I read an interview with Dave Matthews once – of the Dave Matthews Band, who recently graced our South African shores to great acclaim – and something he mentioned struck me. Dave is a very idiosyncratic player and is very concerned with groove. He writes amazing and unconventional guitar parts, which nevertheless are always very ‘rhythmic’, if I can put it like that. Hence a lot of foot tapping going on! There is lots of syncopation and interesting time signatures and grooves in his playing. He said something along the lines of being obsessed with drums and rhythm, and treating each of the strings of the guitar as an individual ‘drum’. His formula for mixing ‘beats’ with the harmony and melody afforded him by the guitar in his approach to playing has served him well!
The thing that stayed with me from the interview was Dave saying that an early teacher of his gave him the following advice: as much as possible, try to tap your foot along with your playing; a simple thing that can have a huge impact. Tapping your foot – a part of your body – as you play gives you a constant, internal sense of ‘the beat’. It helps you to be conscious of the fact that there is a rhythm that you are creating when you play. The thing to strive for from that point is to keep the rhythm consistent, developing a sense of groove, something often overlooked but something incredibly important in music and the musical guitar player.
Foot Tapping: Tips
- It’s better to tap your left foot (if you’re a right- handed player).
- You can also just tap your toes inside your shoes to do it more inconspicuously.
- Try and get into the habit of tapping your foot whenever you listen to music.
- Some people nod their head instead, some step side-to-side… just get in the groove!
Exercise
Work on foot-tapping along with a metronome while playing guitar. Start at 65bpm and try to get your foot-tapping and do a down-strum along with the metronome click. Really try to start to feel the timing internally, to develop your ‘inner metronome’. I know it sounds a little silly but it really is important.
A Good Habit
For any of you that are having timing issues, I always recommend getting into the habit of tapping your foot along to music all the time. Whenever you hear music, train your foot to start tapping along. It doesn’t take long (maybe a month or two) for it to become habit. Many students start getting the feeling that their foot is tapping along to a metronome, a recording, or their own playing subconsciously, which is exactly what you want. It’s almost like you have to build a little subroutine in your brain that keeps going even while you are thinking about something else.
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