Just starting out with Vocal percussion?, Less is MORE!
Over the course of my career, I have had the opportunity to work with several groups of musicians of varying abilities. What I have come to find in most groups that have a vocal percussionist who is just starting out, is that more often than not, tempo is sacrificed by the desire to perform “as many sounds as possible”, in order to match the original artist. Tempo is one of those foundational elements that is crucial to a successful performance. What I have often taught is that “less is more”.
When starting out in early rehearsals, provide a simple beat that easily be handled in order to provide your group with something steady to work with. Think of it almost as if you are back in elementary school, rocking the recorder, or even your first band instrument (cue dream sequence music here)… Your teacher may have written simple quarter note/eighth note rhythms on the board to ask you to play back on one note, or your general music teacher may have asked you to clap back the rhythms. It is essentially the same thing here. Your voice/mouth/spit… that is your instrument. And just like when we start out playing an instrument, it takes time for our muscles to develop comfort, strength and stamina. As you progress and things start to feel comfortable, and you can handle a full song without stopping or feeling tired, then gradually add more to your “drum kit”, whether it be a drum fill here, or an extra sound there.
Two other things to think about:
Consider writing “lyrics” to line up with the rhythms you create. I have slowly started to incorporate writing percussion “lyrics” when I am working on a song. I have seen this often in arrangements by Bryan Sharpe (shout out to him!) with written syllables on a vocal percussion part. I have also seen this in many videos by Youtuber, Verbal ASE, who has gained popularity with his phenomenal beatboxing videos. There are several videos where he has written out his “lyrics”. Viewing vocal percussion in this manner is the equivalent as performing a rhythmic speech piece.
Work with the bass singer(s) within your group to help establish a groove, especially if you are arranging organically. In my time with The Fault Line, we all had days where we would hang out at home, make a list of songs we were considering arranging for performance, and then we would just jam out. Our bass, Matt, and I would lay a foundation, taking the song and building our own groove, and then the rest of the guys would fill in the empty spaces, whether it was a contrapuntal melody, or harmonizing with the soloist. I would say that about 90% of the repertoire we performed was arranged in this manner, and sometimes, we would modify on the fly during performance. It kept things interesting for us, and the crowd fed into it. By establishing your own groove, you are playing to your own strengths as a vocal percussionist, but now your arrangement is becoming your own, and not a, for lack of a better term, “regurgitation” of the original.
So, as you continue to progress as a vocal percussionist, remember… it is important to start small and then build as you grow. “Less is more” when you first start out will build you for better success in the long run!