What's your tapping foot?

[lixnaw]

well they say your left ear is your musical ear, but music can't excist without rhythm.
so i'd say, your right ear is for rhythm, your left for the melody.
i find my right foot tapping all the time, i couldn't do it with my left.

[TooTs]

You forgot to put none in your survey.

[lixnaw]

You forgot to put none in your survey.

sorry, this is not for bodhran players

heads for cover...

[ChrisA]

I almost always tap with my right foot when playing flute, I find that doesn't bother my playing
the way left does. Playing anything else, or tapping along to something I'm listening to, either
foot will do.

I vaguely recall a time when I could only tap with one foot, but now I can't remember
which one it was.

Of course, you have to be careful. If you tap both feet with too much energy, there's a danger
that you may find yourself dancing, and we can't have that.

[TooTs]

I don't play bodhran and neither do i tap my feet.

[Jennie]

I tap with my right, either the heel or the toe depending on whether I need to hear myself or not. I am definitely not an ambidextrous tapper! I tried it just now and couldn't keep the rhythm.

Hey you foot-tappers: did somebody teach you to keep rhythm that way, or did you develop it naturally? I learned in band, in fourth grade. One-ane-two-and-three-and-four-and, very explicitly.

Jennie

[seisflutes]

I developed it naturally. I'm trying to learn to tap my left foot(I'm really a righty), because when playing the pipes having my right knee go up and down isn't helpful. It's slow going, but I'm making progress.

[TooTs]

Why do you need to tap your foot?

[seisflutes]

I don't need to, but it reassures me that I'm staying at a consistant tempo,not speeding up or anything. I would most likely have consistant tempo anyway,but this way I'm sure.

[monkey587]

I mostly only tap when I feel like other people need a reminder of the tempo.

[ChrisA]

The short answer is, 'because bobbing my head makes the whistle shake and pulls my mouth right off of the flute'


The whistle is a terrible instrument in terms of rhythm... even on 'well balanced' whistles,
the higher the note the louder it's going to be, regardless of where the accent should be.
The flute is marginally better, being a bit more dynamic. Still has nothing on the stringed
instruments for volume-accents though.

Anyway, tapping the foot gives a nice, solid, visceral beat to work off of, to make sure
I'm keeping a solid tempo. Keeping tempo is extremely important for trad music, and
to me personally, the rhythm is -the- core of the music. Someday, I hope to be good enough
to play for ceili dancers. I know, the session is the thing for most, but I'm weird. And to
play for the dancers, you have to have a rock-hard rhythm.

I don't tap my foot for slow airs, of course, except when I'm first learning them and playing them dead straight. I do tap my foot for airs that aren't so slow... Star of the County Down, for example, is classed half as a an air and half as a dance tune, and likes a rhythm.

[OnTheMoor]

I mostly only tap when I feel like other people need a reminder of the tempo.

Is that a tap or a stomp?

[monkey587]

I mostly only tap when I feel like other people need a reminder of the tempo.

Is that a tap or a stomp?

Sometimes I think it should be a kick

[Sunnywindo]

Of course, that foot tapping thing only helps if you have some sense of rhythm to begin with.



Sara

[trisha]

I don't need to, but it reassures me that I'm staying at a consistant tempo,not speeding up or anything. I would most likely have consistant tempo anyway,but this way I'm sure.

My sax teacher refutes this - it's one of my whistle habits that drives him nuts. He says it's impossible to keep steady foot rhythm unless you know a piece very well...or your foot will slow to compensate. If standing with the band, I always tap my foot...when recording last summer we all had to remove our shoes!! Sitting in sessions - suppose I don't, but I hate sitting to play.

Trisha