How To Hum And Sing Whilst Beatboxing

Step 1: Humming

To start with you need to be able to beatbox. Use the three basic noises - kickdrum, hi-hat and snare. You can incorporate in other noises if you wish but these are the main three. You need to learn these noises to the point where they become what is known as a 'dry' noise. Start by breathing through your nose, keeping your mouth open but making sure that no air comes out of your mouth. Then make the kickdrum noise whilst still breathing through you nose, all the time making sure that no air is coming out of your mouth. When you can do this, do the same for the hi-hat and the snare. Then start to hum, but make sure that you do not hum through your mouth. When you can do that, add the dry noises and you can hum whilst you beatbox.

Step 2: Singing

Once you've mastered the humming you can think about MC-ing or singing inside a beat. It is possible to sing inside a beat without humming, but it doesn't sound anywhere near as fluid. When preparing to sing, you need to think about which words are going to fit in with each noise. Rahzel, the famous beatboxer, uses the song "If Your Mother Only Knew". This is a great song to use because all the sounds have a similar shape to his mouth when he's singing the words. With the first word, 'if', use the kickdrum because the B sound doesn't interefere with the vowel at the start. The snare drum is harder and replaces the 'm' in 'mother' because the shape your mouth makes when making the sound is a lot like the shape it makes saying the word 'mother'. Then for 'only' you need to hum the second part of the word. Sing the 'o' then hum the 'nly', because when you're humming to can make many different sounds. Put it all together and practice, and make sure that if you want to try it with other songs make sure the lyrics match the sounds and mouth movements of the beatbox sounds you want to add.