How to tap dance

4 Fundamental Tap Dance Steps for Beginners

Dance, Performing Arts

November 3, 2021

Have you ever watched good dancers make even the most complicated techniques look effortless? Watching an experienced dancer perform a tap routine can be magical. And, this can also happen for you if you learn these 4 tap dance steps that are simple but essential elements of all tap choreography.

Get ready to train your own feet to create a unique mixture of motion and music! This beginner’s guide will give you easy-to-follow steps and a tap-dancing video for each move.

What are the fundamental tap dance steps for beginners?

There are 4 basic tap dance moves: shuffle ball, ball change, step-heel and heel-step, and single buffalo. Once you learn these steps, you’ll be on your way to tap dancing like a pro!

Shuffle
Ball change
Step-heel and heel-step
Single buffalo

You may also like: 5 Dance Basics to Nail Down

1. Shuffle

https://youtu.be/7D582WY2Et4Video can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: How to Do Shuffles in Tap Dance (https://youtu.be/7D582WY2Et4)

The shuffle is one of the first tap dance steps you should learn. It’s a combination of two moves that are even more basic: the brush and the strike.

First, perform the brush by standing on one leg and bending the other as you lift your foot off the ground.
Next, turn both feet out without letting the raised foot touch the ground.
Then, perform a brush by swinging the foot forward. As it passes your standing foot, point it slightly, so the ball quickly brushes against the floor. Don’t let your heel touch the floor at all.
Last, follow it with a strike. This is simply the same movement in reverse, where you’ll swing your foot backward instead of forwards.

2. Ball Change

https://youtu. be/7wmmBLi1EyIVideo can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: How to Tap Dance: Shuffle Ball Change (https://youtu.be/7wmmBLi1EyI)

In tap, there are several different ways to shift your weight from one foot to the other, but the ball change is by far the most common. To pull it off perfectly, make sure that only your toe tap (the smallest of your shoe’s metal plates) makes any noise.

First, stand with your feet side by side but not touching.
Next, lift your heels so that only the balls of your feet are in contact with the floor.
Then, place your right foot behind you and rock back onto the ball of it. As you do so, your left foot should completely leave the floor for a moment.
Last, switch feet and do the same thing, rocking your weight from one ball to the next.

3. Heel-Step and Step-Heel

https://youtu.be/o9gi2eQQfcQVideo can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: How To Perform A Tap Step Heel (https://youtu. be/o9gi2eQQfcQ)

These two tap dance steps are the opposite of one another and when you perform them in a pair of tap shoes, they each produce two very distinct sounds.

First, try to heel-step, which simply mimics the natural progression of walking across the floor. The rules are very basic: when you place one foot in front of the other, bring the heel of your foot down first. It may help to exaggerate the movement and “stomp” your heel to the floor.
Next, bring the ball of your foot down, too. Repeat with the opposite foot.
Then, continue until you’ve moved forward several feet.
Last, try the step-heel, which is the reverse of what you just did. The ball of your foot should come down before your heel. This will come more naturally if you’re used to wearing high heels.

Note: Make sure when you’re doing the step-heel that the ball of each foot makes complete contact with the floor before the heel joins it. The more you arch your foot, the more force you’ll need to complete each step.

4. Single Buffalo

https://youtu.be/unszgGPxC0YVideo can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: How to Tap Dance: Buffalo Step (https://youtu.be/unszgGPxC0Y)

This series of step, shuffle, and small jump is a stylized way to transition between tap dance moves.

First, step down onto the ball of your right foot.
Next, lift your left foot behind you and perform a shuffle, moving it forward and back again.
Then, return to your original position and hop onto the ball of the foot, placing it behind your right foot while you simultaneously lift your right foot into the air in front of you.
Last, bend your right knee outward so that your toe falls on the other side of your left foot.

Have Fun Learning The Fundamental Tap Dance Steps!

Practice really can make perfect if you put your mind to it. Once you have these steps down, you’ll know how to tap dance like a pro.

If you enjoy learning and practicing these simple tap dance moves, why not take it a step further and work with a private dance teacher to improve your skills? Online videos are great, but tap dance lessons with an instructor can make sure you’ve mastered the basics and more to help you feel confident performing or competing as a tap dancer.

Have fun learning these exciting but important tap dance steps as you make magical music with your feet!

Suzy S.

