Toe Tappin’ and Boot Scootin’ 

In last month’s edition of our newsletter, I encouraged folks to work on rhythm skills (particularly the internalization of time) by taking a trip to the wild side of the percussion world, the drum circle.  For those who heeded my advice and still managed to survive, I hope the experience was enjoyable.  Those who might have found such suggestions to be too radical will be relieved to know that this month we are going back to the basics with a focus on developing an essential skill: tapping your foot.

Over the years, I am increasingly aware of how fortunate I was to have had a teacher who forced me to keep the beat with my feet (he wasn’t responsible for my sweet rhyming skills, however).  Frankly, I am always a bit stunned whenever I encounter a guitarist who doesn’t have this skill, as I consider it an essential practice when it comes to keeping good time!  As is true of any skill, there is practice and, sigh…, some tedium involved; and, ironically, a more experienced player may have more difficulty adopting this practice than the beginner who hasn’t already formed certain “bad” habits.  Even so, if you fall into the camp of non-foot-tapping players, I highly recommend that you begin working towards this goal, as you will undoubtedly become a more confident and capable player.

Whether you’re a beginner or whether you’ve been playing for years, doing something with your feet while you play the guitar can definitely feel a bit like rubbing your stomach and patting your head at the same time!   Therefore, it is important to go back to the rudiments of rhythm.  I suggest picking a simple chord progression that you can play in 4/4 time while focusing only on playing/strumming the quarter notes (i.e., you will only count 1-2-3-4).  Then, pat your foot down with each count or downbeat—this trains your brain to think: downbeat = foot down.  At the very beginning, it is a really good idea to actually count out loud along with your strumming and foot tapping.  Once you feel very comfortable with tapping on the downbeat, the next step is to subdivide the beat by counting “1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and.”  With each “and” your foot should be on its way up, such that it can come down on the downbeat—again, be sure to count out loud as you do this!  As there is no accompanying sound with this part of the foot movement, the benefit of dedicating attention to this upwards movement might not be readily apparent; however, what you are being trained to do is to subdivide the beat both physically and mentally.  Even down the road when you aren’t necessarily counting out loud, you might find that you are actually still counting, but the count will be physically driven. 

In honing your foot tapping and counting skills, it can also be helpful to use beat-emphasis to better keep time.  For instance, whether counting mentally or out loud, give the first beat an extra bit of emphasis: ONE, two, three, four; ONE, two, three, four, etc.  Some folks will even keep track of the measures by substituting the first number in the count.  For example, four measures of 4/4 might be counted: ONE, two, three, four; TWO, two, three, four; THREE, two, three, four; FOUR, two, three, four, etc.   If you’ve ever observed that an orchestral conductor actually moves his baton in a pattern or a shape, then you’ve witnessed traditional rhythm training firsthand—the conductor’s baton will move in a different pattern for a count that is in three versus a count in four, with a clear motion that indicates the downbeat of the first note of the measure.  

Much like a conductor with his baton, you will hopefully create your own toe-tapping method and style as you continue to apply yourself to this training.  In doing so, this exercise in rhythm transforms into artistic impact in your performance, as you can contribute a simple beat to whatever you play (this is especially compelling and useful for acoustic soloists!).  In turn, the generation of a steady, confident beat gives you freedom to explore and tweak your guitar and/or vocal phrasing, which is one area in music where the men are separated from the boys, so to speak. I, for instance, in keeping with my seemingly lifelong aim to be awkward and appropriately weird as an artist, alternate my toe tapping.  This alternating tapping creates an audible subdivision of the beat along with the added artistic benefit of making me appear a bit like a lumbering Frankenstein monster, bobbing back and forth as he sings.  My approach was definitely inspired by one of my favorite writers and solo performers, Chris Smither, whose foot tapping is amplified with a simple rig of a Shure SM58 taped to a section MDF board.  His simple yet masterful application of this skill is without question a major force in his performances (see the clip below of his tune “Origin of Species”).  Then, there is John Hammond, whose legs are so animated while keeping time that he almost gyrates out of his chair, prompting his audience to wonder if he might just spontaneously combust, leaving behind a primordial ooze of sweat, slides, slobbery harmonicas, and chart-toppin’ hair….

Finally, and as many may already be aware, there is also a rich tradition of foot-stomping in many forms of music that we enjoy, including: bluegrass and Appalachian music, country music, blues, rock, and the ever-ubiquitous beat-driven “anthem pop” that now persistently invades our airwaves.   Thus, even if you are still struggling with the initial stages of toe-tapping and feeling a bit like Navin in the Jerk, know that your time is being well spent.  Eventually, you will discover that your good sense of time will translate to a good time for others, particularly when you survey the room and see that everyone else’s toes are tapping right along with yours!  -  L. Petsch, December 2019