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Podorythmie

French Canadian method of tapping one's feet during musical performances

Podorythmie is a traditional French Canadian method of tapping one's feet during musical performances, which is a common practice in Québécois and Acadian music, and to a lesser extent, Canadian folk music as a whole. It is a percussion technique that uses the feet as a musical instrument to produce sound by hitting the feet on the floor. This technique is especially common during fiddle performances.

01Shoes and equipment

In order to produce a sound that is loud enough to be heard over the music, special boards and shoes are often employed by the performer. Shoes with wooden heels or leather soles generally have a desirable sound. Sometimes, the artist will use taps or fibreglass added to the toes and heels to create a louder sound. Contact microphones or specially crafted amplified boards (such as stomp boxes) are used in professional stage productions to augment the volume of the foot percussion.

Notation of a typical 4/4 podorythmie rhythm
Notation of a typical 4/4 podorythmie rhythm
Watch videos about PodorythmieExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Podorythmie, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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