Lesson time: (3min 29sec)
This lesson is part of the course Learn the Fundamentals of Beatboxing
Watch a preview of the full course below.
Lesson transcript:
Hey guys, me again! We're going to start going through different sounds now. One of my favorite sounds is the hi hat.
There are two types of hi hats:
When someone's playing drums, the types of hi hats they use create different dynamics. They can:
So, it's a really important sound to get down.
It's very simple because all you're doing is pronouncing the consonant T.
You can either use your breath from your lungs to say T, T, T, or just use your mouth. By using the little air that's already in your mouth, it sounds tighter and cleaner like: T, T, T, T.
Once you've got the hang of that, you can move on to the open hi hat, where you simply add an S to the end of the T:
So all you're doing is saying:
The longer you hold that S, the more open of a sound you get. If you want to keep it really tight (for example, throwing it into a beat), it can also sound really cool.
You can start to practice with beats. Here's how:
Once you've got a hang of the T sound, start to alternate. Eventually, you can create even more complicated patterns.
Once you've practiced your kick drum and hi hat sounds, you can put the two together to create a simple beat like:
After that, you can move on to more complicated beats, like:
And whatever you want to come up with!
Once you're familiar with that, then we can move on to different sounds.
Dana McKeon is a top-ranking beatboxer, recording and performing artist, songwriter and guitarist. She is Malta's international beatbox pioneer and the island's official representative at the Beatbox World Championships, where she secured her spot in the Worldwide Top 5 (Solo Female Category) during her very first competition. Dana also holds two Female Vice-Champion titles from the UK Beatbox Championships. A versatile touring artist, Dana has owned the stage at a plethora of international live gigs including MTV Music Week, The London Paralympics, Lovebox Festival, The O2 London and British Royal Family events. As a support act, she has opened shows for the likes of Rudimental, Stormzy, James Arthur, John Newman and Beardyman. Her songwriting and production credits include chart-topping radio hits in Europe, airplay on BBC Radio and toplining for various DJs and artists. Dana's music features on countless TV spots and short films, including Netflix, BBC, CBS, NBC, ABC, Universal, MTV, Global, iTV, Bravo, Lifetime, Arena and BT Sport. In her course she breaks the art form down to its building blocks: the core sounds, beat patterns and techniques you need to start beatboxing with confidence, taught straight from a world-ranked champion. read more
