Can anyone clue me in about tapping my foot when I play? I tried it last night and it wasn’t pretty. Completely threw off my rhythm, which is the opposite of what it’s supposed to do! My physical coordination is in a sad, sad, state, I’m afraid.
ALL the good fiddlers I’ve ever seen tap(ped) their feet. My teacher taps his foot. I know he’s gonna make me do it in a lesson one day, and I’d like to practice now and avoid completely embarrassing myself when the time comes. Can anyone help?
1) Tapping feet is usually something people try to avoid doing, since it can be rhythmically distracting (especially when the rhythm is sketchy). It drives me batty when I'm in a session and somebody's foot is slapping away either a little too fast or a little too slow.... Most people (myself included) who tap their feet do it because they aren't thinking about it.
2) That said, if you want to learn to tap your foot. Practice doing it to recorded music while you're doing something completely different (like posting to the session... taptaptap).
3) In any case, avoid treating your foot as the keeper of the rhythm. Feet are just a messenger of the rhythm (and often a very bad one) . The proper rhythmic feel should come from your brain/torso.
Tapping your foot is more of a result of feeling the rhythm than the other way around. I know I tap my feet like crazy when I play, but I think if I tried to do it conciously, I'd probably fall out of my chair!
How long have you been playing fiddle? Do you find yourself relaxing into a rhythmic groove in your playing yet? If not, it's okay. It will come in time. I highly recomend picking a favorite tune and playing it through several times in a row. I'm talking ten or twenty times through. Just see if you don't start feeling the rhythm take over. Eventually that rhythm will be the base on which all your playing is built. That base will be refected in your body somewhere. In most cases (but not all) it shows up in your feet.
Lots of great fiddlers (and other musicians) don't tap their feet. Brian Conway even mentions this sometimes on stage, noting that it throws him off, so he crosses his ankles beneath his chair to keep them out of trouble.
As fiddler, the most important place to feel the rhythm is in your bow hand. Let it spread from there--see what other parts of your body naturally respond to the beat.
Will, that’s exactly what my teacher told me, now that I think about it---the rhythm comes from the bow, I have to *feel* it with my bow hand. Maybe I just assumed he would make me tap my foot but he won’t, and I’m just being paranoid…
All of this makes me very happy! My rhythm so far has been fine, but I’ve always been such a bad dancer and tapping my foot is one more thing I’m not good at. It really is the head-pat-tummy-rub problem for me. What a relief. Now I can concentrate on playing again. Thanks everyone!
I can so relate to what you are saying, Kennedy - I was completely mystified by the 'foot tapping' thing, that I never thought I could ever get the hang of it...
... not in a million years did I think I could tap and play especially since I'm dyslexic and I have no coordination whatsoever - 'no way Jose' were my words.... well, that was back in March and now I'm actually tapping along to the tunes I've learnt, and it helps me keep and feel the rhythm.
What helped me in the beginning was when my teacher explained to me that Irish music is dance music, and she showed me the dance steps to the 1-2-3 jig - that helped me give the music a physical reality - that was my first step in conceptualising rhythm and its purpose. Then, my teacher sat me down and explained to me the rhythm of a simple jig ie 1-2-3 and pointed out that the emphasis is on the first beat ie on the ONE of the ONE-two-three and she tapped her foot on the first beat and got me to do the same with her. She really exaggerated that first beat and she repeated it and repeated as she guided me through the tune. Then, she recorded the tune for me on tape and on the tape I could hear her foot-tapping very clearly, so I continuted to practice on my own along with the tape ie I went ONE-two-three with a big exaggerated foot tap on the first beat, and yes, it was VERY HARD at the beginning to coordinate myself but I practiced and practiced and slowly but surely my body and brain began to work in unison so much so that it actually feels quite natural to do both - play and tap. So, in my opinion it's really down to practice and practice until the the limps and brain coordinate - just think about driving - people can talk, listen to music, change gears, hold the steering wheel and check the rear and side mirrors simultaneously without blinking an eyelid - all it takes is practice and for the body to get used to multi-tasking. Having said that - I'm by no means perfect but I can tap along almost naturally to the tunes I have learnt and I enjoy it - I like the feeling of it - and it is also helping me decode new tunes I'm learning as I'm beginning to apply that which I have learnt to new tunes including those with other rhythms.
