Members bradduerr Posted June 20, 2009 Members Share Posted June 20, 2009 I have a question about tapping one's foot to keep time with the beat. I have had one guitar instructor said I should tap my foot with the beat and have one that said I should not. Any opinions? I can see the merits of both but it is hard for me not to tap my foot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RedYagiDY Posted June 20, 2009 Members Share Posted June 20, 2009 The guy that told you not to tap your foot is crazy. Physical beat counting is PRO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poparad Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Your foot is only as accurate as you are; it's not a magical metronome. However, using it does help force yourself to keep track of the beat when playing longer notes and when playing syncopated rhythms, especially when your foot might be the only thing playing the beat. It's a good aide to add to working on rhythms, but it doesn't guarantee exact precision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OldMattB Posted June 21, 2009 Members Share Posted June 21, 2009 Careful tapping your foot in a bathroom stall! It might lead to a musical collaboration you didn't plan on. oldMattB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kuroyume Posted June 21, 2009 Members Share Posted June 21, 2009 Yep. It doesn't replace a metronome but is indispensible to keep basic timing and rhythm. Use it all of the time - playing 28 years. You're not going to be using a metronome on stage (though you'd usually have a drummer acting similar to one). Even then there are times when there are no drums. The guitar instructor that said not to tap your foot is insane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeremy_green Posted June 21, 2009 Members Share Posted June 21, 2009 this is definitely worth working on. YouTube al dimeola foot tapping. He has an interesting perspective if I recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lectrician Posted June 21, 2009 Members Share Posted June 21, 2009 Always tap when you can man. Sometimes though when you are soloing and pulling off different counts in a measure, different signatures, you won't be able to keep up the count with your foot until you have really suffered through some intensely grueling counting sessions. At least that is my experience as a drummer. You should be able to get the feel of how to do intricate changes before you can actually tap or count through them and playing them by feel correctly in a jam session or in time will get you used to it and then you will eventually count through things you are capable of with much greater ease. At least this is alot of how i work. I find it easier to aquire skills that apply to a song and then tackle a cover rather than learning a cover straightforward. The more skills you learn though, the more covers you can just bang out in no time. Things like dropping a 3/4 accent into 4/4 time or more intricate variations of that, take getting used to moreso than they are trackable with your foot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lectrician Posted June 21, 2009 Members Share Posted June 21, 2009 I just got done plating along with headphones for 2 hours on the drum kit. There were things I tried to play that i have no hope in hell in counting for years to come. Parts of Flotsam and Jetsam Cuatro, White zombie Astro creep and la sexorcisto, just really handed me my ass. I sounded like terrible river bilge garbage many multiple times. There were parts I played really well, and parts I got used to, and then there were other parts where the whole song was a jumbled mess of nothing but fills and drum rolls with hardly a sensible syncopation to be found from measure to measure. I must say that Cold 13 ways to bleed on stage and the newest Kings of Leon are both a real treat to play along with. The moral is this, try to play the things you can't quite put your finger on, it is what helps you put your finger on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members G33Z3R Posted June 22, 2009 Members Share Posted June 22, 2009 Van Halen does it when he plays, and he's pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted June 22, 2009 Members Share Posted June 22, 2009 Biggest bad rhythm issue IMO is well, ASSUMING the rhythm. Noobs and pros alike (and largely due to the front ended percussive nature of combo instruments) tend to guesstimate actual note values and while feigning good time, merely bonk the attacks. It's important that not only the player latency be addressed but that the notes be subdivided to the highest practical metric resolution. For instance, a dotted quarter has a DURATION of 6 complete 16th notes and so on with any note value. This can seem very mechanical and unmusical at first but like all fundamentals, should be drilled into second nature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Li Shenron Posted June 22, 2009 Members Share Posted June 22, 2009 I was expecting a thread about "4-handed tapping", just to make me feel once again lagging behind the current technique standards... I think tapping with your foot is not a problem at all, but clearly it doesn't make a substitute for the metronome. If you're practicing tempo, you need the metronome. If you're noodling up some music with other people, tap your foot. And also I think we should give more credit to the people's sense of rhythm. We had music long before we had metronomes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Phlat Phive Posted June 22, 2009 Members Share Posted June 22, 2009 Tap your foot, both with and without a metronome. The goal of doing it with a metronome is to be able to do it accurately without a metronome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted June 22, 2009 Members Share Posted June 22, 2009 