use a music program, such as Windows Sound Recorder, and then play it backwards.
   • Learning to mimic those inverted sounds literally doubles your repertoire. Also try making a sound, and then immediately afterwards the reverse (because: a bass sound followed by the reverse sound in rapid succession creates the standard "scratch" sound).
   • The "crab scratch":
     • Open your hand and bend your fingers 90 degrees. Put your thumb up against your hand.
     • Keep your lips tight. Place the edge of your hand on your lips with the thumb pointing up next to your mouth. Fold your upper lip slightly over the edge of your hand.
     • Now suck in air. You can also wrap your other hand around it for a more powerful sound.
6. Work on "jazz brushes". Blow gently through your mouth, using your mouth shaped like the letter "f". By blowing a little harder on beats 2 and 4, you get the accents.
7. Add a "rimshot". Whisper the word "chew" and then do it again without letting the "ouch" through. Make the "k" a bit louder and you get a rimshot.
8. Use the "tongue bass". The tongue bass is a very versatile yet simple technique to learn. One of the ways to learn this is to say "rs" with a rolling tongue. Once this works, add more pressure to amplify the sound.
   • Another way to learn this is to place your tongue just above the hard part above your teeth and exhale. There are many variations of this technique, such as the "teeth bass," which is a kind of tongue bass, but with your tongue directly on your teeth.
9. Add a "click roll" {kkkk}. This is a very difficult technique at first, but once it works, you can use it at any time. Start practicing regular clicks. Then make a hollow cup of your tongue and pull it back from the back of your upper teeth as you inhale. You can also tilt your tongue while doing this.
10. Practice humming the baseline while beatboxing at the same time. This technique is easier than singing, but it can be a bit tricky if you're just getting started. To begin with, you need to realize that there are two ways to hum: one is from the throat (say 'ahh') and the other is through the nose ('mmmmmm'), which is considerably more difficult to get used to, but gives many more options.
    • The key to humming and beatboxing at the same time is to start with a baseline or melody in mind. Listen to "rap hooks" whether or not they are hummed (for example, listen to Parliament Funkadelic's "Flashlight" and practice humming the melody, then try beatboxing over them; James Brown is also great for melodies).
    • Search your music collection for baselines and melodies to hum, then try overlaying some of your beats or someone else's. It's important to learn how to hum a melody or baseline anyway, especially if you plan on learning to sing. This is the field of beatboxing that takes originality and creativity!
    • If you've tried beatboxing and humming at the same time, you've probably found that you have lost some of your skill with certain beat techniques (the techno bass and techno snare are difficult, and the click roll is almost completely absent. to do). Learning what works takes time and practice.
    • If you ever find yourself in a beatbox tournament, keep in mind that while stamina and speed are certainly important, the use of new and interesting melodies and baselines will always win the crowd over.
11. You can also practice humming inward. This is an advanced technique that is not widely used in the world of beatboxing. There are several ways you can sing / hum inward. If you are really short of breath while beatboxing, it can be a good idea to hum inside. You can just keep humming the same melody, but the pitch will likely change.
    • With practice, you can correct this pitch change to some extent, but many beatboxers who take advantage of humming inward decide to change the melody when switching.
12. Adding trumpet sounds is a great way to mix. Hum in falsetto (that's in a high-pitched voice, like Mickey Mouse). Now pull up the back of your tongue to make the sound thinner and sharper. Just before each note do a loose lip oscillation (bass drum). Then close your eyes, let yourself go and pretend you're Louis Armstrong!
13. Practice singing and beatboxing at the same time. The trick is to align consonants with the bass drum and vowels with the snare drum. Don't try to add a hi-hat, as even the best beatboxers have a hard time doing that.
14. Another advanced variant is to create a distorted dubstep sweep. This is known as the throat bass. Start by pretending to get mucus out of your throat or growling like an animal. The resulting sound will be a bit scraping, so adjust the back of your mouth until you get a stable pitch. After accomplishing this, change the shape of your mouth to make the sweep sounds and that will change the timbre while preserving the pitch.
    • You can change the pitch by changing the vibration in different areas of your throat. Two variations of this are the vocal bass line and the vibrating bass. The vocal bass line uses throat bass and your own voice at the same time. Once you've found a balance between the two sounds, it can add an extra dimension to singing and beatboxing at the same time.
    • Note: if you do this for a longer period of time, you can (temporarily) suffer from your throat. Don't forget to drink plenty of water.

