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(5 votes) 
Regulars
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Some people have difficulty maintaining rhythm. I'll let you self-diagnose.
Technical difficulties affect this a lot. I use far too much rubato when I'm on my own.
There are some classical teachers who tell you "never tap your foot". They believe that a sense of rhythm should be 100% internal. This, I think, is a little bit precious. It's better to say, "never tap your foot audibly". In orchestras the conductor's beat is sometimes indecipherable, so I tend to supplement it with silent foot-tapping synched with which of his beats I can see and the sound the other sections are making.
But I think it's OK to tap your foot when you are on your own, as long as you can modify the habit when not alone.
The best thing to do is wiggle your toes inside your shoes. That's always inaudible. If the soles of your shoes are very flexible, the toe section will rise and fall, but that too should be inaudible.
Andrew
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You're right Gordon. Also, professional musicians in an orchestra are not supposed to tap their feet but I promise you that they do. Most don't do it too often, and they try to do it discreetly, but I've seen it far too often.
It's a great way to be rhythmical. Obviously it's not advisable in an orchestra but depending on what we're playing, it happens.
I'd go as far as to say at tapping your feet evenly means that you a musical person.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Fiddlerman said
I'd go as far as to say at tapping your feet evenly means that you a musical person.
Andrew
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How about just wearing a pair of shoes that have a soft sole?
Is it weird I naturally can't keep from lightly tapping my feet and/or hands & even other muscles/parts of my body - while listening to music, but I only internalize it while playing?
I just know I'll never be able to do Podorythmie. 😕
- Emily
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Soft soles can make a noise on a hard floor.
Andrew
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How much you can get away with varies a lot depending on where you're playing, and what's going on in the music. It's probably not going to be heard over a full orchestral tutti, but if the texture is transparent it could be a problem. Also, some floors are harder or more resonant than others, and some venues have better acoustics than others. Last year I had to be extra careful: one of my orchestras was playing in a concert hall with the kind of acoustics where you could hear a pin drop, and the other was temporarily playing in a venue with an oddly resonant floor that seemed to ring with the softest footstep.
During longer rests I sometimes beat time with my right index finger, following the conductor, which has the advantage of being silent and almost invisible; it can be done subtly without putting down the bow.
Regulars
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Long rests is a topic that might be useful for beginners to know about. I find that I'm counting them (internally) so intensely that I don't really need to keep the beat, but I can't vouch for what I do unawares.
The way I was told to do it, anyone who doesn't know, is to say to yourself
"ONE, two, three, (four)
TWO, two, three, (four)
THREE, two, three, (four)
FOUR, two, three, (four)
FIVE, two, three, (four)
SIX, two, three, (four)
etc."
Some pieces are pigs - in Prokofiev and Ravel on the oboe I'd regularly see 75 bar rests.
Andrew
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The reason I often beat time with my finger is that my orchestra plays so much modern music -- there may be five or six meter changes in a 15-bar rest, some of them irregular meters, and there may be a tempo change or two as well. Sometimes I need to keep track of where I am by what the meter is at that point.
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I've seen a lot of foot-tapping going on in orchestras & also in my brass band days. I often find myself doing it, especially if the conductor is not giving a clear beat (often).
As far as bars rest is concerned, the whole flute section counts on their fingers and occasionally we check with each other to make sure we all agree. Flutes tend to have long rests though - especially the piccolo; I remember having to count 60 odd bars rest when I was on the piccolo part (it was a Wagner overture - I forget the name). The inside 2nd violins love the piccolo player of course. 
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When counting long rests, I use my fingers to count the number of the bar and count every bar in my head. I got in a habit of doing so because if I didn't do it, the section would miss the entrance. There are drawbacks to being a leader and one of them is that you have to count. LOL
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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