Beginner Question: tapping left foot to count?

[sciomako]

Hi,

I'm a beginner and I'm new here.

I noticed many drummers tapped the heel of their left foot to count the beats. Is it a good thing to do?

Thanks.

John

[Nodiggie]

Welcome to the forum.

It is very normal for r/l foot to act as your time keeper. I am rt handed and thus, my left foot or Hi Hat always keeps my meter. I am sure there are many different ways to keep your clock. Whatever works for you is a good thing.

[rmandelbaum]

There are really two questions I see being asked here.

First is a left foot question. In my opinion it is imperative to become comfortable keeping time with you hi-hat. It allows you to not only maintain time but have a much bigger sound while playing on the ride or during fills or even playing on the snare. Watch any accomplished player and you will see this is the norm.

I love double bass but feel that many young drummers completely ignore the hi-hat. This is a huge mistake in my opinion.

In Jazz the snare is not used as it is in rock and other musical genres, it is the hi-hat that keeps time most of the time.

Second question is what you do to help you keep time, there are many methods used by many drummers. Some hum, some chew gum, some simply move their body, I am sure many will chime in on what they do. Anything that makes you a better player is great.

[Drumsword]

I tend to rock my left foot as well. heel up and down anyway, I try not to open that hat accidentally..lol

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

It's actually something I've started doing without realising. I tend to tap my heel (to keep the hi hat closed) in relation to the beat, but I can also do the same using the front of my foot to keep the hi hat going. It can help with timekeeping and counting - so learn to do it. It's not a vital technique, but certainly one that can help.

[sciomako]

Thank you everyone! This is a great community!

John

[don strandberg]

My left foot on the hi hat is the fondation of my time. Even if I am not sounding a note. I will hold it shut with the toes. But still rock the heal. Look around at the rest of your band. All most all are tapping there left foot. If I see a right foot tapper his time is mostly not that good.
Just my 2 cents.

[kellycurrie]

I will also tap my heel while keeping the hats closed with the toe. I find that when playing on the hats, the slight change of pressure on the pedal really creates a much fatter hihat sound.

This reminds me of when I met Rick Gratton at a clinic this summer. He would pump his hats open and shut on the quarter note while keeping eigths with his hand also on the hats. The interesting thing was that he'd make sure not to hit the hats while they were open. This resulted in kind of a shaker effect. Sounded awesome - hard as hell to pull off tho. Can he ever play! DAMN SON

[AllTheCoolNamesAreTaken]

Another thing is that forcing yourself to keep time with your left foot is, basically, an independence exercise. I try to do it all the time, sometimes I have to drop it if it's messing up a fill or a beat, but it's definitely a good way to help get the (generally underused) left leg up to speed.

[BWT hooligan]

I play for a little over four years now and at one point during this time i realized that my right foot does the count. It happened naturally and i don't remember paying any particular attention to this aspect of playing or trying to "learn to do that".