Part 4 of 5: Singing and beatboxing

1. Sing and beatbox. Singing and beatboxing at the same time (especially in the beginning) seems like an impossible task. But it is actually quite simple. Below is an example that can get you started. You can use this basic technique first and adapt it to any number later.
   • {b} If your {pff} mother {b} {b} on {b} {pff} ly knew {b} knew {pff} ("If Your Mother Only Knew" by Rahzel).
2. Listen to songs. Listen to the song you want to beatbox a few times to find out where the beat is going. In the example above, the beats are highlighted.
3. Sing the melody a few times only with words. This will help you become more familiar with the song.
4. Try to fit the beats into the text. Most songs have the beat before the words. In this case:
   • "If" - Since the word "if" in our example starts with a vowel, it is easy to fit the bass just before the word, as if you were saying "bif". Note that the "b" must be low. When you first start, you can - if necessary - leave the beats separate from the words first.
   • "Mother" - The word "mother" starts with a consonant. In this case, you could drop the "m" and replace it with "pff" because the sound quickly resembles it. Or you could make the word stutter a bit, so that the beat comes first, and then the word, slowed down a bit. If you choose the former, you will eventually sing "pffother." Notice that your upper teeth make contact with your lower lip; this is what creates the m-like sound. If you can do this, it will sound a lot better.
   • "On" - For a double beat on "on", you can hum the pitch while doing "b-b-on", then come right in with "b pff-ly knew" while humming the pitch. With the "on" you might notice that the sound breaks off when you do the second bass beat. To fix this, hum through your nose. You can do this by pushing the back of your tongue up the soft part of your palate, closing your throat. You hum through your nose and this is not interrupted by what you do with your mouth.
   • "Knew" - The word "knew" echoes and fades.
5. Adjust this skill. These steps can be adjusted for any song with a beat. Keep practicing with different songs so that you can improvise more easily later.

Part 5 of 5: Patterns

Custom Drum Table

The first line is for the snare drum sound. This can be a tongue snare, a lip snare or another snare. Below that is the hi-hat, and the third line is the bass. Below that, another line can be added for various other sounds, which should be listed at the bottom of the tab and which only apply to that particular pattern. Here's an example:

S | ---- | K --- | ---- | K --- || ---- | K --- | ---- | K --- |

H | --T- | --T- | --T- | --T- || ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- |

B | B --- | ---- | B --- | ---- || B --- | ---- | B --- | ---- |

V | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- || --W- | --W- | --W- | --W- | You pronounce the W as "what". Beats are separated by single lines, units of measure by double lines.

Here a key to the symbols:

Bass drum

• JB = Bumskid bass drum
• B = Powerful bass drum
• b = Soft bass drum
• X = Sweeping bass drum
• U = Techno bass drum

Snare drum

• K = Tongue snare (without the lungs)
• C = Tongue snare (with the lungs)
• P = Pff or lip snare
• G = Techno snare

Hi-hat

• T = "Ts" snare
• S = "Tssss" open snare
• t = front part of consecutive hi-hats
• k = back part of consecutive hi-hats

Others

• Kkkk = Click roll

Basic beat

This is the basic beat. All beginners should start with this and move on from there.

S | ---- | K --- | ---- | K --- || ---- | K --- | ---- | K --- |

H | --T- | --T- | --T- | --T- || --T- | --T- | --T- | --T- |

B | B --- | ---- | B --- | ---- || B --- | ---- | B --- | ---- |

Double hi-hat

This one sounds cool and is a good practice for speeding up your hi-hat without using the consecutive hi-hat sounds.

S | ---- | K --- | ---- | K --- || ---- | K --- | ---- | K --- |

H | --TT | --TT | --TT | --TT || --TT | --TT | --TT | --TT |

B | B --- | ---- | B --- | ---- || B --- | ---- | B --- | ---- |

Custom double hi-hat

This is a more advanced beat, which you should only try if you can perform the double hi-hat pattern perfectly. You alternate the rhythm of the double hi-hat pattern with this to make it more interesting.

S | ---- | K --- | ---- | K --- || ---- | K --- | ---- | K --- |

H | --TT | ---- | TT-- | --TT || --TT | ---- | TT-- | --TT |

B | B --- | --B- | --B- | ---- || B --- | --B- | --B- | -B-- |

Advanced beat

This is a very sophisticated beat. Only try it if you have mastered the above patterns and the consecutive hi-hat (tktktk).

