Lesson video

Hi there, everyone.

Welcome to this lesson on introducing beatboxing vocal percussion.

This is from our Playing Together unit where we are discovering different vocal timbres.

My name is Mr. Croughan, and I'm super excited about this unit of work because you are gonna get to make music with the one and only Jason Singh, one of the UK's and indeed the world's finest vocal percussionists and beatboxers.

Are we ready?

Let's get going.

At the end of this lesson, you'll be able to say that you can explore how you've used your voice to create a range of different sounds.

Now then, we'll begin by looking at today's keywords, and we're gonna start with texture.

This is the combination of different layers of sounds happening at the same time.

Then beatboxing, this is the use of the mouth and the voice to mimic sounds such as that of a drum machine.

Art form.

An art form is a recognized form of artistic composition.

And lastly, a drum machine.

This is an electronic instrument that creates drum beats and percussive sounds.

Well there are three learning cycles in today's lesson.

The first one is warming up so that we're ready for music.

Then we're gonna crack on understanding the art of beatboxing, and then we're gonna learn some initial beatboxing sounds.

Let's begin with a warmup then to get us focused and ready.

We know how important it is to warm up our voices and our bodies and our minds so that we do the best safely and well in our music lessons.

So like we might stretch our muscles before PE or before exercise, we're gonna stretch our vocal folds in our throat before using our voice to make sure it's warmed up and safe.

It's gonna prevent our voice from becoming sore.

We're also gonna be focusing on warming up our listening because that's gonna really benefit us when we start listening to those beatboxing sounds.

So first off all, you're going to join up with a breathing exercise.

We're going to imagine we are blowing out candles on a birthday cake taking a deep breath in and blowing.

Here comes the clip, you can follow along.

<v ->Join in with this breathing warmup.

</v> Imagine we are blowing out candles on a birthday cake.

Take a deep breath in, and blow.

Let's do that again.

<v ->Very nice.

And now an articulation warmup.

</v> This is about how we can use our mouths to make a good, clear sound, whether we're speaking, singing, or beatboxing.

Have a watch of the video and follow along.

Here it comes.

<v ->Now we have a tongue twister.

</v> And the tongue twister says, "Gobbledygook, gobbledygook, hobblede, wobblede, bobblede ****.

Jump up and down, all about town, round and around and around and around.

" Okay, sounds easy.

Does it?

When you're reading it, it might take you a couple of times to get it bang on.

Additional challenge for you in your class, can you chant it all in the same time so you're feeling that steady pulse.

That's gonna help you too.

Are you ready?

Pause here and give a go to gobbledygook gobbledygook.

Off you go.

Very good.

Hopefully all of the parts of our face and our throats that we use to speak are getting nice and warmed up and helping us make some very clear sounds.

It's gonna help us in our beatboxing.

True or false, though?

We only really need to warm up for a performance.

Is that true?

Gimme a thumbs up if it is, or if you think that's false, gimme a thumbs down.

Do we only warm up for a performance?

True or false?

Well you've all been doing it, so it better be false, because we've all warmed up and I don't think there's a performance on today.

We warm up whenever we're making music, not just for a performance.

It prevents us from injuring our voice and helps us to focus.

Thanks, Jun.

We are now going to listen to the warmup song, "Build Me Up.

" And your job is simply to hear, then tell me in a moment, how many vocal parts can you hear?

How many parts are being made with the voice?

Have a listen.

Here it comes.

♪ Boom boom kick, kick boom boom tikka-tikka ♪ ♪ Boom boom kick, kick boom ♪ ♪ Boom boom kick, kick boom boom tikka-tikka ♪ ♪ Boom boom kick kick kick kick boom ♪ ♪ Boom boom kick, kick boom boom tikka-tikka ♪ ♪ Boom boom kick, kick boom ♪ ♪ Boom boom kick, kick boom boom tikka-tikka ♪ ♪ Boom boom kick kick kick kick boom ♪ ♪ Oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh yeah ♪ <v ->Well I wonder what you said,</v> and it's not a trick question.

Izzy says, "I can hear five parts building up one at a time.

" And Jacob says, "I can hear a spoken part.

" The one that says "Ticka-ticka.

" There's two sung parts because there's the ah and then the ah and then in harmony there happening at the same time.

Then there's percussion, and then there's piano.

Now I'm quite confident that piano is not made using the voice, but do you think that the percussion might have been, and did you count that as a vocal part?

We call the combination of different layers of sounds the texture of a song or piece of music.

After the introduction, the first part we hear in the texture uses a speaking voice.

And I'd like you to practice and perform this part.

So you're gonna pause here, it's gonna take you a couple of goes.

You don't need to exaggerate.

You don't need to chant too loudly.

We're still just warming up gently.

This is something we might use a bit later.

So pause here and have a go.

Good job, people.

Now let's just have a check-in with ourselves and our body to see if we are thoroughly warmed up and we're feeling ready.

Are your feet whether you're stood or sat shoulder width apart?

