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Hi Everyone,
I have a question about tapping your foot to the following exercises:
Digging Deeper: Polyrhythmic Fundamentals
Julian tells us to set the metronome to 30 or slower. This is hard for me to tap my foot evenly, as it is so slow. Right now I am tapping 8th notes with my foot (two taps per click). Sometimes I have difficulty tapping my foot switching from 8th notes to triplets at really slow speeds (30 or slower). The tendency is to switch to 3 taps per click when the triplets are being played, and back to 2 when 8th notes are being played. Does anyone have any advice?
Al DiMeola suggests to be able to tap your foot to anything you play, there is a lot of controversy regarding foot tapping. I have met College Jazz Band directors who don't let their students tap their feet, and drummers who say not to do it.
Here is the source of Al telling us we must be able to tap our foot:
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06-29-2014 10:47 AM
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Related to time Victor Wooten's metronome video. Okay to stay on topic he's tapping his foot.
I know from back in music school and they taught foot tapping with both feet one foot being first half of the bar and other foot the second half of the bar. They said it helped with fast tempos and notice horn playing in band doing this two foot tap method.
The thing I hear most artists say a lot that you need to move something, it doesn't have to be foot tapping, but need to feel the time with your body. Sheryl Bailey talks about finding where you feel the tempo of the tune as a circle. A fast tune you might be feeling the time as a big circle of a measure every circle, but on a slow tune might feel as a small circle with is a sub-division of the bar. Every tune your going to feel the tempo differently and move some part of the body to feel the tempo.Last edited by docbop; 06-29-2014 at 12:20 PM.
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Al's got great time, no doubt.
I've heard other people stress the importance of foot tapping. (I don't recall hearing anyone argue against it, though. What's the argument against it?)
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It seems completely obvious why a drummer wouldn't want to tap his/her feet. You need those feet to operate pedals.
For everyone else, I don't see any issue. I think that tapping my foot is an essential part of my playing. I measure everything by it.
I'd suggest that if you can't tap your foot comfortably and evenly to a metronome at 40bpm, maybe you're discovering a problem with your abilities that you can solve, not a problem with the technique.
The only questions I have are about tapping at fast tempos. I see some guys count in half-time, but then some folks just do really fast, jerky tapping. I've been trying to keep tapping the quarters even at fast tempos and learning to relax my foot, figuring that might be part of my relaxation problem, in general, on speedy tunes.
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Oh man, my sister went to a Community College (She's at a State University Now) for Music. The Jazz Band Director, Trombone player, told her and the band not to pat their feet, because the time should be kept internally. Additionally, many drummers I talk to say not to do it, for the same reason. Also, I don't know if this true, but I have heard that Symphonies don't let their musicians tap their feet because it's impossible to get everyone to do it together/it looks unprofessional.
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How would you tap your foot at 30 bpm, playing a measure of 8ths then switching to triplets? Would you keep your foot tapping on the 8th note while you play a triplet? Also, I've seen the same thing with up tempos. Some players tap on 2 & 4, and I've seen a video of Joe Pass playing Oleo, tapping his foot like a mad man on the quarter note over 200bpm.
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The whole purpose of the foot tap for me is that it stays constant no matter what I'm playing, helping me lock in time. If I were tapping my foot on the quarter note at 30bpm, I would keep tapping on the quarter no matter what as I moved between playings 8s, tuplets, etc. Playing a different time feel over that would just be a hemiola.
Originally Posted by mike288
Once the foot tapping starts changing my time falls apart.
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So you would you practice these drills at 30bpm only tapping your foot once per measure? Originally Posted by ecj
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I don't have any trouble tapping when I'm not doing anything else. Or if I'm tapping while playing a head or comping. But when I start improvising, I start tapping the rhythm of the line. Perhaps I should work more on this... (The older I get the more I realize mistakes can be blessings if only we accept and learn from them.)
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One of the arguments against it is the "multitasking" aspect: left hand doing one thing, right hand doing another, foot doing another, and brain maybe "counting" beats/numbers, etc. It can be "too much" for the brain (our brains are best with one thing at a time). Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
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No. I would tap my foot on the click no matter what. The click is the quarter note. Originally Posted by mike288
What you play is superimposed over the click.
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Originally Posted by ecj
Sorry I didn't mean per measure, I meant per click. That is, do you tap your foot once per click (Every Quarter Note), or do you tap every 8th note (2 times per click) at 30 bpm?
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Hey! I'm in a wheelchair...so what do I tap.
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You could be like Sco and subdivide via facial contortions Originally Posted by edh
Hey! I'm in a wheelchair...so what do I tap.
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Originally Posted by marcwhy
It definitely feels like multitasking, but only at first. If you practice doing things slowly, and if you are able to persevere the strange feeling of doing so many things at one time, it will eventually feel like you're doing one thing.
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I would tap once on each click. Originally Posted by mike288
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Which foot do you (-anyone) tap?
I used to tap my left foot, but then I started resting my guitar on my left thigh (on a cushion) and I switched to tapping with my right. Now I'm back to the guitar on my right thigh and tapping with my left foot.
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I don't tap, I twitch my toes. Right foot.
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Left foot, or whichever the guitar is not resting on.
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In my 20's, I had the great good fortune to study jazz with Al Tinney (Al was the leader of the house band at Monroe's Uptown House in the 40's and 50's, played with everyone); unfortunately, not a lot rubbed off on me. But he had the most peculiar (and just plain cool to watch) way of keeping time while playing piano. He'd play in a semi-crouch on the bench with his left foot forward and his right foot back. He'd tap out quarter notes by raising his left foot toes and his right foot heel at the same time. On really fast tunes he'd be bouncing away pumping up and down and his feet going up and down together. I've tried it a few times and it is just crazy for me, and really tiring. Al was an amazing player and a big influence on the whole NY scene in the 40's and 50's, but you'd never know it unless you read a lot of liner notes; the man was humble. Like they say, "If I knew then what I know now...".
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Do anyones shins begin to kill if they tap fast tempos for an entire tune?
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Yes! I don't know how anyone does that for a long time. Maybe you have to build up to it. I can tap but only for awhile. Then I stop. (Or notice that I stopped some time back.) Originally Posted by basinstreet
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It's important to be able to feel the beat and not have to rely on the drimmer or bass player to keep the time for you.
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I have trouble with my shins running too, and never know which started the problem. I'd like to build them up but suspect mine are beyond redemption. Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
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When I tap, I tap with my right heal partly because of this. It's strange though - I had to pick up a guitar to actually be sure what it was I was doing. Originally Posted by basinstreet
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