However, there are moments when I forget to tap - one is when I'm very nervous, and the other is when I'm making an intial start with learning a completely new tune - in those moments I end up concentrating on the one task of playing and stringing notes together, hence the foot tapping falls by the wayside at first but then as I get more comfortable with the tune the foot tapping integrates itself more and more naturally and the more at ease I am and the more relaxed the more natural it feels to tap my foot.
So, don't be disheartened - if you want to learn it, it will come with time and practice and practice and more practice.... and eventually you cannot imagine of having ever played without tapping
So good luck
Vanessa
PS I don't want to take credit for the example about driving - one I used up above - because my teacher pointed it out to me when I threw my eyes to the heavens and claimed I could never tap my foot and play at the same time... well, how does the saying go: Never say never
Try keeping time to a metronome. If you find it throws you off, drives you crazy, distracts you from the 'real' rhythm, you're probably not keeping very good time, and you're probably throwing other people off in sessions. Keeping the right time is a learned skill for most of us, and most people unconsciously speed up and slow down all over the shop while subjectively feeling they're keeping strict time. The metronome gives you a clear distilled external rhythm and requires you to keep your ear out to make sure you get it right. It's good listening training. But if you can't stand metronomes, record a bodhran keeping correct time and see how you go. If you have the experience of the metronome or bodhran keeping annoyingly different time to yours, I can guarantee that the effort that goes into playing your instrument and consciously keeping time with your foot will pay off, even if it's a pain in the neck at first.
Rhythm is central to dance music (in fact to any music) and to get it right you need to focus on it consciously, and that's hard when you first do it. Tapping is one way to get conscious, that's all.
The other thing about tapping your foot is that it gives a good body time register of the rhythm that you can can play against on off-beats. One man/woman band stuff. I went to a string quartet master-class about twenty five years where the first fiddle of the particular quartet demonstrated how to play a very difficult rhythmic part from a Bartok quartet by tapping his foot and nodding his head while playing at the same time. That's how he practised.
I posted mine at the same time as Vanessa's so I didn't get to read her comments before I clicked 'post'. I totally agree with everything she says, especially about learning the right emphasis in different dance forms. The other thing is that we play dance music and it's good to keep whole-body time and actually move your body, not just keep time with arm or foot. Best advice: learn to dance!
Different strokes for different folks. What matters is whether the pulse comes through in your playing. If tapping your foot helps, great. If not, no biggee. If your whole body gets into it, fine. Whatever--as long as the pulse comes through in your sound.
Some people get a foot or most of their body involved right away--for them, expressing the rhythm bodily is integral to playing. Others don't. Some struggle with coordinating all of it, others find the pulse best through a degree of stillness and relaxation. And nearly everyone goes through different stages with this stuff over the course of years.
Personally, I'd echo George's comment about the brain/torso thingie. I tend to think of the music as coming from my center of gravity, grounded through my feet. And when I'm in the zone, there's no split between mind and body--it's all one. That's the magic. At its best, playing music is physically, physiologically, thoroughly enjoyable. It *feels* good. Let yourself feel that, and your body will know what it needs to do to get the pulse.
After years of training in recording studios, I tap my foot by planting the ball of the foot and bouncing the heel, without the heel touching the floor.
I find it rhythmically satisfying and it isn't audible.
Patrick Orceau is a dandy alternating foot tapper and it is lovely - works wonderfully with the music - it is a lovely part OF the music. if you ever get a chance to see him play in an NYC session or elsewhere, don't miss it. He's a great model for vigorous foot tapping.
