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I have been practicing with the metronome on 2 and 4 while trying to tap my foot on 1 and 3. Invariably I start tapping my foot on the 2 and 4 after a bit.
Do other people struggle with this? Is this something people work on? Or should I just tap my foot on 2 and 4 or not at all?
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01-11-2026 12:17 AM
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For metronome settings, I set mine to click on the downbeat of 1 every bar. Sometimes if I want a challenge, I set the click to 1 for every 2 bars. Builds my internal clock.
I don't even bother with 2 and 4 lol. Metronome settings or foot-tapping.
I feel almost all jazz as 1 and 3 music because jazz was originally dance music. If I have to tap my foot, it's gonna be 1 and 3. It's also much easier to tap your foot on these big beats at higher tempi say 180-220bpm. (It's so much harder for me to tap my foot on 2 and 4 at these tempi, but if you can do it, more power to you.)
Feeling jazz as 1 and 3 (two-feel) relaxes me a lot. Almost everything seems slower, easier, more enjoyable to play.
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Keep working on it …
Originally Posted by charlieparker
I’m an advocate of tapping your foot on beats 1 and 2 not 2 and 4 - something I got from a couple of people
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Yes me too, for practicing internal time, I set the metronome on beat 1 and the lowest BPM. Originally Posted by brent.h
Also, I feel +1 and +3, not 2 and 4. That's a big difference.
I've been taught to feel beats 2 and 4 many times at Jazz workshop lessons, but it doesn't work for me.
I'm a white English man, who danced badly to 'Northern Soul' in the 1970's, I feel the pulse of the +1 and +3.
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You need to feel all the beats and the upbeats.
The 1 and 3 are the ground pulse - the relaxed beats where you feel the pulse and shift the beat
The 2 and 4 are the tension beasts - where you snap your fingers or clap your hands
Some people teach foot tapping on the 2 and 4. It was Barry Harris's opinion that this caused over emphasis on the 2 and 4
From the perspective of constructing lines you should probably start with 'landing' on the 1 and 3 with a clear chord tone on the target chords.
From a jazz rhythm guitar perspective it is very easy to give too much of a backbeat. In fact, if you go listen to the Hot Club etc you'll find they are quite even, with a subtle 2 and 4 accent. The backbeat comes in more with later music like pop/rock.
Beyond that there's the matter of pushes, where (most often) the 1 and 3 are anticipated by a quarter note.
It's impossible to boil jazz rhythm down to a single post of course, but these are basic skills. They have to be practiced, especially for those of us who are culturally disadvantaged in this area. There is really no more important work to be undertaken if you want to play jazz or any music related to it.Last edited by Christian Miller; 01-11-2026 at 08:47 AM.
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i find the metronome helpful for two things. one is tempo markings for obvious reasons. the other is the power of a steady quarternote pulse. i used to set the metronome on a 4/4 pulse, medium tempo. i then played 4 to the bar rhythm guitar and tried to "drown out" the metronome.
it's a great feeling when you wonder after a few minutes if the thing is still on, because you get so precise hitting the quarter notes. this immovable steadiness is what what i am looking for the metronome to teach me. it#s not about being able to keep exactly 120 bpm for 30 minutes. rather to experience what steadiness feels like.
on the bandstand it is constantly adapting how others in the rhythm section feel time. locking in quarternotes on a swing gig with a bassplayer you've met 20 minutes before count-off is part of the job description and quite challenging at times. sometimes you have to give in. sometimes you even question your own quarter notes.
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It's only a hobby..............................
Enjoy yourself.
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Hi!
I find it very difficult to explain my point of view in English... but I'll try.
After many years, I have begun to understand (perhaps) the TRUE ESSENCE rhythm in Jazz.
In a nutshell: rhythm in jazz is completely REVERSED compared to the European and Italian music I grew up with.
To make a bold comparison, it's like living UPSIDE DOWN.
From a practical point of view, when I play, I do something quite simple but which I believe is very useful.
On the first and third beats, the tip of my shoe goes up with a certain energy (as if to overcome the force of gravity...).
On the second and fourth beats, the tip of my foot goes downwards, but without excessive energy. Obviously, on the first and third beats, you don't hear any sound, but on the second and fourth beats, you hear the sound of your sole hitting the floor.
