Left foot clave

[s'chopp]

Mike
Maybe it's just habit but I always found it most natural to keep time with my left foot so It's the way I learned to 'tap' clave; the pedal will just be an extension of this movement. If I were to use my right foot too, it would have to be a shakere... or woodblock of a different pitch.....or the same pitch with a muffled beater, many options..

[s'chopp]

This is a wood block- that you plug in to an amp! It is even heel-toe enabled!

http://www.log-jam.co.uk/

[windhorse]

This is a wood block- that you plug in to an amp! It is even heel-toe enabled!

http://www.log-jam.co.uk/

Well, I'll be darned.. That looks really nice! Of course you are forced to have a speaker/amp system available, but then you don't need to worry about the pedal swing, and extra training for your leg mallet dynamics..
We can probably all tap out a decent clave with our feet, but ask us to swing a foot pedal for an hour, and I'll bet there's only a handful that can pull that off!
Nice product answer!

[s'chopp]

[scavard]

I am planning to get a pedal and slowly start learning to play the clave with my foot along the congas. So I started wondering which foot it should be if I am a right-handed player. Is there some convention in this? My first thought was the right foot..

Just out of curiosity - how many of you right-hand players use right foot to play the clave with a pedal (and vice versa for left-hand players)?

[Thomas Altmann]

Hi scavard,

coming from the drum set, I play the clave with my left foot. And if I do so, I only do it for my own practice.

Of course, you can do it any way you want. Even for the drum set player, ambidexterity is a desirable goal.

Cheers,
Thomas

[scavard]

Thank you for the reply Thomas.

I get it, both feet will work just fine, but still wanted to ask whether there is some convention.

Let's say that you have two pedals - one for clave and one for quarter notes. If it were drums, I would keep time/quarter notes with my left foot on the hi-hat and play more complex patterns/clave with my right foot on the bass drum. Thus my choosing of right foot for the clave and left foot for additional time keeping. I think Eliel Lazo plays in this setup but I was not able to identify which foot plays what.

But of course, to each his own I may have to try it and pick the foot that feels more comfortable.

p.s. with two congas, my left foot will have more space on the ground

[scavard]

I just thought of another consideration.

If I imagine myself playing the clave with a stick in hand on some clave block or cowbell, I would definitely use my left hand for that, so that my right hand could easily keep playing the congas or bongos and such. I hope I'm not mistaken here, but in terms of independence, left limbs are tied together and right limbs are tied together. This would lead me to play the clave with my left foot if I wanted to substitute the left hand.

So now I'm leaning more towards the left foot in contrast with my previous post

And yes, I am overthinking this way too much, sorry folks

[Juaort]

Hi scavard. I don’t have much to add here, but like Thomas I play the clave on my left foot as well. It just comes more natural for some reason. The great thing is that you can do what ever you want and mix it up as well. I tend to keep it simple so clave is what I tend to do.

[Greensail]

A little late to this discussion but I've used a couple pedals for a number of years. Both purchased used, a TAMA, and by far my favorite a DW 5000 which has better action and just feels better. I have a plastic block on one which sounds great and a tambourine on the other. I am by no means completely proficient at a clave, better at a backbeat. I use it more with my right foot. I'm right handed. Have played around with using one with each foot but not very successfully. Interestingly, I find that while a little better with my right foot, my ability to keep on time seems to how I start. I think what I do is to feel the beat with either foot I'm using for the pedal, and once started, it's not too difficult to continue. That said, I believe my playing is not as good when using the pedal. But I suspect that is practice so the foot can move without thinking.

[scavard]

Thanks for the input. I already tried practicing with the left foot and it's going really well. I do need to get more comfortable with holding the drum with my knees and stomping my foot and maybe get even more relaxed while playing this way.

Keep practicing and stay safe