I think it's worth persevering with, Kennedy. It's a useful skill and helpful I find, when learning a new tune whether by ear or off the dots. Sometimes when I go back to tunes I learnt before I got the hang of the foot tapping thing, I find that they don't fit properly and of course the reason is that I got the timing wrong on some note or other. So, I concentrate on fixing them up to fit the regullar ryhthm they should. If I may make a suggestion, it is to listen to a tune you know fairly well being played over and over at a medium speed - perhaps by your teacher. Record it and play it in the background. Get your foot tapping to the beat - once for every 123 in a jig. For a reel/ hornpipe/ polka you can tap every two notes or four notes. Then play the tune and you should have a more instinctive feel for it. Once you get the hang of it, it sort of becomes automatic and hard to stop!
You can also experiment with tapping your foot at different intervals. All the best.
I reckon foot tapping cal only work properly if you DONT try to learn it. Its something that happens naturally. I find that if someone concentrated on keeping a beat with thier feet their playing often suffers.
Just relax, relax, relax. Let it happen itself.
I agree with the wounded hussar, it is very useful indeed especially for someone like me who doesn't come from a musical background ie is starting from scratch but I'm sure there are lots and lots of people out there to whom things like that just come completely natural - people who don't have to give it the least bit of thought - I think that's great - my case is different however because I have to work extremely hard before anything musical becomes 'natural' but the encouraging thing is that with the right guidance from my teacher, consistent practice and a good dose of perseverance it does, I mean it does become natural.
Foot-tapping can be useful to keep a band together on a large stage.
One fiddler I sit in with bangs both feet up and down so the stage shakes and wine-glasses dissapear over the edge - no good trying to look at any dots with him there.
If it don't tap, don't worry.
If it'll come, it'll come. It's not an essential part of the music.
There are some amazingly rhythmical musicians who sit or stand rock-still, and then, as has been said, there are some who do it ahead or behind the beat, to the annoyance of others.
I can't stop the tapping, and after years of band directors nagging me to stop, am glad I am playing a type of music that accepts it. My guitar teacher at one lesson tried to get me to stop it, so I could focus on what I was doing on the guitar, and my playing came apart at the seams!
Since I spend most of my time accompanying, the foot is an integral part of keeping the beat. And when things get a little "fluid" because of background noise and new participants, etc, I key in on our leader's foot, and reinforce the beat he is setting. In fact, an astute player will note that, when the feet start stomping loudly in our session, it is either because; 1) we are all right ON the beat, and getting a head of steam on, or 2) someone in the circle is NOT on the beat.
I play Acadian style music. (eastern Canadian french stuff, different from Quebecois, but some similarities) Around here, everyone taps their feet. It is an important part of the music. So I guess from reading the posts that it is different from person to person and from style to style. Not better or worse, just a personal preference I guess.
One interesting facet of all this is foot-tapping influences, much like musical influences. I noticed once that Tom Morrow of Dervish taps both feet when sitting down, pumping his legs in an alternating "jogging" motion. I tried it just to see what it felt like, and it felt so good that now it comes out, unbidden, when the music is fast and full of fury.
Other times, my feet tend to do the Liz Carroll shuffle, or the Orceau double tap, or even the Tom Doorley hop.
Well i have come across many fiddlers and they are the worst people to tap their feet!!You swear the are revin the accelerator over and over again!!But physical co-ordination is not all about tapping the foot!!Jessy Smith,fo instance,he is one of irelands most stiffest fiddle players and there he is now making cd's and travelling around the world!!Just don't get to concerned about it!!It doesn't matter!!Don't turn out like Donnacadh Gough anyway(bopping the head&shrugging the shoulders as if there wa no tomorrow)Ah no,don't worry about it my Friend!!
My fiddle tutor keeps threatening to bring in someone she knows to learn us line dancing as apparantly in Cape Breton and such places they keep fantastic time in their music, and that it is down to them line dancing and learns them to hear the rhythm and the beats.
I'm with Georgi on this one. Tapping is all very well if you're actually capable of holding a beat. Unfortunately the tapper is often tapping for precisely the opposite reason - they can't hold the beat correctly themselves. It can be a minor irritation, or a major pain, depending on how loud and how far out they are.
Bodhrans and guitars should hold the beat.