The difficult thing for me is to play a note or a chord on the first beat with the pick going down towards the floor... while the tip of my shoe rises upwards.
Personally, I believe that tapping your foot on the first and third beats is not the best way to achieve a good rhythm in jazz... but some good musicians do just that.
What I consider totally wrong is tapping your foot on all four beats... unless it's a very slow piece of music.
Ettore
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“To the one!”
Personally it’s all pulse and flow state needs them all. But whaddoeyeno?
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Tap on 1 and 2?? Or 1 and 3? Originally Posted by Christian Miller
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What is +1? Originally Posted by GuyBoden
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My metronome is set to 2 & 4. At first, it helped me get a hold of swing feel when I was shedding scales.
Now I have it at 2 & 4 because it’s easy to lose and go to 1 & 3. Which, if you do on stage is awful.
Eventually I’ll go to only 1, but I’m not in a rush.
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Sorry 1 and 3…. Originally Posted by charlieparker
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Sorry, my +1 +3, 'Swing Time' foot tapping routine has become a bit of a habit. Originally Posted by charlieparker
Rhymically it's this shown below.
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The best drummer I've played with (that is so subjective) was the one that could hijack my weird timing nuances and go along with it, and mirror it, building confidence.
The second best I had played with... was so difficult. No room for a ""tasty"" sway.
The moral is, you can tap your foot and practice the hell out of it... you will be in a band that goes either the hard or the other way.
To not suck is about something else than counting/pressing 1&3 or 2&4.
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Some people will say that there's a correct or better way to tap your foot. Originally Posted by charlieparker
But, if you watch great players you will see every which way.
There's a video of three great guitarists (Pass, Ellis and Kessel maybe, hopefully someone will know) and each one is tapping differently.
I've watched the horn players in my big band. Some don't tap. Some tap all 4, some 1,3, some 2,4, some with one foot, an occasional guy with 2 feet, some with toe some with heel. And, they all play in time and sound great.
I can see the logic to tapping on 2 4, even though it doesn't feel as natural to me as 1 3 or 1 2 3 4. OTOH, for some fast tunes I tap only on 1.
And, then, there are odd meters. 6/8 is tapped twice a measure? 12/8 four times, but, depending on the grouping of notes and their time value, it can get tricky. How do you tap 7/4?
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I have the metronome on 2 and 4 and generally tap my foot on all four beats (I haven't yet got to a fast enough tempo where this becomes an issue).
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Stray observations:
In the band I sat in with, I noticed not only foot-tapping but other bodily responses to the music---the pianist would tap both feet and the bassist (electric) would sway. And I suspect that these movements were not leading their sense of the groove but following it. I know that's what's going on with me when I foot-tap.
And in a non-jazz context, in folk-fingerpicking workshops, instructors would advise players who had trouble staying on the beat to heel-and-toe tap--often heel for 1 and 3 and toe for 2 and 4. This is to help reinforce/coordinate the right-hand thumb*, which is the basis for, say, Mississippi John Hurt style. I never needed that (my thumb got educated decades ago), but I do sometimes find myself heel-toe tapping in response to what my right hand* fingers are doing.
And for some reason, I find a metronome a distraction rather than an aid, though it is handy in figuring out a specified tempo setting and I don't have a recording to reference.
* Edited--no, your other left!Last edited by RLetson; 01-13-2026 at 02:02 PM.
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Tap your heel, not your toe. The feel is more solid and you never get tired.
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I do more of a "toe flex" inside my shoe.
Tapping on 1 and 3 (or even just 1 at faster tempos) definitely makes you stay more relaxed. At least it does for me.
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When I practice jazz deliberately with a metronome, which is not that often, it’s usually on 2 & 4.
When working on tunes casually, it’s iReal (bass and drums only). Just enough to get up to tempo, and then I hit the jam sessions.
I don’t tap consciously on stage but once in a while, when some one takes a smart phone video, I notice my tapping falls on 2 & 4, unconsciously when in a groove.
The Mrs. finds it amusing and a little bit mysterious that when I play jazz my whole body’s a-bouncing, almost right off the chair, but I’d rather not see that.
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Same. My heel goes down on 1 and 3.
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I read that Benny Goodman prohibited his band from foot tapping. His theory was that his musicians should focus their rhythms into their horns, not into tapping their feet. I don't agree, but I see his point.
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