My Journey into Beatboxing

While earning my first master’s degree I met a truly inspiring flutist.  This student helped me to loosen up, chill out (if you will), in rehearsals and as a musician.  This same student introduced me to a whole new world of flute playing.  He shook up the whole studio by learning Greg Pattillo’s Three Beats for Beatbox Flute.  It was so cool!  And secretly, I wanted to be able to beatbox too.  But as with all new things, I was extremely hesitant to even try.  For years, I pushed it away, making excuses for why I couldn’t learn how to do it.  Did you catch that?  Couldn’t.  I thought I did not possess the ability to learn what my friend had.  Why?  Well, it is despairingly simple.  I was scared.  There was nothing to stop me from learning.  I could have asked my friend to give me pointers, but I didn’t.  I wasted a perfectly good opportunity.  Furthermore, I wasted five years of growth potential on fear.  I was so scared of failure and embarrassment.   There are so many quotes I can throw in here about how people who are successful weren’t afraid to fail because it would lead to success or how the only difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is the willingness to prepare, to put in the hard work.  But I don’t need to, because undoubtably you have heard them all before. 

And here’s the thing, once I decided that I was going to do it, that I was going to learn how to beatbox, I took off.  I watched countless instructional videos about how to beatbox (I will share some of my favorites at the bottom of this post), and they helped a little bit.  But at the end of the day, I learn by experience.  I started incorporating beatboxing syllables into my warm-ups, for example scales, and I purchased beatboxing etude books and pieces.  Now I know what you are thinking – there are beatboxing etudes?!  Yes, yes there are.  I will share the books I purchased with you in the following paragraphs as I compare them and detail what worked for me.  Let me say this, I don’t think I am as good of a beatboxer as my friend who so inspired me, but I do hope to have the opportunity to jam with him in the future.  I was so honored and, yes, inspired (theme of the post much?) watching my friend grow as a flutist and I can only hope that if he heard me beatboxing he would be proud of me. 

Shall we get down to it?  The book that helped me, hands down, the most in learning beatboxing was  Flute Beatboxing: Studies& Pieces by Tilmann Dehnhard.  Dehnhard has another amazing extended technique book that I may have to do an entire entry on in the future called The New Flute: Workbook & DVD.  In his beatboxing book, Dehnhard explains how to make each sound and then goes on to give focused etudes on each individual sound in progressively more challenging levels.  Level 1 is Bronze followed by Silver, Gold, and Platinum.  In the first three levels, the Ts, K, and B sound are taught on their own.  Then, in the Platinum level, the final etude is a mix of K and B.  Furthermore, there are concert studies which integrate all three sounds. Finally, he gives students “Beatbox Classics” which are familiar tunes with added beatbox sounds.  I should note that Dehnhard notates the B (bass drum) sound as P in his music and Ts as T.  You will see in this blog that composers notate beatboxing differently.  Isolating each sound and placing them in a more traditional learning setting solidified my ability to process and master each sound.  Technology is great and I loved listening to Pattillo demonstrate each sound, but this book gave me a physical goal.  I guess I am truly old school. 

I had also previously purchased The Art of Beatboxing by Brandy Hudelson which is also an etude book.  I bought it because I was working on her piece Wild Nightingale.  Wild Nightingale was my first goal in beatboxing.  I was staying clear of Three Beats, again due to fear, and wanted a piece that I could perform.  For the record, I have since worked on, although not performed, Three Beats.  Hudelson’s book was not accessible to me when I was in the beginning stages of learning to beatbox.  She introduces a lot of beatboxing syllables, each with a detailed description on how to produce the sound, and incorporates them with complex rhythms and sometimes compounds them with other extended techniques.  Having worked through Dehnhard’s book and worked on/performed Wild Nightingale, I think this book is more accessible to me now.  I would not recommend this book to learn the basics.  What this book does do that is fantastic is in the chapters leading up to the etudes, Hudelson discusses how to improvise with beatboxing and how to compose with the technique.  I arrange music for my students and for flute ensemble often and I think it would be fun to incorporate beatboxing into a future project. Below the sample notation is a recording of my dress rehearsal for a performance of Wild Nightingale (consider it proof that an old dog can learn new tricks).

The final etude book that I had purchased early on was Four Etudes for Beatbox Flute by Greg Pattillo.  This book was also a bit much for me, personally, in the beginning.  I felt like I was just thrown into the deep end.  To be fair, remember that Pattillo has multiple videos and a summer camp in which you can learn to beatbox from the pro himself.  For me, the videos didn’t engage me the way I need in order to learn.  Physical etudes hold me accountable.  Pattillo, like every composer I have encountered who uses beatboxing, provides instructions in the book on how to produce the sound.  You will see, again, that Pattillo notates differently than the previous two composers.  What is neat about this book is that the tunes are not only familiar to a musician, but also to those who do not study music.  The tunes are from popular culture and are transcriptions of some of Pattillo’s popular videos.  Again, I think I would be more successful with this book now than I was a year ago when I started this venture.

In a future post, I plan to discuss a super neat flute composer whose compositions I have been obsessed with of late: Nicole Chamberlain.  Chamberlain is a composer who has given the flute literature world a plethora of cool pieces for solo flute, duets, trios, flute choir, and mixed chamber ensembles incorporating beatboxing and other techniques.  No surprise here, Chamberlain notates the beatboxing technique differently from the aforementioned flutist-composers.   For now, I will leave you with a couple of the instructional beatboxing YouTube videos:

Extended Techniques: The New Flute

In my previous post concerning beatboxing, I mentioned The New Flute by Tilmann Dehnhard. I would like to expand on that a bit, in the form of an entire post.  In short, I would say that this book is extremely similar in content (extended techniques) to Robert Dick's The Other Flute; however, I find this book more visually appealing and, overall, more accessible.

