The hambone is a musical technique that uses the human body as an instrument. While there is a hambone song with specific beats and patterns to follow, as a musical technique, hamboning can be used in other contexts, as well. Keep reading to learn more.
Full Hambone Song
1Slap your thigh. The opening note of the hambone song is made by striking the outer thigh or “hambone” with your open hand. In terms of musical notation, this note should be a quarter note.
- A quarter note lasts for one quarter of the duration a whole note lasts. In terms of the hambone song, you can think of the quarter note as one beat. Strike your leg and hold steady for a mental count of "one," representing one beat.
- For the purpose of learning the basic hambone song, you should use your dominant hand to strike the thigh on the same side of the body. For instance, if you are right-handed, you should use the palm and open fingers of your right hand to strike the outside of your right thigh.
- As you get more proficient with the rhythm and song, you can switch things up by striking your left thigh with your right hand or by slapping both thighs with both hands simultaneously. Either move can liven up the performance and enhance the overall sound.
2Strike your thigh again. For the next note of the song, strike the same outer thigh with the same open hand. The movement will essentially be the same as your first slap, but instead of lasting as a quarter note, this note will only be held as an eighth note.
- An eighth note is half of a quarter note. With this song, a quarter note can be counted as a single beat, so an eighth note will only last for half of a beat. Strike your leg and put your hand in position for the slap that follows before you can finish counting off to “two” in your head.
- Use the same thigh and same hand when practicing this song for the first time. As you grow more accustomed to the movements, you can switch hands and thighs during the middle of the performance.
3Move up to your heart. Slap an open hand to your chest, just above your heart. This slap should be performed as another eighth note.
- This slap and the one prior to it should be completed by the time you reach a mental count of “two,” with “one,” having been completed on the quarter note of the first slap.
- Use the same hand and keep the palm and fingers open.
- As you grow more comfortable with the hambone, you can change things a bit by bringing your hand up halfway and slapping the palm of your other hand, rather than your chest.
4Strike your thigh twice. Bring your hand back down to your thigh. Strike the outside of your thigh with the back of your open hand for one eighth note and the front of your hand for a second eighth note.
- By the time you complete both thigh slaps, you should be able to complete another beat, or the mental count of “three.”
- Stick with the same hand and same thigh while learning the basics. Switch things up with other hands and thighs as you get more comfortable.
5Slap your heart again. Bring the same open hand up to your chest, just above your heart, and give the area another hearty slap. This note will be another eighth note.
- This note should be the first half of your final beat.
- As before, you can slap your opposite hand if this feels more comfortable than slapping your chest.
6Move back down to the thigh for another slap. The final strike is another eighth note. Bring the same hand back down and slap the outside of the same thigh with the back of your hand.
- This slap will complete your final beat. By the time you complete this one and the heart slap before it, you should be able to count off another beat, or the number “four” in your head.
7Give your thigh a final slap as you conclude the song. Continue on in the above pattern for as often long as you desire to make the song longer. When done, conclude by flipping your hand back over and striking the outer thigh with the open palm and fingers of your same dominant hand.
8Sing along. When you get the rhythm of the hambone down, you can also sing along to the beat. There are several sets of lyrics floating around the Internet and you can easily select one of those options. You could also come up with your own rhyme that matches the beat of the song.
- One set of lyrics goes: Hambone, hambone / where you been? / Round the world and I’m goin' again. / What you gonna do when you come back? / Take a little walk by the railroad track. / Hambone.
- In a second set of lyrics, the words go: Hambone, hambone / Have you heard? / Papa’s gonna buy me a mockingbird. / And if that mockingbird don’t sing / Papa’s gonna buy me a diamond ring. / And if that diamond ring don’t shine / Papa’s gonna take it to the five and dime. / Hambone.
- In a third set, the lyrics go: Hambone, hambone / Where you been? / Round the world and I’m going again. / I just skinned an alley cat / To make my wife a Sunday hat. / Took the hide right off a goat / To make my wife a Sunday coat. / Hambone.
- In yet another set, the lyrics can be sung as: Hambone, hambone / Trying to eat / Ketchup on his elbow, pickle on his feet / Bread in the basket / Chicken in the stew / Supper on the fire for me and you. / Hambone.
9Speed up and slow down. As you get more and more comfortable with the rhythm of the song, you can show off by speeding up your slaps and going at a faster pace. Maintain the same pattern and the same set of quarter and eighth notes, but work faster or slower as it appeals to you.
1Clap your hands once. A hambone “gallop” is a simple three note combination: hand, knee, knee. For the first beat of this gallop pattern, clap both of your hands together.
- Clap your hands so that one hand rests on top of the other.
- This works best if you are sitting with your knees or thighs extended directly below your hands.
2Hit one knee with one hand. Slide your top hand off the bottom hand and strike the top part of the thigh lying directly below it.
- The beat or rhythm of this slap should be the same in duration as your first slap.
- Keep your hand open so that the inside of your palm and fingers strike your thigh.
3Hit the other knee with your other hand. Flip your other hand over and strike the top part of the corresponding thigh with the inside of your palm and fingers.
- The beat or rhythm of this slap should be the same in duration as your first and second slaps.
4Speed up and slow down. Repeat these three slaps in successive order to create the gallop effect. The more rapidly you perform the effect, the more impressive it sounds and the closer it comes to an actual gallop. You can experiment with the speed until you find one that sounds pleasing to you, though.
Hambone Freestyle Moves
1Experiment with your own rhythms and patterns. There's no rule saying that you must follow one of the patterns described in this article. Experiment with your own moves, rhythms, and patterns until you find a way to express yourself using this technique.
- While there might be a traditional rhythm for the hambone “song,” hambone itself is a musical technique or practice and not a song. Hambone is simply a form of percussion that uses the human body as an instrument. It has its roots in African-American tradition.
2Hambone with both hands. As you get more comfortable with hambone motions, creating a more impressive sound and show by striking your body with both hands simultaneously.
- When slapping your hambones or thighs, you can use both hands to slap both legs or use them to strike one leg.
- If you feel like being even more showy, you can swap legs and strike the right thigh with your left hand and the left thigh with your right hand.
3Hambone using your cheeks. Another common hambone technique you can incorporate into your own set of rhythms is the cheek slap, made by slapping your cheeks with the fingertips of both hands.
- Open your mouth all the way before narrowing your lips into a narrow, rounded opening.
- Pat your cheeks rapidly using only your fingertips. If you use your palms or fingers, the sound will come out flat instead of rounded.
- Change the sound as you slap by opening and closing your lips. Opening your lips wider creates a higher pitch and narrowing the opening creates a lower pitch.
4Strike your elbows and calves. If you are flexible enough, you can twist your arms and legs as you hambone so that you can strike your elbows and lower calves with your open hands.
- Get creative and experiment with different slaps on different areas of the body.
5Slap different areas of your body at the same time. You can deepen and enhance the sound by striking multiple places of your body simultaneously with two different hands.
- For instance, you could slap your chest with your right hand while striking your thigh with your left hand, or slap your thigh with a backhanded right hand while striking the calf of your leg with your left hand.
6Stomp your feet and clap your hands. The hand clap is a very basic move, but it does create a percussion sound using your body as an instrument, so it still qualifies as a hambone move. The same can be said for stomping your feet.
- Stomping your feet can be an especially good move to work in since you can stomp or tap your foot while slapping the actual notes out using your hands. This can help you maintain the right rhythm.
Sources and Citations
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