I didn’t really know where to put this after searching through the forums for strumming posts. I have read most of them. I just purchased SOS so I wonder if my answer is in the course, so just posting it here.
I have been at it now for a year. I can listen to a song and tap my foot on the beat. I have justins book on reading music, am up to about chapter 5, I use a metronome and keep my foot tapping on the beat, and I use my hand to tap out the rhythm, it’s a process.
I can play old faithful well, but I have no idea why I can’t coordinate other patterns, simple patterns and keep my foot tapping. I am playing with songs and I am strumming in time and my foot is off, or my strumming is off any my foot is on, or my foot double taps and throws out my strumming.
I am at apoint of such frustration that I have no idea how to fix this, or even where to start… if I have been following the lessons, why would my coordination not improve? What is it that I don’t understand I can’t get between my head and my appendages to play this instrument?
If you are strumming in time and changing chords in time you are playing in time. It doesn’t matter what your foot is doing.
For my first years of playing, foot tapping made my rhythm. worse, not better. There are a few other members here who have reported similar problems with foot tapping. Sometimes there’s so much mental effort just controlling your strumming and fretting hands that adding the additional task of foot tapping just messes everything up.
If you record yourself against the metronome or a drum beat, and you can hear that you are in time, then that’s the most important thing. It took me about three years before I could reliably play and tap my foot at the same time
If you were not sure you are in time when listening back to your recording, post it and we will give you feedback.
I agree with @Tbushell - I’m not a foot tapper either, it doesn’t come naturally so it’s just another process for my brain to have to deal with. There’s already enough going on which is why when I try to sing and play my strumming breaks down. Maybe I’ll be able to tap someday but not yet.
The thing is I can play in time. I can play various strumming patterns and even strum along to the rhythm of a song and keep time. To be clear I’m not saying that foot tapping is pointless or anything like that just in the stages of playing (I’m talking months and even years) it may be more than many of us can accommodate.
The way that I learn new patterns is by playing them repeatedly on muted strings. Sometimes I’ll record the audio of a YouTube video of the section where the pattern is being demoed and play that on loop until it’s in my head. I just use a voice recorder app on my phone for that
Wow. I thought I was the alone in being able to keep rhythm decently without foot tapping. Sometimes my internal rhythm comes out in the feet, others not. Concentrating on that seems like work on top of work.
count me as another who can’t foot tap and play. BITD, I had no problem foot tapping and playing trumpet. but I’ll go out on a limb and say that takes a lot less coordination than it does on guitar. it’s probably for the same reason that I can’t really sing and play guitar at the same time.
it does seem that those things are starting to come to me. but at least when it comes to the foot tapping thing, I just tend to feel the rhythm better in other ways. a head nod, in particular. there are a couple songs I can sing part of. rhythm changes catch me out, though. most of what I play changes at some point in the song. it’s pretty uncommon that I play anything that’s the same strumming pattern all the way through.
when I’m working out a new rhythm, it does take some time to really internalize that. it seems to help me the most if I play along to a recording of the song so I can really get a feel for the groove of the song. justin sure does like to talk about finding the groove of a particular song. and that can be a pretty strong emphasis for some of them.
For me, that’s when I play good. If I’m not feeling the song, in my mind, I will come close to what I want to play. But it will be off timing wise, feel wise.
When I’m feeling the song, then I will be much closer to playing in time, good rhythm. To start to have a song that sounds like ‘I’m in the groove’. It starts to sound like ‘music’.
For me this feeling comes and goes. Some days, I just can’t feel it. Other days, I do fairly good. And the feeling ‘it’, is the difference between playing music and not just playing some notes I think, for me.
I don’t seem to be able to control this feeling. It comes and goes, perhaps with the general mood of my day? I don’t know.
I just know that some days I feel the rhythm, and that helps much with the coordination.
well when it comes to strumming patterns i dont know any, I just go with what I feel I listen to the recording and just play whatever feels right, whether its right or not I dont know but it sounds OK most of the time.
Another +1 for not worrying about tapping your foot while playing. If you are able to play to a metronome in time, then it doesn’t matter what your foot is doing.
What I personally find foot tapping useful for is getting a sense of the rhythm of the song while I’m not playing the guitar. If I’m working on a cover, listening to the original while tapping my foot is a good way to get a sense of the beat before picking up the guitar to play.
I did have another thought. Have you tried playing to a drum track versus a metronome? While playing to a metronome is a good skill to learn, I personally find it way easier to stay on tempo playing to drums. Although- this may be because I live with a human metronome (aka my drummer husband) and I think I’m just more used to staying in time with drums versus a click. It may be worth a shot if you are having a hard time with the metronome.
Lots of good advice here! If I may add a word of caution about skipping the foot tapping completely. I was in a similar place and found that it held me back during blues immersion - playing solos over a backing track, with complicated rhythms, eg mixture of triplets and swung eighths and trip-e-let-e’s… - this needed a steady reference point beyond the pulse of the backing track. I needed to get my foot in sync with my hands. For this, it helped me to break things down into smaller pieces and then combine them - eg I worked on tapping my foot while listening to the backing track or song, then added air guitar strums with my fingers holding an imaginary pick, then muted picks or strums on the guitar, then a single chord, a single note, then 2-3 notes, etc. If my brain thought about chords or melody, it couldn’t get the other timing right. I’m still working on this, but separating rhythm drills from chords and melody and licks has helped me.
Thank you all for your responses, I am feeling much better that it is more of a global problem. Sometimes I know I feel like it’s always just me who can’t do it, I walk into my music class (sound production) and everyone plays, so it’s a little disheartening.
I think my future looks like a lot of breaking things down, until I get some kind of internal pulse that carries over to more and more stuff.
@Beatup6String I just got a message back from Molly, the lady who I rave about on this forum, (Viola player and neuroscientist talking about practice for better musicians) and essentially you echoed her opinion.
She goes one step further in that she told me to march in spot to the beat until I got the internal pulse, next step march and clap the rhythm (strumming pattern) then march and air strum, march and guitar strum muted strings, march strum unmuted, then change chords.
Seems like so much work but also seems like the only way to get some solid internal pulse basics.
Again thanks everyone for your offerings, makes me feel a little more seen
This is one of the best practice tips from the book - really deserves its own topic. Apparently, our sense of rhythm is closely associated with our sense of balance - which comes from the inner ear.
I always found that nodding my head worked much better than tapping my foot - and this explains why.
For the last few weeks, every time I’ve been struggling with a rhythm - guitar or singing - I stand up and start marching in place. What I’m doing wrong usually becomes clear in a minute or so.
This really seems to be a game changer for those of us who struggle with rhythm. It’s like foot tapping on steroids!
the first time I tried playing to a drum track it was a hot mess. That’s definitely a skill to work on. But I’m getting a lot better at it and I enjoy it a lot more than playing along with a metronome. a metronome definitely has its place.
Think about this logically, tapping your foot is another thing for your brain to process and additionally for it to connect it to your strumming, it dilutes what you can actually do. Your brain only has so much capacity so it spreads out its ability - which can result in errors.
Stick to a metronome or a click track, there’s no physical activity that your brain has to process that way!
but also seems like the only way to get some solid internal pulse basics.