And has anyone worked out why it seems to be mainly fiddlers that tap?
I suspect a lot of the tappers don't even realise they are doing it, but in my unfortunate experience it's not uncommon for someone to start tapping very loudly in an angry manner to indicate that everyone else is out of synch, when in fact it's the tapper themself who isn't listening to the other players.
Having said that of course there are times when it is very useful. Especially when the pub gets very rowdy or the session gets so widespread it's hard to hear players on the far side.
I'm a fiddler, and I tap - way too much! My strong advice is, if you don't do it now, please don't start. I wish I didn't. Except people seem to like it when I do it in gigs for some reason ...
Tap tap tap
Tap tap tap
Can anyone clue me in about tapping my foot when I play? I tried it last night and it wasn’t pretty. Completely threw off my rhythm, which is the opposite of what it’s supposed to do! My physical coordination is in a sad, sad, state, I’m afraid.
ALL the good fiddlers I’ve ever seen tap(ped) their feet. My teacher taps his foot. I know he’s gonna make me do it in a lesson one day, and I’d like to practice now and avoid completely embarrassing myself when the time comes. Can anyone help?
# Posted on September 28th 2006 by kennedy
Re: Tap tap tap
Three things:
1) Tapping feet is usually something people try to avoid doing, since it can be rhythmically distracting (especially when the rhythm is sketchy). It drives me batty when I'm in a session and somebody's foot is slapping away either a little too fast or a little too slow.... Most people (myself included) who tap their feet do it because they aren't thinking about it.
2) That said, if you want to learn to tap your foot. Practice doing it to recorded music while you're doing something completely different (like posting to the session... taptaptap).
3) In any case, avoid treating your foot as the keeper of the rhythm. Feet are just a messenger of the rhythm (and often a very bad one) . The proper rhythmic feel should come from your brain/torso.
Just my $.02
# Posted on September 28th 2006 by Georgi
Re: Tap tap tap
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/978 is a good thread.
# Posted on September 28th 2006 by Henk Bos
Re: Tap tap tap
Tapping your foot is more of a result of feeling the rhythm than the other way around. I know I tap my feet like crazy when I play, but I think if I tried to do it conciously, I'd probably fall out of my chair!
How long have you been playing fiddle? Do you find yourself relaxing into a rhythmic groove in your playing yet? If not, it's okay. It will come in time. I highly recomend picking a favorite tune and playing it through several times in a row. I'm talking ten or twenty times through. Just see if you don't start feeling the rhythm take over. Eventually that rhythm will be the base on which all your playing is built. That base will be refected in your body somewhere. In most cases (but not all) it shows up in your feet.
# Posted on September 28th 2006 by fiddleK
Re: Tap tap tap
Lots of great fiddlers (and other musicians) don't tap their feet. Brian Conway even mentions this sometimes on stage, noting that it throws him off, so he crosses his ankles beneath his chair to keep them out of trouble.
As fiddler, the most important place to feel the rhythm is in your bow hand. Let it spread from there--see what other parts of your body naturally respond to the beat.
# Posted on September 28th 2006 by Will Harmon
Re: Tap tap tap
That's a good tip, about letting your foot "feel the rhythm."
See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0EiOpHgDAk
for a good example of how it's done. ;>}
# Posted on September 28th 2006 by John Galt
Re: Tap tap tap
The tapping is to cover up mistakes. Ever see a bodhran player tapping his/her foot?
# Posted on September 28th 2006 by bodhran bliss
Re: Tap tap tap
Will, that’s exactly what my teacher told me, now that I think about it---the rhythm comes from the bow, I have to *feel* it with my bow hand. Maybe I just assumed he would make me tap my foot but he won’t, and I’m just being paranoid…
All of this makes me very happy! My rhythm so far has been fine, but I’ve always been such a bad dancer and tapping my foot is one more thing I’m not good at. It really is the head-pat-tummy-rub problem for me. What a relief. Now I can concentrate on playing again. Thanks everyone!
