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Toe or Heel?

I keep time by

  • Tapping my toes

    Votes: 42 38.2%
  • Tapping my heel

    Votes: 37 33.6%
  • Counting Carrots

    Votes: 31 28.2%

  • Total voters
    110
Both. And, apparently, I chew gum out of rhythm. I had an old guy walk up to me after a gig recently and say "How do you DO that???" I said "Do what?" He said "You switch off randomly from tapping your toe to tapping your heel, walk all over the place, stop and sing, play bass in perfect time, and chew gum OUT of time!" How do you DO that???"


I said "Until right now I didn't KNOW I did all that." :D
 
It’s usually my torso, but I like to bounce.

I tap my foot way more than I realize - both heel and toe from the video footage. But, for the deep grooves I'll sway the whole upper body. It does seem to help our drummer with his timing. We're a cover band. Sometimes our drummer overcomplicates by trying to play exactly to the original recording and struggles with the basic beat because he's thinking and counting instead of feeling the groove.
 
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When I perform, I find I keep time by raising and lowering my heel, while keeping my toes on the ground. I think this method is in the minority, based on what I often see others do, but who knows?

What say you?

I swing my butt… I had a drummer once commented “Man, the whole show is with your butt!”, kind of like Chuck Berry telling the local musicians before a gig “ Just watch this foot. The show in in the foot.”.
 
I was taught in concert band playing brass instruments to NOT tap toes or heels to keep time because it 1) disrupted the embouchure; and 2) on a hard surface, made noise that interfered with the performance.
 
For me it's an involuntary thing. When I practice maybe I tap my toe to keep time as I'm working on a rhythm. During a gig when things are grooving, everything is moving. Many times I find myself bouncing on my toes and it just morphs to tapping a toe. It even happen if it's a good rehearsal. Sadly now that I'm getting older and on BP meds I start cramping up. If not at the gig then later that night in bed for sure. I have to go overboard on the hydration.
 
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Sometimes heel, sometimes toes, sometimes just a big toe inside the shoe, sometimes "clenching" my foot (with something slower), sometimes shaking a knee back and forth. And I will change mid-song if the energy level is changing. The highest energy sections tend to be left toe tapping and bobbing my head.
 
I was taught in concert band playing brass instruments to NOT tap toes or heels to keep time because it 1) disrupted the embouchure; and 2) on a hard surface, made noise that interfered with the performance.
I think it was fifth or sixth grade concert band when the teacher instructed us to tap our toes inside our shoes, because otherwise there were a hundred feet tapping out a hundred different tempos visible to the audience.