Learner Question About Timing
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Re: Learner Question About Timing
I watched a video recently of two fine musicians, performing well together. Both were tapping a foot ... at different times. Not sure what to make of that.
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Re: Learner Question About Timing
You can ask your fellow bandmates what their preference is. If the audience and the other musicians you're playing with like the foot tapping, then go for it! In some situations it could be distracting and unnecessary, while at other times it can add some welcome energy for the audience. In music, things are seldom all right or all wrong.
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Re: Learner Question About Timing
Which is why I mainly tap my toes when my fingers don't have anything to do...pancelticpiper wrote:It's not like the foot is controlled by a different thing than the fingers!
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Re: Learner Question About Timing
I've found that when people who know basically nothing about ITM--e.g. my relatives--are listening, foot tapping helps them A LOT in understanding what's going on. They can hear how the melody is moving in way they can't if the melody is played alone--it's like another instrument.
Many musicians who play with drummers have observed how a good drummer can pull everything together and make things that seemed be floundering start to work. The other night I was at a picnic and people were strumming guitars--not professionals, but people who like to play and sing. I picked up a bodhran and a wire brush and started playing a steady "train beat." Everybody smiled and the music came together, not because I'm good but because everybody now had a reference point. I think foot tapping can do that.
At the same time, a good whistle player, which I emphatically am not, can communicate the swing, time, and "logic" of a melody without the tapping.
I find practicing with a metronome to be really vital because it calls me out on those passages where I slow or rush without noticing. Once I have a good foundation, I can start to mess with the pulse in ways that make the tune swing
Many musicians who play with drummers have observed how a good drummer can pull everything together and make things that seemed be floundering start to work. The other night I was at a picnic and people were strumming guitars--not professionals, but people who like to play and sing. I picked up a bodhran and a wire brush and started playing a steady "train beat." Everybody smiled and the music came together, not because I'm good but because everybody now had a reference point. I think foot tapping can do that.
At the same time, a good whistle player, which I emphatically am not, can communicate the swing, time, and "logic" of a melody without the tapping.
I find practicing with a metronome to be really vital because it calls me out on those passages where I slow or rush without noticing. Once I have a good foundation, I can start to mess with the pulse in ways that make the tune swing