# Posted on September 28th 2006 by kennedy
Re: Tap tap tap
I can so relate to what you are saying, Kennedy - I was completely mystified by the 'foot tapping' thing, that I never thought I could ever get the hang of it
...
... not in a million years did I think I could tap and play especially since I'm dyslexic and I have no coordination whatsoever - 'no way Jose' were my words.... well, that was back in March and now I'm actually tapping along to the tunes I've learnt, and it helps me keep and feel the rhythm.
What helped me in the beginning was when my teacher explained to me that Irish music is dance music, and she showed me the dance steps to the 1-2-3 jig - that helped me give the music a physical reality - that was my first step in conceptualising rhythm and its purpose. Then, my teacher sat me down and explained to me the rhythm of a simple jig ie 1-2-3 and pointed out that the emphasis is on the first beat ie on the ONE of the ONE-two-three and she tapped her foot on the first beat and got me to do the same with her. She really exaggerated that first beat and she repeated it and repeated as she guided me through the tune. Then, she recorded the tune for me on tape and on the tape I could hear her foot-tapping very clearly, so I continuted to practice on my own along with the tape ie I went ONE-two-three with a big exaggerated foot tap on the first beat, and yes, it was VERY HARD at the beginning to coordinate myself but I practiced and practiced and slowly but surely my body and brain began to work in unison so much so that it actually feels quite natural to do both - play and tap. So, in my opinion it's really down to practice and practice until the the limps and brain coordinate - just think about driving - people can talk, listen to music, change gears, hold the steering wheel and check the rear and side mirrors simultaneously without blinking an eyelid - all it takes is practice and for the body to get used to multi-tasking. Having said that - I'm by no means perfect but I can tap along almost naturally to the tunes I have learnt and I enjoy it - I like the feeling of it - and it is also helping me decode new tunes I'm learning as I'm beginning to apply that which I have learnt to new tunes including those with other rhythms.
However, there are moments when I forget to tap - one is when I'm very nervous, and the other is when I'm making an intial start with learning a completely new tune - in those moments I end up concentrating on the one task of playing and stringing notes together, hence the foot tapping falls by the wayside at first but then as I get more comfortable with the tune the foot tapping integrates itself more and more naturally and the more at ease I am and the more relaxed the more natural it feels to tap my foot.
So, don't be disheartened - if you want to learn it, it will come with time and practice and practice and more practice.... and eventually you cannot imagine of having ever played without tapping
So good luck
Vanessa
PS I don't want to take credit for the example about driving - one I used up above - because my teacher pointed it out to me when I threw my eyes to the heavens and claimed I could never tap my foot and play at the same time... well, how does the saying go: Never say never
# Posted on September 28th 2006 by vanessa
Re: Tap tap tap
Try keeping time to a metronome. If you find it throws you off, drives you crazy, distracts you from the 'real' rhythm, you're probably not keeping very good time, and you're probably throwing other people off in sessions. Keeping the right time is a learned skill for most of us, and most people unconsciously speed up and slow down all over the shop while subjectively feeling they're keeping strict time. The metronome gives you a clear distilled external rhythm and requires you to keep your ear out to make sure you get it right. It's good listening training. But if you can't stand metronomes, record a bodhran keeping correct time and see how you go. If you have the experience of the metronome or bodhran keeping annoyingly different time to yours, I can guarantee that the effort that goes into playing your instrument and consciously keeping time with your foot will pay off, even if it's a pain in the neck at first.
Rhythm is central to dance music (in fact to any music) and to get it right you need to focus on it consciously, and that's hard when you first do it. Tapping is one way to get conscious, that's all.
The other thing about tapping your foot is that it gives a good body time register of the rhythm that you can can play against on off-beats. One man/woman band stuff. I went to a string quartet master-class about twenty five years where the first fiddle of the particular quartet demonstrated how to play a very difficult rhythmic part from a Bartok quartet by tapping his foot and nodding his head while playing at the same time. That's how he practised.