I was expecting a thread about "4-handed tapping", just to make me feel once again lagging behind the current technique standards...I think tapping with your foot is not a problem at all, but clearly it doesn't make a substitute for the metronome. If you're practicing tempo, you need the metronome. If you're noodling up some music with other people, tap your foot.And also I think we should give more credit to the people's sense of rhythm. We had music long before we had metronomes... People's sense of rhythm IS the reason for metronomes. Without the clockwork you can't have ensembles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Knottyhed Posted June 22, 2009 Members Share Posted June 22, 2009 The Inner Game of Music mentions the phenomenom of entrainment in relation to ensemble playing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrainment_(physics). Groups of people will synchronise, and it's perfectly possible for a band to stay in time without a click, although whether the tempo will keep steady is another matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mosiddiqi Posted June 22, 2009 Members Share Posted June 22, 2009 I don't think I could stop tapping my foot when playing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lectrician Posted June 22, 2009 Members Share Posted June 22, 2009 The Inner Game of Music mentions the phenomenom of entrainment in relation to ensemble playing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrainment_(physics). Groups of people will synchronise, and it's perfectly possible for a band to stay in time without a click, although whether the tempo will keep steady is another matter. You know the drummer gets blamed for tempo issues most of the time. As a player of both Drums, and guitars, I'll tell you, a guitar player that can't keep time can pull a good jam drummer out of tempo. The drummer will be making minor almost unnoticable adjustments to keep the music sounding "on" while the bad guitar player falls short on keeping the proper time, causing minute (my-newt) tempo adjustments over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeremy_green Posted June 22, 2009 Members Share Posted June 22, 2009 Timing is a totally relative thing in a group setting. As long as you are all in sync to a tolerable level it is what it is. We are not computers time is not a perfect precise thing for any of us. It only matters how it sounds and how it feels IMO. Tapping your foot while playing ensures at least part of your consciousness is fixed on the tempo and for me helps focus me in those gray areas where the drummer does a fill or leaves the time. Plus your band mates can see where you are should they lose it momentarily. Tapping your foot while playing does take practice for most. From past threads eeing as how we pretty much agree what comes out on the stage is what you practice (ie if you practice scales all the time when your solo comes you will likely play scales as a solo). Accepting that then my logic says tapping your foot should be part of your practice routine as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted June 22, 2009 Members Share Posted June 22, 2009 The Inner Game of Music mentions the phenomenom of entrainment in relation to ensemble playing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrainment_(physics). Groups of people will synchronise, and it's perfectly possible for a band to stay in time without a click, although whether the tempo will keep steady is another matter. Sure you'll have an organic phenomenon. There usually are cues from the music itself to keep things swingin' but I'm talking say Berlin Philharmonic. It just ain't your average voodoo drum circle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JohnnyWishbone Posted June 23, 2009 Members Share Posted June 23, 2009 Unless you're playing Classical Music, Tap your Foot. Johnny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kuroyume Posted June 23, 2009 Members Share Posted June 23, 2009 My classical instructor emphasized tapping your foot! Because of the 'stance' with your left foot (for righties) on a foot-stool, it won't be as pronounced but it is still a good practice even in this. Some of the timings in classical pieces get very complicated requiring that you are maintaining a pulse somehow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jamesp Posted June 23, 2009 Members Share Posted June 23, 2009 Unless you're playing Classical Music, Tap your Foot. Tap your foot unless I'm trying to record your guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members heavy D Posted June 23, 2009 Members Share Posted June 23, 2009 There's nothing wrong with tapping your foot. If it helps you then do it. But the idea that you NEED to do it to have decent time makes no sense to me. There's an article Bobby Broom wrote (couldn't find it) in which he insists on tapping, and I couldn't agree less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kuroyume Posted June 23, 2009 Members Share Posted June 23, 2009 It's not like there are 'foot tapping police' who will hunt you down like the dog you are for not tapping your foot. :poke: Use it when you need it, otherwise don't. But I think it should be suggested and shown by a teacher for use when a metronome is not in use or available. I have good internal timing but this isn't true for everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members strings&things Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 tapping your foot is a good idea .... using a metronome is a really good idea .... tapping your foot with the metronome is a really, really good idea ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pmc100 Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 Music is about movement, not stillness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.