How To Tap Dance For Beginners Video Course

Learn how to tap dance with the following free mini-video course for beginners. The following 3 videos cover 5 of the most used beginner Tap dance steps in Tap dancing today. They are taken directly from the The Complete Tap dance course for beginners. Watch them in order and try them at home. These online Tap dance lessons are full of exercises and lots of angles to make sure you can get everything from home.

Tap Lesson #1: Toes & Heels

In this first dance lesson you will learn how to Tap dance with the most fundamental parts of the Tap dance shoe – the toes and the heels. It’s exactly how it sounds, the toe is the front part of the foot and you would only tap with it when doing “toes”. The “heel” is the back part of foot and you’d press your heel onto the floor using only that part of the foot. These 2 basic tap steps are very important to get before moving to the other videos below.

These tap dance steps are from:
The Complete Tap dance course for beginners
Learn 37 different Tap steps and 14 combinations with HD videos (Over 12 hours). Everything is broken down step by step and it even includes practice sessions to music. You can watch the lessons online or download them to your computer.
BUY IT NOW (CLICK HERE)

Tap Lesson #2: Stamps & Stomps

Here is a great lesson showing the difference between the Stamp and Stomp steps. These two Tap moves are very popular and are present in many combinations. The stamp is where you pick up your foot and press it into the floor and then changing your weight immediately. The stomp however is when you press you foot into the floor but without changing the weight. These 2 basic tap dance steps are very similar but you must understand how they differ.

Want More?
Get The Complete Tap dance course for beginners and learn 37 Tap steps.

Tap Lesson #3: The ‘Brush’

In this last lesson you will learn the brush Tap dance step. This is a more difficult step that requires more technique so don’t worry if you don’t get it right away. You want to lift off your foot and swing it from the back to the front making one single touch with the toe part of the tap shoe. As shown in the video, you don’t want to sweep the floor in this move, but only make a single tapping point as you brush your foot. This move will help you develop better balance as you must really stay on one foot for a long period of time.

This lesson is from:

Want More?
The Complete Tap dance course for beginners
Learn 37 different Tap steps and 14 combinations with HD videos (Over 12 hours). Everything is broken down step by step and it even includes practice sessions to music. You can watch the lessons online or download them to your computer.
BUY IT NOW (CLICK HERE)

Extra Tap dancing Tips:

1. Buy Tap dance shoes – If you are serious about learning how to Tap dance you need to get the proper shoes. It will speed up your learning progress and give you the real feeling right away.

2. Master the Rhythm of your moves – Tap dancing is one of the most rhythmical styles of dance so you need to make sure you hone down the timing of every single move you are learning. Without timing, your technique won’t improve.

3. Find fluidity in your ankles – The key is to make dancing look fun and easy. Therefore, it is important that you don’t keep your ankles and knees locked up. You need to relax them and let them be free in order to tap dance.

4. Practice often – Tap dance steps require lots of balancing and coordination. It is not the type of dance style you can pick up in a few hours. Instead schedule regular practice to go over your moves if you want to be really good.

We hope you enjoyed this free beginner series on how to tap dance. Please leave a comment below if you liked these videos. To learn other dance styles visit our online dance lessons page.

How to learn to tap dance

Home Male and female Teaching How to learn to tap dance

Content of the article:

1 Fundamentals of the execution of the leaks
2 Success Secret
3 The main elements in the dance
4 Rhythms of leaks

The basis for the execution of the leaks

Chemisting is the main foundation for which the steps are considered to be tucked up by gender. Simply put, it is music played with the feet. Each time the celebrity of this dance only increases. It is compared with the Irish jig, because the tap-dancing rhythm is also of paramount importance there. nine0024 In order to start tap dancing, you need to buy special comfortable shoes for this. It should be in the form of shoes with metal heels. It is also important that the flooring is solid. This is necessary for a clearer sound of heels.
Tap dance shoes can be purchased at a specialty store or made to order at any shoe repair shop. It is important that the shoes fit well enough on the foot. Very tight shoes will rub the foot, causing discomfort, and also further lead to foot deformity. Too loose shoes can lead to injury. nine0024 For such a dance, it is better to choose a place to practice in advance. It is best to dance outdoors on a special platform. It is important that there are no foreign objects nearby. This will improve the quality of classes, because swings and turns require a lot of space. It is advisable to tap dance under the guidance of an experienced master who can teach correctly and point out shortcomings. You can also learn to tap dance on your own. You should not engage in tap dancing in a multi-storey building, because it will cause negativity among the neighbors. It is best to do this in a special sports club. Suitable for any hard surface floor. Linoleum or carpet should be avoided, such coatings interfere with sound. nine0024 After the theory is mastered, you can move on to practice. If the classes will be held at school, then for clarity, a lesson will be shown with step-by-step instructions on how to start tap dancing. Then you need to slowly begin to repeat after the instructor, alternately performing each element of the dance. Performing everything slowly but clearly, you can quickly memorize the main elements of tap dancing.

