Semester of Graduation

Spring of 2026

Degree

Master of Music (MM)

Department

Composition

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

Every instrument in the cannon has a standard notation system. Even percussion, with its hundreds of instruments, has a system of notation that can be understood. With that being said, Beatbox/ vocal percussion does not have a standardized notation for its music. As a beatboxer myself, when I perform, I often have to either create my own part to perform or I have to listen to a recording of a previous performance of a piece. In the rare occasion when there is sheet music, it is often not clear. Pentatonix is currently the premier A Capella group and when I got sheet music for one of their scores, the beatbox sheet music did not effectively represent what was actually performed outside of the general rhythms of the part. To properly perform the music, I had to defer to the recording.

This project seeks to establish a standard notation for beatbox. This will not categorize every sound and technique, but it will establish a general notation and structure that future notation can build on. It should be noted that this notation does not seek to take the improvisatory nature of beatbox away, it is only meant to notate it. Even jazz with its innate improvisatory nature has a way to transcribe everything performed.

This research is for my Master’s thesis, but I plan to pursue this research beyond. To demonstrate the notation in my research, I have included scores for two of my original works for beatbox, Vello and Gotta Keep That Beat. Vello was written for cello and beatbox, and Gotta Keep That Beat was written for solo beatbox.

Link to music material for thesis:

https://soundcloud.com/andrewbassmusic/sets/a-standard-notation-system-for?si=00b219aabc06447aaa345fe925257172&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Date

3-27-2026

Committee Chair

Mara Gibson

LSU Acknowledgement

1

LSU Accessibility Acknowledgment

1

Download

Included in

Composition Commons

Share

COinS