The Blues… If you’ve got ‘em you know it. There’s nothing worse than that “down in the dumps”, “nobody can help me”, “leave me alone”, “I’m sad; why aren’t you?” feeling. And when songwriters get the blues, look out! They will write some of the most mournful, gut-wrenching, heartfelt songs you’ve ever heard. That is why when a drummer plays the blues, the beat must be simple but played with a lot of feeling.
I have this theory that the most popular rock, pop and country songs over the past 50 years can be played with one of six drum beats. For background on my idea, read these posts: 6 Simple but Powerful Drum Beats – Part 1 and Part 2. In this post, you’ll be learning The Slow Blues Drum Beat which is the 4th of the 6 beats.
The Blues
“The Blues” can mean different things to different people.
It’s a feeling but it’s also a song style. When other musicians talk about “The Blues,” they are talking about a song structure and the musical notes that can be played within that structure. They are not necessarily talking about the drum beat.
Blues songs can be played over any drum beat, just listen to the music of the great blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn. In fact most rock n’ roll songs are based on a blues song structure. This means a drummer might play a super slow beat, a rock beat, a super fast beat or a Bo Diddley beat for a blues song. You can also play two other drum beats that we haven’t talked about: Slow Blues and the Shuffle (also called “Fast Blues” or “Blues Shuffle”).
Counting Triplets
Both the Slow Blues and the Shuffle are based on notes called triplets. A triplet is a group of three notes played within one beat. Instead of straight eighth notes like “1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and”, triplets are “1-and-a-2-and-a-3-and-a-4-and-a” (Remember “a” is pronounced “uh”). Some people count them “1-trip-let-2-trip-let-3-trip-let-4-trip-let.” Either way, the idea is the same; play 3 evenly spaced notes within one beat.
Learning to Play the Slow Blues
First of all you’ve got to get in the proper frame of mind. Imagine you live in the Pacific Northwest of the USA and it’s drizzle-rained for the past 60 days. It’s been in the high 30’s / low 40’s (Fahrenheit) forever, the sky has been grey since you don’t know when and you just broke up with your main squeeze. Your car stopped running, work’s not going well and you’re running out of money. You’ve got the blues.
Next, sit down at the drums and tell them how you feel. You’re not aggressive and mad, you’re lonely and beaten.
Now that you’re feeling the blues, let’s play a slow blues drum beat.
- Start playing your feet at a slow tempo, like 52 beats-per-minute (slightly slower than one beat per second). Play the bass drum on 1 and 3. Tap your left heel on all 4 beats to keep an internal clock. Then count evenly “1-and-a-2-and-a-3-and-a-4-and-a-1-and-a….” Continue to count until it feels comfortable.
- Now, while continuing to count, start playing triplets on the hi-hat with your right hand.
- Next, add your left on the snare drum on 2 and 4.
- Finally, add some spice by playing the bass drum on the “a” of 2.
Now you’re ready to play a slow blues song. I’d start with a really slow one like If You Don’t Know Me By Now by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. Then try a slightly faster blues like So Far Away by Staind. And finally a faster slow blues (if there is such a thing) like Bad to the Bone by George Thorogood. Remember to play the triplets evenly and play with a sad/lonely attitude because it’s The Blues!