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I tried to stop tapping my foot but i can't, I always catch myself tapping my foot. Good thing my bd wants us to tap our foot.

I always tap my foot in choir. In Carol of the Bells at the beginning I do that. Always...I can't help it. xD

How can tapping your foot be a bad thing if it helps you keep in time?

My HS BD got on us for tapping our foot on stage, but not in class.

I can keep time without tapping my foot, but it's easier [at least for me] when you tap your foot.

There has been a lot of discussion on this topic for years among music directors. When I was in college studying to be a music director, we had our own little heated discussion about it. My professor pointed out something interesting to us. He asked my whole class to start tapping our feet to a pulse he provided. He walked around and watched our feet as we tapped along. Thankfully, we all stayed together, but he made this observation: not one of us was tapping with a subdivision.

He demonstrated for us what he was looking for. On the beat, his shoe hit the floor and made an audible tap. Woo. Everyone does that. BUT! his foot came up in a timely manner so when it stopped at the top, it was exactly at the "and" part of the beat. Basically, he showed us with his foot how to count 'ONE and TWO and THREE and FOUR and...'

Needless to say, a class full of college students were amazed.

He went on to say that the reason why students rush even when tapping their foot is that they fail to subdivide when counting

((By the way, subdivide is counting in units smaller than your beat, such as the example above, or 'ONE ee And ah TWO ee And ah....))





Basically, it all boils down to the director's own personal teaching philosophy and method whether students should tap their feet or not.


When I play in Symphony Orchestra, I tend to tap my toe or tense my toes instead of lifting my foot or heel to aid in reinforcing the pulse my conductor is clearly beating out for me and the rest of the ensemble. I also count to myself what beat we are on or the duration of a long note.

I personally do not allow my students to tap their feet (and I try not to enforce it by intimidation or other degrading methods). Even when I was a student in middle school, I could see dozens of individuals tapping to dozens of different tempos during a performance. Tapping will not solve the problems of rushing or dragging. Plus, it is very distracting from the audience's point of view.

I have witnessed, however, other directors not starting a piece (in performance too) until each and every student were tapping their foot to his beat. I have only seen this done for a group of beginners. I can understand his method behind it: he was developing their internal pulse before the piece even began, and the tapping was his way to monitor their pulse. It is a very good idea, I just don't adhere to it because it is unsightly in the professional world, and it is very distracting to other players and the audience.




Remember, the music is what's being performed. Not an amateur tap dance.

We've always been told to tap our foot, and while I do(and not to sound like I'm bragging) I'm pretty good and can keep in place. Then there are people who don't, and the result is the get lost and/or sound awful.

my old bd said we r SUPPOSED 2 tap our feet other wise we get in trouble... but my new 1 says we dont have 2.... but since i joined band i always get the songs stuck in my head and i start tappin the beat.... also i JUST CANT STOP TAPPIN MY FOOT... even when theres no music and im not thinkin (which is often) rofl