You can emphasise and slightly prolong the 'ts' at the end of 'cats' to give another hi-hat sound effect. To complete the 4 beat cycle repeat the phrase twice. Gradually emphasise the start of all 3 syllables as you practice: 'boun' gives a bass drum sound effect, 'cing' should eventually sound like hi-hat cymbals and 'cats' should give you a good snare drum sound. A great way to learn a basic human beatbox drum beat with bass drum, snare and hi-hat sounds is to practice saying the phrase 'bouncing cats' repeatedly. Human beatboxing is another fun rhythmical technique you can experiment with to make realistic drum, synthesiser and other instrument sound effects with your mouth. It's easy to come up with rhythmical vocal chants during your every day life to use for group participation, or just to keep you entertained! You can hear Steve using a chant to start off a groove at a team building drum circle towards the end of this video. If it sounds good and doesn't hurt - keep doing it! The human body is a fantastically versatile instrument! You can create many, many different sounds using 'body percussion' by clicking your fingers, clapping your hands in different ways, beating your chest, slapping your thighs, stamping your feet and whatever else you can think of. If something feels uncomfortable then adjust your actions accordingly to make sure you have fun without hurting yourself! Have a look at one of our drumming workshop videos here Vocals and Body Percussion

Remember to keep your thumb out of the way of the rim of the drum and stay relaxed to avoid injury.

It is usually easier to alternate hands with each stroke while playing. The hand strikes the drum and then lifts off immediately so that the drum head can vibrate to produce the bass, tone or slap sound. This stroke can take a while to master and although it is great for adding accents to the rhythms, the slap is not essential - a missed slap usually comes out like a tone anyway.Īll three strokes - bass, tone and slap - are normally played with the drum head open, that is with the other hand clear of the drum head. The slap produces a loud crack and is played by striking the palm on the edge of the drum and allowing the fingers to move forwards like whips to hit the drum head at high speed. It is a quick motion to lift the sound up and out of the drum head. The tone produces a sharper, higher pitched sound and is played by striking the edge of the drum head with the fingers. Unless the drum has feet it needs to be tilted slightly to let the deep bass sound resonate out of the hole at the bottom of the drum. The bass is played by bouncing the centre of the open and relaxed palm in the centre of the drum. Bass, tone and slap are the three main strokes used to play most large hand drums.

How to make a bass drum