For a drummer, nothing feels better than playing a straight-ahead, no-frills blues shuffle “in the groove” like the one below.
Even 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. They will describe grooves as “deep,” “in-the-pocket” or “wide.” The conversation typically goes something like this:
Drummer 1: “That groove my band played last night was so wide!”
Drummer 2: “How wide was it?”
Drummer 1: “It was so wide you could’ve driven a Mack truck through it!”
Drummer 2: “Man, that’s a wide groove.”
Drummer 1: “Yeah, it was so wide, the Mississippi could’ve run through it!”
Drummer 2: “Whoa, that is wide.”
Drummer 1: “You could’ve landed a 747 in that groove and the wings wouldn’t have touched the sides.”
Your goal as a drummer is to play a “wide” groove on every song you play. Once you get the hang of it, a blues shuffle will naturally fall into a “wide” groove without much effort.
The Blues Shuffle is the 5th 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. For background on my idea, read these posts: 6 Simple but Powerful Drum Beats – Part 1 and Part 2.
You’ll know why this beat is called a shuffle when you hear it. It sounds like someone shuffling along, dragging their heel with each step they take. Or think about what a horse sounds like when it’s doing a slow gallop across an open field. Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump. That’s the sound of a shuffle.
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. The shuffle beat is just like the slow blues beat except it’s missing the middle note of each triplet. And it sounds better if the bass drum is played on all four beats.
Let’s give it a try:
- Start by counting triplets, playing quarter notes on the bass drum, and tapping your left heel on all 4 beats.
- Now play the hi-hat, with your right hand, on the beat and the “a” of the beat.
- Finally, add the left hand on 2 and 4. Concentrate on playing your hands and feet together on 2 and 4.
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. His drummer, Chris Layton, plays a variation called the Texas Shuffle where he plays the triplets with his left hand on the snare drum. Don’t worry about that now, play the shuffle as written above. Relax and don’t rush. Try to imagine playing slightly behind each beat (but don’t drag).
Next, try playing a faster shuffle to a song like Higher Ground by Stevie Wonder. 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.
You may need to play several tunes at a slower tempo before moving on to the faster songs. Remember to focus on making the beat feel good.
What’s gonna be your answer to the question, “How wide is your groove?”