This is how wide your shoulders are.

Are your feet around about there?

Are your hands held loosely by your sides?

Not in your pockets, just there nicely and relaxed, shoulders relaxed, oh yeah.

This is gonna help create a nice open sound.

We're not holding any tension.

And if our face and a neck feel warm and relaxed too, then we've done a bit of warming up and we're ready to safely make some sound.

And "Are you ready to concentrate?

" Andeep says.

This is really important because if we're listening really well, we are going to do very well in this beatboxing lesson.

Now let's understand a bit about the art of beatboxing.

It's a musical art form.

It's a recognized type of music composition.

Now there's many types of musical art forms.

I'm sure you can name lots.

Here's some ideas.

There's jazz, hip hop, pop music, choral music, sung, orchestral music played in big orchestras.

There's fusion where we mash two different genres together.

And then beatboxing, and beatboxing is what we're gonna focus on today.

Jason Singh is a beatboxer.

Now beatboxers use the mouth and the voice to mimic sounds such as a drum machine.

So first of all, let's have a watch of Jason in action.

And here's Jason now to introduce himself.

<v ->Hi, my name's Jason Singh.

</v> I'm a beatboxer, sound artist and DJ, and composer.

I use my voice to recreate the sounds of instruments and birdsong and wildlife.

And this art form is called beatboxing.

<v ->So we might say that first came the drum kit,</v> you can see it being played there, and then came the drum machine.

Now a drum machine is an electronic instrument that creates drum beats and percussion sounds.

This that you can see on the screen is a TR-808 drum machine.

I'm gonna talk a little bit more about that right now.

This electronic drum machine has realistic percussion sounds and it was launched right back even before I was born in 1980.

Now the TR-808 was significant because it's allowed the user to be creative and build percussion tracks from start to finish without having to use any preset rhythms that were already there.

Now these drum machines were known as beatboxes, and some people started to imitate the sound of beatboxes using their voice.

And this is the way that the beatboxing art form as we know it today developed.

Oh, I've got Jacob and Laura on the screen, and Jacob and Laura may or may not be correct.

The question is why was the creation of the TR-808 drum machine so significant?

Laura says, "It gave the user preset percussion tracks and that just saved time when they were composing music.

" And Jacob says, "Actually it allowed the user to be creative and build their own percussion tracks rather than using preset ones.

" Who do you think is right?

Who's paying attention?

Were you listening?

If you were, you'll know full well, point at the person you think that is right.

It is Jacob, very well done.

So, let's explore this beatbox a bit further, the TR-808 drum machine, and here is a rhythm played on it.

Wonderful.

So we're gonna now take each of those sounds in turn.

Let's first listen to the snare drum.

Here it comes.

Now we're going to listen to the claves or claves.

Now the maracas.

And let's have a listen to the cowbell.

There are some of the sounds that this machine can make.

So now we're gonna listen to how Jason mimics the sound of a drum machine using his voice.

Here he comes.

All right then, which statement best explains the difference between beatboxing and a drum machine?

Is it, a drum machine can only play one sound at a time, but a beatboxer can play many sounds?

Is it, a beatboxer makes sounds with their voice, while a drum machine creates electronic sounds?

Or both a drum machine and a beatboxer need drums nearby so it works.

What do we think?

Is it A or B or C?

I think you know, do point to the one you think it is, and be ready to say that letter now.

One, two, three.

It is B, a beatboxer makes sound with their voice, a machine creates electronic sounds.

We are now going to listen to the following clips and identify which percussion sound Jason is making.

You can choose from, because I'm gonna play each of these in turn.

You can choose from if you think it is the claves, the snare drum, the maracas, the hi-hat, or the bass drum.

Okay, here comes number one.

Okay, got that one.

Here's number two.

All right, here's the third one, number three.

Almost there, number four.

And lastly, number five.

Very good.

If you need to, you can pause here and play those again.

Otherwise I'm gonna move on and we can reveal each one in turn.

Here it comes.

The first one was the hi-hat, that "ts" sound.

The second one, the snare drum.

The third one was the claves.

The fourth, the maracas.

And we finished with the bass drum.

If you've got all of those correct, very well done.

Time for the last learning cycle of today's lesson.

It's now your turn to learn some initial beatboxing sounds.

There are three beatboxing sounds we're going to learn today.

The first one is of the bass drum, the second is the hi-hat, and the third of the snare.

Now these sounds use plosive consonants, consonants being those letters that aren't vowels, plosives, sounds made with a burst of breath after stopping the air.

So the bass drum, sometimes called a kick drum, you can see it down there.

It's the large drum in a drum kit set on the floor played with a pedal, have a watch, this is what it looks like.

Here's Jason describing how we make the beatboxing sound of the bass drum.

<v ->Okay, this is the sound of the bass drum.

</v> And it's locked in the letter B, so B, brr.

And you take a deep breath in, and you push from the front of your lips.

<v ->And now we're going to listen</v> and follow along with Jason each time he makes that sound.

