Tapping Your Foot While Playing

As a frenetic, young musician I was constantly tapping my feet while playing, along with tapping on every surface that sounded remotely interesting everywhere I went. Besides getting yelled at during stage rehearsals in guitar ensemble in college for excessive foot tapping with loud shoes by the director, foot tapping has served me well over the years and it can do the same for you!

Tapping your foot while playing can help you keep better time and will engage you with the music more. As a beginner, it's shockingly difficult to keep good time. (most tend to race) I recommend getting lots of practice tapping along with a metronome or drum beat while practicing/playing.

Begin by tapping whichever foot feels more comfortable. Tap in quarter notes or if the tempo is fast, tap in half notes so you don't exhaust your foot. Once you're proficient at that, switch to the other foot and once you're comfortable with that try alternating your feet.

You can also do these exercises while standing.

A final observation you want to be cognizant of is the idea that when your foot is down, that's playing on the beat and when your foot is up, that's playing on the off beat or syncopation. You count this by saying one, two, three, four when your foot hits the ground and when your foot is at the top you are playing on the “ands” (the and of one, the and of two, the and of three and the and of four).

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