Podorythmie is a traditional

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

method of tapping one's feet during musical performances, which is a common practice in Québécois and

Acadian The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the de ...

music. It is a

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

technique that uses the feet as a

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

to produce sound by hitting the feet on the floor. This technique is especially common during

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

performances.

Shoes and equipment

In order to produce a sound that is loud enough to be heard over the music, special boards and shoes are 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 are used in professional stage productions to augment the volume of the foot percussion.

References

Body percussion French Canadian culture Percussion performance techniques Quebec music Canadian dances Tap dance Foot percussion {{Idiophone-instrument-stub