

Here the down beats are played on the bass drum and the snare answers with up beats. Check out "How Sweet It Is To Be loved By You". This shuffle is played with both hands, one on the snare and the other on hi-hat or cymbal, and it's quite energetic. Here the shuffle rhythm is maintained on the snare, accompanied by steady quarter notes on hi-ht or cymbal.Ī generally triplet-based rhythm with a relaxed, almost loping quality somewhat similar to a Jazz Shuffle. It's sometimes easier to interpret a 2-beat as 2/2 time. This may not seem like a shuffle as at fast tempos the ride tends to be quarter notes, so the rhythm is an 'implied shuffle'. Here we have a bakers dozen of better-known shuffle rhythms (in alphabetical order). That said, the most effective shuffle patterns tend to be based on triplets.

SHUFFLE DRUM PATTERNS DRUMS PLUS
In fact, the skip beat can vary all the way from practically 8th notes to 32nd notes plus everything in between. Different moods and energy levels can be created by moving the skip beat closer to or further from the beat. Remember to focus on making the beat feel good.The secret to a shuffle that grooves is to micro-manage the skip beats, the 'uh'. You may need to play several tunes at a slower tempo before moving on to the faster songs. Then you can try playing a really fast shuffle to songs like Lido Shuffle by Boz Skaggs or The Boys are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy. Next, try playing a faster shuffle to a song like Higher Ground by Stevie Wonder. Try to imagine playing slightly behind each beat (but don’t drag). Don’t worry about that now, play the shuffle as written above. His drummer, Chris Layton, plays a variation called the Texas Shuffle where he plays the triplets with his left hand on the snare drum. Now it’s time to have some fun and make the shuffle “feel good.” Start by playing along with Cold Shot by Stevie Ray Vaughn. Concentrate on playing your hands and feet together on 2 and 4.

Now play the hi-hat, with your right hand, on the beat and the “a” of the beat.Start by counting triplets, playing quarter notes on the bass drum, and tapping your left heel on all 4 beats.And it sounds better if the bass drum is played on all four beats. The shuffle beat is just like the slow blues beat except it’s missing the middle note of each triplet.
SHUFFLE DRUM PATTERNS DRUMS HOW TO
If you learned how to play a slow blues drum beat (see How to Play a Slow Blues Drum Beat) then you already know how to play a shuffle, kind of.

Or think about what a horse sounds like when it’s doing a slow gallop across an open field. It sounds like someone shuffling along, dragging their heel with each step they take. You’ll know why this beat is called a shuffle when you hear it. For background on my idea, read these posts: 6 Simple but Powerful Drum Beats – Part 1 and Part 2. The Blues Shuffle is the 5 th of 6 beats that I think can be used to play every one of the most popular rock, pop and country songs over the past 50 years. Once you get the hang of it, a blues shuffle will naturally fall into a “wide” groove without much effort. Your goal as a drummer is to play a “wide” groove on every song you play. They will describe grooves as “deep,” “in-the-pocket” or “wide.” The conversation typically goes something like this:ĭrummer 1: “That groove my band played last night was so wide!”ĭrummer 1: “It was so wide you could’ve driven a Mack truck through it!”ĭrummer 1: “Yeah, it was so wide, the Mississippi could’ve run through it!”ĭrummer 1: “You could’ve landed a 747 in that groove and the wings wouldn’t have touched the sides.” For a drummer, nothing feels better than playing a straight-ahead, no-frills blues shuffle “in the groove” like the one below.Įven though “groove” in this case is a feeling, drummers will have fun talking about “groove” as if it’s a real, physical thing, like a crease in the pavement or the groove on a vinyl record.