So watch the video, and in each gap, you join in, here it comes.

<v ->This is the sound of the bass drum.

</v> I'll do it first, and then you repeat.

<v ->And Sophia reminds us the sound is locked</v> in the letter B, buh.

You can pause here and practice that a few more times where you are perhaps moving about the room and trying to perfect your bass drum sound.

It can really help if you visualize what your bass drum looks like as you are making that sound.

Off you go.

Next up is the hi-hat.

This has two cymbals that are played together when the hi-hat is closed, those two cymbals are touching, or when they're apart, have a watch of the video, here it comes.

So now let's discover how to make the sound of the hi-hat, over to Jason.

<v ->This is the sound of the hi-hat,</v> and it's locked in the letter T, and it's the tip of the tongue at the top of your mouth.

And it sounds like this.

So it's T, tuh.

<v ->And let's now begin to practice that sound.

</v> Join in with the gaps with Jason as before, here it comes.

<v ->This is the sound of the hi-hat.

</v> I'll do it first, and then you can repeat.

<v ->And as Sophia reminds us,</v> the sound of the hi-hat is locked in the T and S sound, that "ts" sound.

You can pause here if you need to and practice that where you are.

Our third sound then comes from the snare drum, and a snare drum has a set of wires underneath on the lower skin, and that creates that distinct rattling sound that we can sometimes hear.

Have a watch of the clip.

And of course now it's over to Jason to help us discover how to create that beatboxing sound of a snare drum.

<v ->This is a sound of a snare drum.

</v> It comes from the back of your throat and it's locked in a letter K.

So K, ker.

<v ->Joining in this time same as before,</v> we'll be guided by Jason and then you'll create that snare drum sound.

Off you go.

<v ->This is the sound of the snare drum.

</v> I'll do it first, and then you can repeat.

<v ->Great job, well done.

</v> And Sophia reminds us that the snare drum sound is locked in the letter K and that sound.

So if you need to practice your snare drum, then pause here and practice a few times where you are.

Fantastic, already making great sounds.

We're gonna begin to put those together.

I'm gonna pop the clip on it and you're going to listen and join in with these beatboxing sounds.

Are you ready?

Let's go.

<v ->Okay, so this is the sound</v> of the three instruments altogether, the bass drum, the hi-hat, and the snare drum.

Now after four, we'll do it together.

One, two, three, four.

Well done.

<v ->Fantastic.

</v> Now what we're going to do is improve and neaten, can we improve that quality of sound of our vocal percussion?

Okay, the first one, the bass drum, the buh sound.

So we make the B as in the word boat, buh.

Our lips are closed and we let the pressure of the air behind it start to build up, buh, before we let it out, buh.

Then we control the release of our lips so they vibrate just enough for a small amount of time.

So we get the.

And you start to feel that vibration happening.

You're still letting the air out eventually with that strong buh at the beginning.

The second part is your hi-hat "ts" sound.

So you make the tick as in hat, and then you strengthen that with a short burst of air.

And it's let loose with that "ss" sound at the end.

So you get the.

Have a practice and then we'll move on to the "k" sound, the snare k.

And so you're making the "k" as in kick, and then you strengthen it with a burst of air, keeping your cheeks relaxed.

Okay, so practice those three, and then we'll put them together.

Off you go.

Okay, now then let's put those sounds together.

Here comes Jason.

<v ->Okay, so this is the sound</v> of the three instruments all together, the bass drum, the hi-hat, and the snare drum.

Now after four, we'll do it together.

One, two, three, four.

Well done.

<v ->And now you've got that.

</v> What you're going to do is pause the video and play the backing track, listening to that backing track, keeping in time with the steady pulse.

And you are gonna repeat the "b, ts, k" sounds over the top, feeling the steady pulse so you all stay in time and hopefully create a brilliant sound.

Pause here and enjoy that where you are.

All right, how was that?

How was making your correct beatboxing sounds?

How did you know the right sound was coming out of your mouth?

It certainly takes a lot of practice.

Andeep said, "Well, I created the 'b, ts, k' consonant plosives with short bursts of air.

" Aisha says "Well I shut my lips before the 'b' to shut the air off, 'b,' before I let the air come out.

And Jun says, "I made the 'b, ts, k' consonants powerful sounds.

" So sometimes it is about really committing to that sound and controlling what you're doing with your voice.

So wherever you are up to in your beatboxing journey so far, really well done.

That's all we have time for today.

We're gonna be building more on that next time.

But for now, a summary of our learning.

We know how important it is to warm up.

This makes our bodies, minds, and voices ready and safe to learn.

Beatboxing, a form of vocal percussion that uses the mouth, the lips, the tongue, and our voice.

The art of beatboxing involves mimicry, copying, of sounds, including that of a drum machine like we explored today.

Now examples of sounds often imitated by beatboxers include drums like bass drum, hi-hat, and snare drum, which we've explored.

Really well done for today, and I look forward to seeing you next time.

Bye for now.