When I first entered high school, I wanted to have some extraordinary skill so that people would pay attention to me. There were a lot of things I could do like playing guitar or drums, but those things were something that numerous people would do. That is when I found out about human beatbox. A friend from my middle school used to do it, and other fellow students would just gather around him just to watch him make the harmony of mixed sounds that are all made orally. But I did not dare to try it because it looked like a skill that was unapproachable. Desperate to gain some public attention, however, I decided to learn beatbox from that friend.
First day of learning, he taught me just two skills – kick and high hat. Those two sounded so easy when I first heard it, but when I tried to do it, the sound did not come out as I thought. I spent a week just to make the similar sound as my friend made. After 2 months of learning from him, I was at the point where I could do basic 3 beats (4-beat, 8-beat, and 16-beat) on my own. Then the vacation ended and I was in high school. For the first month in school, I was just being quiet. When it became 3 months since the first lesson, I could do about 10 beats and some of them were impressive enough for me to get the attention I wanted. I started playing a few beats during lunch time, and some kids gathered to hear my beatbox. About a year passed, and I was referred to other students in my school as beatboxer. It was the first time for me to get that much of an attention, and I was feeling awesome. After 2 years, I was the favorite performer in various events including those of my school and church.
I still play beatbox, and it has been 5 years. Now I do not practice as much as before, but I can still play it anytime and get the attention I need. Beatbox has become the main tool for my social life, and I am grateful for the fact that I started playing it 5 years ago.
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