Foot tapping

Sounds like a ridiculous thing to teach, right? Well, I just wanna make sure you get it right... and you'd be amazed how many people say this lesson helped them. Maybe you will too?

Tapping your foot: A Checklist

• 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; I sometimes step side-to-side... just get in the groove, man!

Exercise

Work on tapping your foot along with a metronome (as covered in the last lesson). Start at 60bpm; try and 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!

So now it's time to get playing some tunes :)