Georgia Shuffle Music Lesson

Now, in one of the earliest lessons, we talked about the Nashville Shuffle, and now we're going to discuss a different shuffle: the Georgia Shuffle.

This is one that I use a lot more than the Nashville Shuffle. It's smoother, more sophisticated, and a really useful technique to know.

Historical Context

The Georgia Shuffle was popularized by Clayton McMitchen, a fiddler with the Skillet Liquors back in the 20s and 30s. It's worth checking out the way that he plays, which is nice and smooth and lacks that jagged feel of the Nashville Shuffle.

Getting Started with the Georgia Shuffle

I'll give you a few exercises to help you get into the groove of the Georgia Shuffle:

1. Exercise Structure:
   • Start with an up bow and two slurs.
   • Follow with an accent on a down bow.
   • End with three notes slurred on an up bow.

You'll notice that the accent is in the same place as it is with the Nashville Shuffle. However, instead of alternating between the down and up bows, it's now always coming on the up bow.

Why the Georgia Shuffle?

• The fact that the accent consistently occurs on the same bow, rather than alternating, makes it stronger and more consistent.
• Additionally, with more slurring, the shuffle feels smoother.

Experimenting with Accents

Now, let's try the same exercise, but this time we will place the accent on the up bow instead of the down bow.

• Both accents work: either on the down or the up bow.
• I typically do the accent on the down bow, and I recommend initially trying both. If one feels better than the other, go with that.

If you can't decide, then use the accent on the down bow. I think it's just a bit easier.

Final Exercise

In this final exercise, we are going to do a slight drone on each of the accented notes. By digging in a little more, we'll play an extra D note.

• When playing this phrase, on each of the accents, just press down a little harder so that we get the open D.

Practice Tips

It's always a good idea to try these exercises really slowly to start with, and then gradually speed up.

Tunes That Fit the Georgia Shuffle

Like with Old Joe Clark and the Nashville Shuffle, there are some tunes that naturally fit into the Georgia Shuffle.

A good example is Whisky Before Breakfast. It's a very well-known tune, so it's well worth learning. Not all of the tune, but a lot of it naturally fits into the Georgia Shuffle.

Practice Approach

1. Let's first play the tune nice and slow and without the backing.
2. Then, we will add the backing and speed it up.

Okay, now let's try it with the backing.

Assignment

Your assignment for this lesson is:

• First of all, keep practicing the Georgia Shuffle until you've got it feeling really natural.
• Then, try applying it to some other tunes.

Advanced Practice Idea

It's quite a good idea to try forcing the Georgia Shuffle onto a tune where it doesn't naturally belong. This will help you balance between playing the exact tune and employing the shuffle itself.

• Sometimes the shuffle will override bits of the melody, and sometimes the melody will override bits of the shuffle.