# Posted on September 28th 2006 by Ger the Rigger
Re: Tap tap tap
I posted mine at the same time as Vanessa's so I didn't get to read her comments before I clicked 'post'. I totally agree with everything she says, especially about learning the right emphasis in different dance forms. The other thing is that we play dance music and it's good to keep whole-body time and actually move your body, not just keep time with arm or foot. Best advice: learn to dance!
# Posted on September 28th 2006 by Ger the Rigger
Re: Tap tap tap
Different strokes for different folks. What matters is whether the pulse comes through in your playing. If tapping your foot helps, great. If not, no biggee. If your whole body gets into it, fine. Whatever--as long as the pulse comes through in your sound.
Some people get a foot or most of their body involved right away--for them, expressing the rhythm bodily is integral to playing. Others don't. Some struggle with coordinating all of it, others find the pulse best through a degree of stillness and relaxation. And nearly everyone goes through different stages with this stuff over the course of years.
Personally, I'd echo George's comment about the brain/torso thingie. I tend to think of the music as coming from my center of gravity, grounded through my feet. And when I'm in the zone, there's no split between mind and body--it's all one. That's the magic. At its best, playing music is physically, physiologically, thoroughly enjoyable. It *feels* good. Let yourself feel that, and your body will know what it needs to do to get the pulse.
# Posted on September 29th 2006 by Will Harmon
Re: Tap tap tap
After years of training in recording studios, I tap my foot by planting the ball of the foot and bouncing the heel, without the heel touching the floor.
I find it rhythmically satisfying and it isn't audible.
stv
http://cdbaby.com/Culchies
# Posted on September 29th 2006 by stv culchie
Re: Tap tap tap
Patrick Orceau is a dandy alternating foot tapper and it is lovely - works wonderfully with the music - it is a lovely part OF the music. if you ever get a chance to see him play in an NYC session or elsewhere, don't miss it. He's a great model for vigorous foot tapping.
# Posted on September 29th 2006 by ratbiscuit
Re: Tap tap tap
I tap my feet because it burns calories.
# Posted on September 29th 2006 by Phantom Button
Re: Tap tap tap
I'm a bit of a stamper actually. I'm trying to cut it out cos i think it'll screw up my left knee with the repetative impact!
We play our session in a pub with a concrete floor. Ouch!
# Posted on September 29th 2006 by jfiddlerh
Re: Tap tap tap
I think it's worth persevering with, Kennedy. It's a useful skill and helpful I find, when learning a new tune whether by ear or off the dots. Sometimes when I go back to tunes I learnt before I got the hang of the foot tapping thing, I find that they don't fit properly and of course the reason is that I got the timing wrong on some note or other. So, I concentrate on fixing them up to fit the regullar ryhthm they should. If I may make a suggestion, it is to listen to a tune you know fairly well being played over and over at a medium speed - perhaps by your teacher. Record it and play it in the background. Get your foot tapping to the beat - once for every 123 in a jig. For a reel/ hornpipe/ polka you can tap every two notes or four notes. Then play the tune and you should have a more instinctive feel for it. Once you get the hang of it, it sort of becomes automatic and hard to stop!
You can also experiment with tapping your foot at different intervals. All the best.
# Posted on September 29th 2006 by the wounded hussar
Re: Tap tap tap
I reckon foot tapping cal only work properly if you DONT try to learn it. Its something that happens naturally. I find that if someone concentrated on keeping a beat with thier feet their playing often suffers.
Just relax, relax, relax. Let it happen itself.
# Posted on September 29th 2006 by session savage
Re: Tap tap tap
I agree with the wounded hussar, it is very useful indeed
especially for someone like me who doesn't come from a musical background ie is starting from scratch but I'm sure there are lots and lots of people out there to whom things like that just come completely natural - people who don't have to give it the least bit of thought
- I think that's great
- my case is different however because I have to work extremely hard before anything musical becomes 'natural' but the encouraging thing is that with the right guidance from my teacher, consistent practice and a good dose of perseverance it does, I mean it does become natural
.
# Posted on September 29th 2006 by vanessa
Re: Tap tap tap
Foot-tapping can be useful to keep a band together on a large stage.
