Create Patterns in Beatboxing

Like all music, beatboxing relies on building rhythm and patterns to structure the wide variety of sounds that it employs. As with all music, creating patterns of your own is a matter of passion, patience, and practice.

Steps

Transcribing Patterns

  1. Create a modified drum tab. Beatbox patterns typically incorporate three types of sounds: snares, hi-hats, and basslines. Create and label a line in your drum tab for each type of sound to map out your pattern. Separate beats with a single vertical line, and bars with double vertical lines, like so:
    • S |----|----|----|----||----|----|----|----|

    • H |----|----|----|----||----|----|----|----|

    • B |----|----|----|----||----|----|----|----|
  2. Create and label additional lines for additional sounds. For example, if you wish to use a vocalization in place of a traditional sound, create a fourth line in your drum tab and label it “V:”
    • S |----|----|----|----||----|----|----|----|

    • H |----|----|----|----||----|----|----|----|

    • B |----|----|----|----||----|----|----|----|

    • V |----|----|----|----||----|----|----|----|
  3. Create a symbol for each original sound. Whenever you use an additional sound that’s unique to your pattern, create a symbol to denote that sound within the drum tab. Then define that symbol below the drum tab for others’ reference as well as your own. For example, if you’re going to vocalize the word “What?” in place of a traditional sound, use “W” as a symbol within the drum tab, and define “W” below the bar tab as “W = Vocalized 'What?'" like so:
    • S |----|----|----|----||----|----|----|----|

    • H |----|----|----|----||----|----|----|----|

    • B |----|----|----|----||----|----|----|----|
    • V |----|----|----|----||W---|----|W---|----|
    • W = Vocalized “What?”

Mastering Simple Patterns

  1. Begin with a simple beat. For snares, one of the more basic sounds is the tongue snare without lungs, represented by the symbol “K.". For hi-hats, start with the “ts” snare (“T”). For bass, use the soft bass drum (“B”). Practice each sound individually until you’re comfortable with them, and then practice combining them with this basic pattern:
    • S |----|K---|----|K---||----|K---|----|K---|

    • H |--T-|--T-|--T-|--T-||--T-|--T-|--T-|--T-|
    • B |B---|----|B---|----||B---|----|B---|----|
  2. Speed up your hi-hats. To practice executing them faster, increase your use of the “ts” snare (“T”) within each beat and perform it twice in a row, back to back. Practicing the double hi-hat in the pattern below will help quicken your execution without overdoing it:
    • S |----|K---|----|K---||----|K---|----|K---|
    • H |--TT|--TT|--TT|--TT||--TT|--TT|--TT|--TT|

    • B |B---|----|B---|----||B---|----|B---|----|
  3. Switch up the rhythm. Once you’ve mastered the double hi-hat in a steady rhythm, practice a more complex pattern with a modified double hi-hat. Use the double “ts” sound (“T”) to end one beat, and then again to begin another. Not only will this help you to grow comfortable with using the hi-hat in new ways, it will also force you to do the same with the other sounds, such as the bass in this example:
    • S |----|K---|----|K---||----|K---|----|K---|

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

    • B |B---|--B-|--B-|----||B---|--B-|--B-|-B--|

Expanding Your Skills and Techniques

  1. Build your arsenal. Once you’ve mastered the basics, practice other snares, hi-hats, and basslines. Practice each new sound individually until you execute them perfectly. This way you’ll have a wider array of sounds with which to create more diverse patterns.
    • Expand your snare sounds with the tongue snare with lungs (“C”), the “pff” or lip snare (“P”), and the techno snare (“G.”)
    • For hi-hats, try the open “tssss” snare (“S”) and successive hi-hats (‘tk”).
    • For bass, learn the bumskid bass drum (“JB”), the strong bass drum (“B”), the sweeping bass drum (“X”), and the techno bass drum (“U”)
  2. Combine new sounds. Once you’re comfortable using the basic sounds in more complex patterns, incorporate the new sounds you’ve learned. Attempt more advanced patterns, like this:
    • S |----|K---|----|K---||----|K---|----|K---|

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

    • B |B--b|---B|--B-|----||B--b|---B|--B-|----|
  3. Listen to various styles. Beatboxing is featured in a variety of music: hip-hop, R&B, house, techno, and more. The way it’s used in each style varies as well. Listen to a wide sampling from each and study both the obvious and subtle differences between them.[1] Perform those beats yourself to better understand how each genre varies from one to the next.
  4. Create new patterns. With a wider variety of sounds and a better understanding of genre, decide on a style of music and compose your own pattern. Take baby-steps: beat by beat, bar by bar. Pay attention to your own sense of rhythm and build on that. Keep your pattern clean and uncluttered so you can execute it perfectly; it’s better to adhere to the basics than to attempt more than you can physically perform at the moment.[1]

Tips

  • Watch video tutorials to learn new sounds and breathing techniques. Beatboxing can often be taught more effectively through demonstration than by description.
  • Though you may come across patterns expressed in a single line (“Btkb|KtkB|tkBt|Ktkt|,” for example), the modified drum tab is easier to read for beginners, since it clearly shows which type of sound (snare, hi-hat, bass) is being employed when.
  • Approach beatboxing as you would a sport. Beatboxing is very physical; if you’re just starting out, your mouth and tongue will probably grow tired very shortly. Train for it as you would for a marathon: a little bit each day, then a little bit more, then a little bit more, building your endurance day by day.
  • Stay hydrated. Avoid smoking as well as food or beverages that are likely to dry out your mouth.
  • Practice with others. Play games to challenge each other. For instance, beatbox in a circle; each person must beatbox seamlessly for at least 15 seconds and stop before 30; if they fail to do either, they’re out.

Warnings

  • The symbology of beatbox sounds may vary from source to source.
  • Just as the word "rhyme" can mean a pair of words that form a rhyme as well as a larger work that uses a rhyming structure, the word "beat" is often used to describe a beat within a pattern as well as the overall pattern. Pay attention to the context in which the word is used.

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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.statelandrecords.com/29007219.html

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