Dehnhard not only explains, verbally and in great detail, how to achieve and work on a given technique, he also provides a variety of exercises which begin at a beginner's level and get progressively more difficult.  I personally love having topics broken down into focused, smaller bites.  Makes it easier to swallow.  The topics discussed in this book include, but are not limited to: sing-play, beatboxing, whistle tones, wind noises (i.e. jet whistle), percussive sounds (i.e. percussive articulations), pitch bends, harmonics, multiphonics, circular breathing, tremolos, and flutter tongue.  The book also comes with an instructional DVD.

A particularly cool feature of this book is that Dehnhard combines multiple exercises into a comprehensive etude (of sorts).  While learning to sing-play, he writes an exercise in which you play the melody of a J.S. Bach Bourrée and sing an accompaniment line.

Later, while mastering beatboxing, an exercise using the melody of the Bourrée returns and beatbox syllables have been added to the fray (no singing in this instance).

Finally, a few pages later, the Bourrée is presented as an etude in which you play the melody, beatbox, and sing an accompaniment line.

How cool is that?

For me, this gives me proof of progress.  Not only did I work on mastering specific techniques, I learned a piece in fragments before seeing it all together.  No doubt, if you flip open to the final product, it is more than intimidating.  Yet, having walked through it all on your own terms, at your own pace, putting it all together seems more manageable. This process of chunking music is an important skill to learn and apply in all of your practice sessions; this book sets a good example for how to execute the chunking process.

I am slowly working through this book and will try to do regular updates on how it is going.  My plan is to learn an exercise from the book, record myself, and post the video with a brief discussion on struggles I had and/or how the book helped me improve.  So keep an eye out for that post.  Maybe I will even post the Bourrée in the future.  Just seems like a cool trick to have up your sleeve anyway.  :)  Excelsior!

"Wake up!" I'm back.

Returning to a project is always an interesting experience.  In part, it is exciting to pick up where you left off and come up with new ideas.  In part, it is extremely difficult because you have to pick up where you left off and come up with new ideas.  Why did I stop blogging to begin with?

Life happened.  After completing my master's in flute performance, I spent a few years playing in local ensembles/chamber groups, teaching lessons, and blogging.  Then I decided to take a few classes in the music education realm to see what I thought about that.  I liked it, which makes sense because I like teaching.

But the biggest change happened when my husband got a new job and moved our family to a new state.  It goes without saying, there were a lot of changes and adjustments made.  I, for one, started a second master's degree in music education.  Two years later, I have completed my master's in music education and I am EdTPA certified. 

But now what? I am more experienced as a teacher because of the opportunities presented through the degree program including the culminating experience of student teaching; but I am not, at present, teaching in a school as a full time job. 

I won't lie.  I am disappointed.  I did not think that I wouldn't have a job this year and that is a lot to take on mentally. 

So, in part, I am here for my own mental wellness.  I don't do well with idleness.  I like being busy and having things to do.  This blog gives me a purpose.  I also greatly enjoy learning and writing about music.  While I try to build a studio again and find my place as a music educator in my new musical landscape, I am going to keep myself active and happy. 

For starters, let me share a piece I discovered earlier this year.  I was invited to work as an aural skills instructor for a summer music camp and all of the counselors and instructors had been asked to play a piece in a recital for the campers.  The previous summer, I played Ian Clarke's The Great Train Race.  I love performing and when given the chance, I like to learn/play a piece that exposes students to something new and/or unexpected.  I like to entertain and surprise.  I mean, you can't do this all the time, but for an informal recital for a summer camp it almost seems called for, don't you think?

Thus began one of my many YouTube musical journeys - you know, the ones where you start one place and through clicking the suggested videos you end up somewhere completely different?  Well, this particular listening experience led me to the piece "Wake up!" by Tilmann Dehnhard. 

The piece is straightforward tonally and rhythmically.  What makes it fun is the instrumentation.  It is written for piccolo and alarm clock.  I kid you not, the title is "WAKE UP! für Piccoloflöte und Wecker."  Even more delightful, or not ( depending on your mindset), is that it comes with a tiny alarm clock. Here it is in all of its glory:

Anyway, the piece is a little jazzy and is meant to sound improvised.  The alarm clock sounds four sixteenths on beats two and four.  You, the piccolo, fill in the rest (I hope you enjoy my play on words as much as I do).  As noted by many players, you have to tune the piccolo to the alarm clock.  My alarm clock was a slightly flat C.  Probably the most difficult thing for me was balancing with the alarm clock.  When I practiced, there was no issue because the alarm clock faced me.  As it got closer to performance, I started practicing with the alarm next to me, but facing away from me.  As the piccolo line goes into the upper register as the piece progresses, it became difficult to hear the alarm clock and therefore maintain tempo.  I don't know if you know, but the piccolo can out-sound an alarm clock.  There are very few silences in this piece, three instances, and they are all at the beginning.  If you get off-tempo from the alarm clock, which can be easy to do when you are having fun, there will be silences that are not written.  The final fun fact I will share with you is two-fold: 1) while playing straight sixteenths on a concert C in the final measures you turn off the alarm clock and 2) the last note is a high C. Turning the alarm clock off is fun because if the audience isn't fully paying attention they won't even notice.  And because the piece wasn't a test of endurance already, you get Prokofiev-ed by Dehnhard when he throws in a high C at the end.  Here is a recording by the composer himself.  Enjoy and Wake Up!