Lesson lan Lesson 1: 1he 8aslcs

2011 8eaLbox !am

Lesson 1: 1he 8as|cs
About
1hls flrsL lesson ls deslgned Lo geL Lhe sLudenL beaLboxlng. lL Leaches
Lhe Lhree baslc sounds (klck, hl-haL and snare) used Lo make a
beaLboxlng beaL and comblnes Lhese Lhree sounds lnLo a slmple beaL
paLLern. 1he sLudenL ls lnLroduced Lo S8n (SLandard 8eaLbox
noLaLlon), a slmple way off wrlLlng beaLboxlng for sLudenLs
unfamlllar wlLh muslc Lheory.
Lesson A|ms
A Lhe end of Lhls lesson Lhe sLudenL wlll be able Lo:

uemonsLraLe Lhe dlfference beLween ploslves and frlcaLlves.
uemonsLraLe Lhe dlfference beLween an unforced and forced
ploslve.
Make a slmple beaL paLLern wlLh a klck [ 8 }, Pl-haL [ L } and
Snare [ sh } sounds.
now to use the mater|a|
vldeo 1lLle: Lesson 1: 1he 8as|cs
vldeo uuraLlon: 20 m|nutes
Llnk: http:]]www.beatboxb|b|e.com]|earn]|esson-1]

1he vldeo ls dlvlded lnLo 9 secLlons. 1he whole lesson can be played
conLlnuously or paused afLer each secLlon. 1he secLlons can also be
played lndlvldually from Lhe submenu.

lor example: Cne ldea for a lesson mlghL be Lo play Lhe whole vldeo
Lhrough, Lhen play each subsecLlon followed by Lhe acLlvlLles. 1hls
would Lake approxlmaLely 1.3 hours.
Lesson lan Lesson 1: 1he 8aslcs


2011 8eaLbox !am
1. What |s a phonet|c approach?
1|me 7 mlns
V|deo hLLps://vlmeo.com/38886083
Summary honeLlcs ls Lhe sLudy of human speech sounds and
prlmarlly Lhelr physlologlcal producLlon - l.e. how Lhey
are made. We are golng Lo look aL how humans make
sounds and apply Lhls knowledge Lo how human
beaLboxers make sounds.
Act|v|ty 1.1 1hlnk abouL how humans make when we speak? WhaL
dlfferenL parLs of Lhe body (noL [usL Lhe obvlous blLs)
do we use when we make sounds? Pow many can you
name?
(Answer: 1ongue, 1eeth, Voca| 1ract, Voca| Chords,
L|ps, Soft a|ate (sofL blL on roof of mouLh), nard
a|ate (hard blL on roof of mouLh), A|veo|ar k|dge -
Lhe bony sLlcklng ouL blL above Lop fronL LeeLh, Uvu|ar
- Lhe dangly blL aL back of mouLh someLlmes used ln
snorlng, (epl)G|ott|s - Lhe sofL blL used Lo say 'q', Nose)
Note: ?ou may wlsh Lo show a plcLure of Lhe anaLomy
of Lhe mouLh and vocal LracL (Lhere are plenLy avallable
on Lhe lnLerneL).
Lesson lan Lesson 1: 1he 8aslcs


2011 8eaLbox !am
2. 1he four types of sound
1|me 7 mlns
V|deo hLLps://vlmeo.com/38886086
Summary ln phoneLlcs, we use loLs of dlfferenL sounds Lo make
speech. ln human beaLboxlng we use four ma[or Lypes
of sound:
1. loslves
2. lrlcaLlves
3. Cllcks
4. CsclllaLlons
Act|v|ty 2.1 lor each of Lhe followlng sounds, have a go aL wrlLlng
down whaL parLs of Lhe anaLomy are used, e.g. LeeLh,
Longue, sofL palaLe, eLc.
1. L (as ln Lop)
2. p (as ln plg)
3. b (as ln baL)
4. sh (as ln shop)

Lesson lan Lesson 1: 1he 8aslcs


2011 8eaLbox !am
3. |os|ves
1|me 6 mlns
V|deo hLLps://vlmeo.com/38871089
Summary loslves are sounds made by sLopplng Lhe sound and
Lhen leLLlng lL ouL. Pence, ploslves are someLlmes
called 'sLops'.
Act|v|ty 3.1 uescrlbe Lhe dlfference beLween b (as ln baL) and p (as
ln plg)?
(Answer: 1lghLness of llps)
Act|v|ty 3.2 CLher Lhan b, p, g, k and L - can you Lhlnk of Lwo oLher
ploslves and how are Lhey made?
(Answer: q as ln qulck, d as ln dog)

Lesson lan Lesson 1: 1he 8aslcs


2011 8eaLbox !am
4. n|-hat { t }
1|me 3 mlns
V|deo hLLps://vlmeo.com/38844719
Summary 1he flrsL beaLboxlng sound we are golng Lo learn ls Lhe
hl-haL [ L } sound.
Act|v|ty 4.1 1here ls a very sllghL dlfference beLween Lhe L (as ln
Lennls) and Lhe sound we make for a hl-haL [ L }. Can
you spoL whaL lL ls?
(Answer: 1he sound we usually make for speech ls
made wlLh Lhe Llp of Lhe Longue agalnsL Lhe alveolar
rldge. 8uL ln beaLboxlng, Lo make lL sound more llke a
closed hl-haL, we use Lhe Llp of Lhe Longue agalnsL Lhe
Lop LeeLh.)

