How to get ready for Beatboxing & exercises
With
Dana McKeon
What's in the course
12 lessons (0h 34m) · 1 free
01. How to get ready for Beatboxing & exercises
You are here2:50
02. The kick drum
Free lesson2:54
03. The two types of hihat sounds
3:29
04. Three types of snare sounds
3:58
05. Creating fast beats in sequence
2:21
06. Cymbal crash
1:45
07. Great trick to create a deep bass sound
2:48
08. Incorporate all the sounds in your first beat pattern
2:37
09. Practise your precision, clarity and speed with a new beat pattern
3:20
10. When do I breathe?
3:02
11. Where to go from here?
3:07
12. Learn a "show-off beat" that incorporates a new shaker sound
2:32
Lesson transcript
Fundamentals of Beatboxing
Hey, this is Dana with the fundamentals of beatboxing.
Preparation
Before we get started with a beatboxing session, it's really important to be prepared. Here are a few essentials:
- Water: Keep a bottle of water by your side.
- Lip Balm: I also like to keep moisturized using lip balm because it makes a real difference. When your lips or mouth are dry, the sounds can sound completely different.
Warm-Up Exercises
Next, you want to get warmed up. Think of beatboxing like an exercise because you're using muscles to create sound. To get ready:
-
Lip Oscillations: You can do this in two ways:
- With humming, like I did now.
- Without using your vocal cords, like this: [demonstrate].
What this does is warm up the muscles around your mouth and loosen everything up so that it's relaxed enough to contract properly.
-
Breathing Control:
- Place your hand on your diaphragm, just above your tummy.
- Take a deep breath in and watch your hand go up.
- Then, breathe out, and your hand should go down. This indicates that you're engaging your diaphragm.
Your diaphragm is crucial for power, allowing you to release air quickly and create a massive sound.
-
Breathing Exercise:
- Take a deep breath in and hold it for a few seconds.
- Breathe out very slowly and in a controlled manner.
This not only shows that your diaphragm is working but also helps you get stronger over time. Consider timing yourself to track your progress.
Next Steps
Once you've done a few exercises for breathing control and strengthened your diaphragm, we can move on to creating some cool sounds, starting that in the next lesson.
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
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.