One fiddler I sit in with bangs both feet up and down so the stage shakes and wine-glasses dissapear over the edge - no good trying to look at any dots with him there.
# Posted on September 29th 2006 by geoffwright
Re: Tap tap tap
If it don't tap, don't worry.
If it'll come, it'll come. It's not an essential part of the music.
There are some amazingly rhythmical musicians who sit or stand rock-still, and then, as has been said, there are some who do it ahead or behind the beat, to the annoyance of others.
# Posted on September 29th 2006 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Tap tap tap
I can't stop the tapping, and after years of band directors nagging me to stop, am glad I am playing a type of music that accepts it. My guitar teacher at one lesson tried to get me to stop it, so I could focus on what I was doing on the guitar, and my playing came apart at the seams!
Since I spend most of my time accompanying, the foot is an integral part of keeping the beat. And when things get a little "fluid" because of background noise and new participants, etc, I key in on our leader's foot, and reinforce the beat he is setting. In fact, an astute player will note that, when the feet start stomping loudly in our session, it is either because; 1) we are all right ON the beat, and getting a head of steam on, or 2) someone in the circle is NOT on the beat.
# Posted on September 29th 2006 by AlBrown
Re: Tap tap tap
I play Acadian style music. (eastern Canadian french stuff, different from Quebecois, but some similarities) Around here, everyone taps their feet. It is an important part of the music. So I guess from reading the posts that it is different from person to person and from style to style. Not better or worse, just a personal preference I guess.
# Posted on September 29th 2006 by anastasiadesroches
Re: Tap tap tap
One interesting facet of all this is foot-tapping influences, much like musical influences. I noticed once that Tom Morrow of Dervish taps both feet when sitting down, pumping his legs in an alternating "jogging" motion. I tried it just to see what it felt like, and it felt so good that now it comes out, unbidden, when the music is fast and full of fury.
Other times, my feet tend to do the Liz Carroll shuffle, or the Orceau double tap, or even the Tom Doorley hop.
# Posted on September 29th 2006 by Will Harmon
Re: Tap tap tap
Well i have come across many fiddlers and they are the worst people to tap their feet!!You swear the are revin the accelerator over and over again!!But physical co-ordination is not all about tapping the foot!!Jessy Smith,fo instance,he is one of irelands most stiffest fiddle players and there he is now making cd's and travelling around the world!!Just don't get to concerned about it!!It doesn't matter!!Don't turn out like Donnacadh Gough anyway(bopping the head&shrugging the shoulders as if there wa no tomorrow)Ah no,don't worry about it my Friend!!
# Posted on September 29th 2006 by Conzer
Re: Tap tap tap
My fiddle tutor keeps threatening to bring in someone she knows to learn us line dancing as apparantly in Cape Breton and such places they keep fantastic time in their music, and that it is down to them line dancing and learns them to hear the rhythm and the beats.
# Posted on September 29th 2006 by buttercup chucklechunks
Re: Tap tap tap
I'm with Georgi on this one. Tapping is all very well if you're actually capable of holding a beat. Unfortunately the tapper is often tapping for precisely the opposite reason - they can't hold the beat correctly themselves. It can be a minor irritation, or a major pain, depending on how loud and how far out they are.
Bodhrans and guitars should hold the beat.
And has anyone worked out why it seems to be mainly fiddlers that tap?
I suspect a lot of the tappers don't even realise they are doing it, but in my unfortunate experience it's not uncommon for someone to start tapping very loudly in an angry manner to indicate that everyone else is out of synch, when in fact it's the tapper themself who isn't listening to the other players.
Having said that of course there are times when it is very useful. Especially when the pub gets very rowdy or the session gets so widespread it's hard to hear players on the far side.
Eno :-"
# Posted on September 30th 2006 by bc_box_player
Re: Tap tap tap
I'm a fiddler, and I tap - way too much! My strong advice is, if you don't do it now, please don't start. I wish I didn't. Except people seem to like it when I do it in gigs for some reason ...
# Posted on September 30th 2006 by ethical blend