The secret of success

For a good mastering of the tap dance movements, you need to train every day for half an hour. Additional classes also do not interfere. You can simultaneously master some other dance, for additional physical training. nine0006

The basic elements of the dance

All the basic elements of the dance are formed with the heel, toe and swing. Legs can be crossed, legs are swung, the toe can alternate with the heel. U-turns and jumps also look skillfully, with which leg swings are made. Turns are performed with the help of a sock, which is placed on the heel. And all this is done at a fast pace. The main thing here is that the leg stance must be performed correctly and at a certain slope. Movement must be precise. nine0024 First you need to learn everything separately, each element. The main thing is the rhythmic step. Then there are 4 main movements. To execute the first brush element, you need to hit with your heel, putting your foot forward, and then put your foot back, hitting with your toe. Ball-change consists of performing a kick with one leg and subsequent kicks with the other leg. And so each leg alternates in turn. Flap is done by hitting the heel and toe of one foot, and then the other foot. Shuffle is an element that is executed when stepping forward. All these movements are worked out to automaticity, and then they are easily combined in a dance. nine0006

Tap-dancing rhythms

Every time a heel tap on the floor is done, and then a toe tap. And so there is an alternation between them. Learn sanchal at a slow pace and without music. Once the basics have been learned, you can turn on an easy tempo, and then a fast one.
Knowing the main movements, you can begin to combine them into a dance. Otherwise, you can improvise, showing imagination. After all, such a dance is, first of all, an art. Their elements are added to the basic methods, and a new dance is obtained. Now you can create your own individual dances, with the basics of tap dancing. nine0024 So, to learn how to tap dance you need:

• Enroll in a dance school.
• Buy video tap dance course.
• Find a tap dance choreographer.

It is not always necessary to choose one option for tap dancing. You can enroll in a dance school and buy a course of video lessons. Thus, you can learn to dance not only at one time, at school, but also at home, according to the course of video lessons.

Like many dances, tap dancing is performed to music. If you master the dance technique well, then you can perform tap dance without music. The rhythm that will be performed during the dance will be the melody of the tap dance itself. nine0006

Learning something new, correctly combining movements and improving skills, you can achieve a lot. You can watch video lessons on the Internet, both individually and the complexity of the compositions. It is important not only to remember, but also to be able to exactly repeat the new dance movements.

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take the first step. Online lesson №1 (photo, video)

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Tap dance - take the first step. Online lesson №1 (photo, video)

The basic movement of tap dance is a step. This movement serves as the basis of the foundations in all types of step. In the Irish jig, in the American tap, in the European step, or in the good old tap dance, there is one common element - the step. The step can be found in absolutely any dance of the tap dancer. Everything starts with him. nine0006

Before learning

When learning tap dance, you need to get used to new shoes. Shoes with metal heels are the main and indispensable accessory for a step dancer. When performing a “step”, you need to stand in one place and take a normal step, while placing your foot evenly across the entire foot. Now we will analyze the four basic elements of tap dancing: ball-change, flap, shuffle, brush.

Tap dancing - take the first step. Online lesson №1 (photo, video)

Ball-change

This item is very easy to make. First, we strike with the right foot, while the entire foot is placed on the floor. After that, we strike with the toe of the left foot. Now it remains for us to alternate the step with the kick of the toe.

Tap dancing - take the first step. Online Lesson #1 (photo, video)

Flap

This is a simple step with a little twist in execution. The leg is not placed on the entire foot, but first a heel strike is made, and then a toe. After that, the leg is placed on the floor and a similar movement is made with the second leg. When performing this element, the heel and toe strike is not done strongly, in order to create a feeling of lightness. Light strokes in the step make the dancer imposing. nine0006