Lesson lan Lesson 1: 1he 8aslcs


2011 8eaLbox !am
S. Iorced and Unforced |os|ves
1|me 3 mlns
V|deo hLLps://vlmeo.com/38871084
Summary loslves come ln Lwo Lypes - forced and unforced. An
unforced b (for boy) ls noLaLed ln S8n (SLandard
8eaLbox noLaLlon) as { b } uslng lowercase leLLers. A
forced b (for boy) ls noLaLed ln S8n as { 8 } uslng
uppercase leLLers.
Act|v|ty S.1 Pow would you wrlLe (noL sound) Lhe forced ploslve 'g'
?
( Answer: [ C } )

Lesson lan Lesson 1: 1he 8aslcs


2011 8eaLbox !am
6. C|ass|c k|ck { 8 }
1|me 6 mlns
V|deo hLLps://vlmeo.com/38842182
Summary 1hls ls Lhe flrsL klck drum LhaL we are golng Lo learn. lL
ls called Lhe Classlc klck because lL was one of Lhe flrsL
sounds made by beaLboxers ln Lhe early 1980s. lL ls a
forced b (for boy) - { 8 }.
Act|v|ty 6.1 1o pracLlce Lhe classlc klck { 8 }, Lry alLernaLlng
beLween a { 8 } and a { b } llke Lhls:
{ 8 b 8 b 8 b 8 b }
AL flrsL you wlll flnd lL qulLe dlfflculL Lo go beLween Lhe
Lwo slmllar sounds, buL pracLlclng Lhls paLLern wlll help
you learn Lo shape your mouLh qulckly and make Lhe
Lwo sounds dlsLlncL.

Lesson lan Lesson 1: 1he 8aslcs


2011 8eaLbox !am
7. Ir|cat|ves
1|me 8 mlns
V|deo hLLps://vlmeo.com/38871083
Summary lrlcaLlves are conLlnuous sounds such as { sh }, { f },
{ s }, and { h }.
Act|v|ty 7.1 We can shape Lhe mouLh and hold Lhe Longue ln
dlfferenL poslLlons, usually assoclaLed wlLh vowel
sounds. MouLh poslLlons help change Lhe Llmbre or
Lone of beaLboxlng sounds, and lL ls because every
person has a dlfferenL shaped mouLh LhaL no Lwo
beaLboxers sound exacLly Lhe same. Pere are some
dlfferenL mouLh shapes:
Mouth pos|t|ons:
aa
ee
oo
1ongue pos|t|ons:
rr
||
1ry maklng Lhe frlcaLlves { sh }, { f }, { s } and { h } uslng
dlfferenL mouLh and Longue poslLlons. noLe any
lnLeresLlng comblnaLlons you come up wlLh! lor
example:
{ sh } + oo + rr = sounds ||ke?

Lesson lan Lesson 1: 1he 8aslcs


2011 8eaLbox !am
8. C|ass|c Snare { sh }
1|me 10 mlns
V|deo hLLps://vlmeo.com/38871081
Summary 1he Classlc Snare { sh }, so called because lL was one
of Lhe flrsL snare sounds Lo be made by beaLboxers ln
Lhe early 1980s, ls made by comblnlng a forced p (for
plg) - { } and Lhe frlcaLlve { sh }. All snare sounds are
comblnaLlons of a ploslve and a frlcaLlve.
Act|v|ty 8.1 ?ou were shown how Lhe classlc snare drum sound ls
creaLed by comblnlng { } and { sh } Lo make [ sh }.
Make Lhree oLher snare drum sounds uslng Lhe
frlcaLlves { f }, { s } and { h }.
1. Pow wlll you wrlLe Lhem?
2. WhaL wlll Lhey sound llke?
Act|v|ty 8.2 WhaL would Lhe followlng ploslve and frlcaLlve
comblnaLlons (affrlcaLes) sound llke?
1. { 8 } + { sh } = { ? }
2. { 8 } + { f } = { ? }
3. { 8 } + { s } = { ? }
4. { 8 } + { h } = { ? }
S. { t } + { sh } = { ? }
6. { t } + { f } = { ? }
7. { t } + { s } = { ? }
8. { t } + { h } = { ? }
Lesson lan Lesson 1: 1he 8aslcs


2011 8eaLbox !am
9. A s|mp|e beat
1|me 3x mlns
V|deo hLLps://vlmeo.com/38869423
Summary We are golng Lo comblne Lhe Classlc klck [ 8 }, Pl-haL [ L
} and Classlc Snare [ sh } lnLo a slmple beaL: { 8 t sh t
] 8 8 sh t }
Note: 1he S8n descrlbes boLh Lhe rhyLhm and Lhe
sounds. Also, noLe how, Lo ald learnlng, Lhe S8n dlvldes
Lhe bar lnLo Lwo four-quaver secLlons.
Act|v|ty 9.1 (for muslc sLudenLs)
8e-wrlLe Lhe S8n beaL paLLern on sheeL muslc wlLh
drum clef and Llme slgnaLure.
Answer:

Act|v|ty 9.2 Come up wlLh your own 8-beaL paLLern uslng S8n
(SLandard 8eaLbox noLaLlon). noLe: ?ou may wlsh Lo
use Lhe sounds you creaLed ln a prevlous acLlvlLy.
e.g. { 8 t sh 8 ] 8 8 sh 8 }