Tapping your foot while playing - Please Stop?

[darwin-bass]

Do you tap your foot to keep time? I sure do. And in recent videos of me I see just how distracting it is. It has caused me to stop wearing white shoes on stage. Beyond that I think I need to stop tapping my foot and maybe start bouncing my leg or swaying or something more dance-like to keep time. I'm not sure I see many pro entertainers tapping their foot.

Do you tap your foot? Or have you stopped? If so, how?

 

[Brozzy]

In the interests of satisfying those folks who say I stand statute-like, I try tap my foot and sway back and forth as much as possible. I am not sure I am doing it to keep my time, but rather to encourage other people to move their bodies.

 

[Oddly]

Distracting for who?
I get that wearing white shoes might make it more obvious, and you've clearly seen the light there and stopped wearing such crimes against humanity and fashion, but seriously I doubt anyone's watching the bassplayer's feet.
I've always done it...indeed I've told a couple of time-challenged guitarists that if they lose timing to use my foot as a metronome to get themselves back in line.

 

[LBS-bass]

Why not? It's a time-honored tradition taught to many of us as a way to keep time and get the feel into our bodies.

I will confess that when I sit and play I sometimes STOMP my foot, which is definitely distracting. But just tapping? Nah. Been done by many.

 

[Lagado]

Well, you know what to do, integrate it into your thing. Get on your good foot and dance:

 

[Lagado]

Sway, every one lands on the onbeat. Tapping your foot, includes the offbeat. No need.
What you sway depends on how you're feeling.

 

[Winslow]

Foot-tapping was a peeve of an old choir director I knew. He suggested tapping one's toe inside your shoe. Turns out that works quite well! You still get to feel yourself keeping time somewhere, but no one can see it going on.

 

[bradd]

I'd be more distracted by white shoes on stage than what you're doing with the foot

 

[Michedelic]

I dunno, it’s either that, gum chewing, or crotch thrusting for me.

 

[thabassmon]

I don't tap my foot while playing at all, but if it helps you play why not?

My dad (guitar player) not just taps his foot, he stomps with his heel so hard it harder to hear the guitar over it when he plays acoustically, that just gets annoying, so as long as you don't get to that extreme it's fine.

 

[Stratomato]

Off subject, but this reminds me of a busker I saw "tapping" his foot on a bass drum pedal while playing guitar. His bass drum was an old suitcase. It looked and sounded pretty cool.

 

[Lesfunk]

I was actually taught to tap my foot to help subdivide the beat (Downbeats and upbeats) while reading. It’s very effective.
Jeff Berlin rocks back and forth like he’s autistic. Seems to work for him.

 

[jerry]

My heel goes up and down, kinda a reverse tap I guess. I never thought about it, it's involuntary and after 50 years nobody's complained.

 

[micguy]

I dunno, it’s either that, gum chewing, or crotch thrusting for me.

I don't know if anyone has told you, but symphonic conducting probably isn't in your future.

 

[JRA]

crotch thrusting for me.

that's one of those 'flaunt-it-if-you've-got-it' moves....at least it was in my neighborhood...


per the OP: sometimes i do. sometimes i don't. i can stop it by sheer force of will.

 

[darwin-bass]

When I tap my foot I stand on my heels and become very motionless. Instead if I tap my heel (which is more like gently moving the lower leg) then I'm more on my toes and my whole body is free to move.

I tried it this morning as I was practicing for tonight's rehearsal and found it easy to not tap my toe - if I thought about it.

 

[darwin-bass]

When my kids were in HS I had a minor hobby of watching the feet of the kids in the concert band. So many of them tapped their feet to the rhythm but usually could not keep a steady beat. They would either stray off the beat or they'd tap their feet in time with the notes they were playing which did nothing to help them stay in time.

 

[lokikallas]

I don't tap my foot. I bang/bob my head or dance in place.

 

[Obese Chess]

No because I'm too busy running around, jumping off things, etc.

 

[Wfrance3]

If you don’t have time to watch it all, skip ahead to a little past 5:30

fwiw, this is what I think too, Adam and Julia are more entertaining.