S | ---- | K --- | ---- | K --- || ---- | K --- | ---- | K --- |

H | -tk- | -tk- | tk-t | -tkt || -tk- | -tk- | tkSS | --tk |

B | B - b | --- B | --B- | ---- || B - b | --- B | --B- | ---- |

Techno beat

S | ---- | G --- | ---- | G --- || ---- | G --- | ---- | G --- |

H | --tk | --tk | --tk | --tk || --tk | --tk | --tk | --tk |

B | U --- | ---- | U --- | ---- || U --- | ---- | U --- | ---- |

Drum and bass basic beat

S | --P- | -P-- | | S | -P - P | -P ---- P- |

H | ---- | ---- | {3x} | H | ----- | -.tk.t-t |

B | B --- | B --- | | B | B-BB- | B -. B --- |

Simple but cool beat

This contains 16 beats. You can split it into 4 times 4 beats. It sounds especially cool when you speed it up.

| B t t t | K t t K | t k t B | K t t K |

1--------2--------3--------4-------

Great "This is why I'm hot" beat

Where there is a D, you do a double bass drum beat.

S | --K- | --K- | --K- | --K- |

H | -t-t | t - t | -t-t | t - t |

B | B --- | -D-- | B --- | -D-- |

The standard hip-hop beat

S | ---- | K --- | ---- | K --- |

H | -tt- | -t-t | tt-t | -ttt |

B | B - B | --B- | --B- | ---- |

Snoop Dogg's "Drop It Like It's Hot" beat

With the t-rule you use the tongue-click. The number 3 stands for a relatively open mouth, for a higher open sound. The 1 stands for a small "o" -shaped mouth, for a low tongue click, and 2 stands for something in between. The beat is quite difficult and you can practice it with just the bass and snare until you feel ready to add the tongue clicks. In addition, you can add a high "snoooop" that you hum in your throat. Listen to the song to hear how it sounds.

v | snoooooooooooooooo

t | --3--2-- | 1--2 ---- |

S | ---- k --- | ---- k --- |

B | b - b - b- | --b ----- |

v | ooooooooooooooooooop

t | --1--2-- | 3--2 ---- |

S | ---- k --- | ---- k --- |

B | b - b - b- | --b ----- |

Creating your own patterns

Don't be afraid to use weird sounding beats. Play with the location of the different sounds. As long as you are "in the flow", you are always in the right place.

Tips

• Make sure you know how to beatbox while you exhale, but can also do it while you inhale. This is especially important if you want to sing and beatbox at the same time.
• Take a sip of water regularly to keep your mouth from drying out.
• Try to cover your mouth and nose to get a louder or more acoustic sound when playing beatboxing without a microphone.
• Try to find other beatboxers to beatbox with. It's fun and you can probably learn from your new friends too.
• Beatboxers often use a low sound, but still try different sounds to see which ones suit you best.
• Look in a mirror to see what your face looks like while beatboxing.
• Listen to music from famous beatboxers such as Killa Kela, Rahzel, Speiler, Roxorloops, Black Mamba, S&B, Biz Markie, Doug E. Fresh, Matisyahu, Max B, Blake Lewis ('American Idol' finalist), Bow-Legged Gorilla, or even Bobby McFerrin (from 'Don't worry be happy', who made this whole song using only his own voice, recorded on different tracks, to create many different 'instruments').
• Practice wherever you can and as often as possible. Because you don't need anything other than your own body, you can practice at home, at work, at school, on the bus (if you dare), wherever possible. One of the best places to practice is in the bathroom, because it has good acoustics and the beats sound a lot better.
• Always practice at a consistent pace. This means you should try to maintain the same speed in a pattern.
• Certain types of lip gloss can really help you beatboxing for extended periods of time without getting dry lips. It is also healthy for your lips.
• Beatboxing is different for everyone. If your sound doesn't sound exactly like someone else's, keep trying, but it may just keep sounding a little different. It does not matter.
• When starting beatboxing or trying to do a difficult beat, always start practicing with little sound. In this way, the beat is easier and smoother. After a while, you get the timing just right and then you can focus on the volume and clarity. This is also easier in terms of memorizing, because you have already practiced them gently first.

Warnings

• You will also occasionally run out of breath, so make sure you know how to breathe properly.
• Try to limit yourself first, to give the muscles in your face time to get used to these types of exercises. If your face feels sore, stop for a moment.
• If you are first starting out, and things don't work out right away, don't give up. If you persist, you will find that it gives you a lot of fun and that you can also make great music.
• Your mouth probably won't be used to the sudden new pressure you put on it. Your jaws and / or lips may feel painful at first. Make sure you don't run too fast in the beginning and build up beatboxing slowly, then you won't be bothered by it too much.
• Don't drink coffee while beatboxing, because coffee dries out your throat as well as your mouth. The same goes for tea. Just drink water.
• Make sure you are well hydrated before you start as a dry throat and mouth are noticeable sound-wise. Also, take a sip of water every now and then. Lots of beatbox fun!