Editing Beatboxing (section)

== Origins ==
Techniques similar to beatboxing have been employed in diverse [[Music of the United States|American musical genres]] since the 19th century, such as [[American folk music|early rural music]], both black and white, religious songs, [[blues]], [[ragtime]], [[vaudeville]], and [[hokum]]. Examples include the [[Appalachia]]n technique of [[eefing]] and the blues song ''Bye bye bird'' by [[Sonny Boy Williamson II]].

Additional influences may perhaps include forms of [[African traditional music]], in which performers [[Juba dance|utilize their bodies (e.g., by clapping or stomping) as percussion instruments]] and produce sounds with their mouths by breathing loudly in and out, a technique used in beatboxing today.<ref>{{cite book | last=Duchan | first=Joshua S. | date=April 4, 2012 | title=Powerful Voices: The Musical and Social World of Collegiate A Cappella | series=Tracking Pop | page= 43 | publisher=[[University of Michigan Press]] | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kLC0VxIKy8sC&pg=PA43 | access-date=July 29, 2017 | isbn=978-0-472-11825-0 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Thompson|first=Tok|year=2011|title=Beatboxing, Mashups, and Cyborg Identity|journal=Western Folklore|volume=70|pages=171–193}}</ref>

{{Quote|Vocal percussion [is], "the imitation or approximation of percussion instruments," and beatboxing is a form of vocal percussion but can be described as, "music with your mouth... beatboxing is making and ''being'' the music, not just rhythm." ...Beatboxing is both the rhythm — predominantly through the [[bass drum|bass]] and [[snare drum]]s as well as [[hi-hat]] — while also incorporating various sound effects such as DJ [[scratching]], synthesizers, and [[bass line]]s. Using the mouth, lips, tongue, and voice to make music is thus the beatboxer's equivalent to a pianist's fingers and arms.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Sherman |first=Philip |date=2015 |title=Boots and cats!: Beatboxing from a pedagogical perspective |type=M.A. |chapter=Introduction |page=3 |publisher=Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Department of Music Education |chapter-url=http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A851567&dswid=-2838 |access-date=2 February 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=McDonald, Brody|date=2012|title=A Cappella Pop|page=81|publisher=Van Nuys|location=California|isbn=9780739095072|quotation=quotes Jake Moulton (of [[The House Jacks]] and [[Mosaic (vocal band)|Mosaic]])}}</ref>}}

Many well-known performers used vocal percussion occasionally, even though this was not directly connected to the cultural tradition that came to be known as beatboxing. [[Paul McCartney]]'s "[[That Would Be Something]]" (1970) includes vocal percussion. [[Pink Floyd]]'s "[[Pow R. Toc H.]]" (1967) also includes vocal percussion performed by the group's original lead vocalist, [[Syd Barrett]]. Jazz singers [[Bobby Mcferrin|Bobby McFerrin]] and [[Al Jarreau]] were very well known for their vocal styles and techniques, which have had great impact on techniques beatboxers use today. [[Michael Jackson]] was known to record himself beatboxing on a dictation tape recorder as a demo and scratch recording to compose several of his songs, including "[[Billie Jean]]", "[[The Girl Is Mine]]", and others.<ref name="mjbeatbox-tape">{{cite web |title=Michael Jackson BeatBoxing |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C5he8XQCBw  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/5C5he8XQCBw| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|work=YouTube |access-date=2011-01-13 |date=2008-03-27}}{{cbignore}} Jackson beatboxes while explaining how he composed "[[Tabloid Junkie]]", "[[The Girl Is Mine]]", "[[Who Is It (Michael Jackson song)|Who Is It]]", "[[Billie Jean]]", and "[[Bad (album)#Track listing|Streetwalker]]" (song on the ''Bad'' album 2001 Special Edition)</ref> In contrast, the English progressive rock band [[Jethro Tull (band)|Jethro Tull]] adopted beatboxing on at least one track on their [[The Jethro Tull Christmas Album|2003 Christmas album]]. [[Gert Fröbe]], a German actor most widely known for playing [[Auric Goldfinger]] in the [[James Bond in film|James Bond]] film ''[[Goldfinger (film)|Goldfinger]]'', "beatboxes" as Colonel Manfred von Holstein (simultaneously vocalizing horned and percussive instruments) in ''[[Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines]]'', a 1965 British comedy film.