Practise your precision, clarity and speed with a new beat pattern
Lesson time: (3min 20sec)
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This lesson is part of the course Learn the Fundamentals of Beatboxing
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Lesson transcript:
Improving Clarity and Speed in Beatboxing
Hey guys,
Now that you've been practicing all the different sounds that I've taught you, you can start to focus a bit more on how to make these sounds really clear, precise, and also work on the speed of your sounds. Here are a few tips for practicing:
Mixing Up the Beats
- Start by using a simple kick drum, hi-hat, and snare in this pattern.
- Once you're used to that, play around with different hi-hat sounds.
- For example: "p T."
Progressing to Faster Patterns
- Once you've really got the hang of it, move on to even faster patterns.
- Example: using the "ticket," which sounds like this.
The better you get at it, the faster you can go!
Using a Metronome
- A good way to keep up with your progress is to have a metronome handy.
- You can find one online or buy one from a music store.
- Set it to a certain tempo and practice to that tempo.
This will really help you keep in time and focus on staying in rhythm. After you've done that:
- Start to increase the tempo until you reach the maximum you can handle.
- Practice at that speed.
You'd be surprised at how quickly you can progress once you've got your metronome handy. You will become more comfortable, so feel free to experiment with different sounds.
Clarity and Precision of Sounds
Another factor to consider is how clear and precise your sounds are. Much of this depends on how tight your mouth is and how relaxed it is at the same time.
- It's important to realize that different parts of your mouth need to be either more relaxed or tightened, depending on the sound you're creating.
- For example, in the kick drum, the front part of my lips is really tight to create an expulsion of air in a focused manner.
- Meanwhile, the sides of my mouth are relaxed to create a more bassy, boomy sound.
Focus on these little bits and pieces of your beats to create your own unique sound.
Embrace Your Unique Style
Something that's really unique about beatboxing is that, because each person's anatomy is different, each sound will be particular to you.
You can try to make it sound as much like an actual drum kit as possible, but always remember: it's unique to you. So, have fun with it!
About the instructor

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




