The Shuffle feel
With
Alex ReevesAlex Reeves introduces the shuffle - a triplet-based feel that nudges the offbeats later to add bounce, used across blues, jazz and hip-hop.
What's in the course
15 lessons (1h 26m) · 1 free
01. Locking on
Free lesson4:27
02. Moving around the kit: Some basic ideas
4:37
03. Short fill-ins
5:43
04. Longer fill-ins
4:55
05. Playing with music
4:51
06. Tightening up the Rhythm
7:00
07. Faster beats
5:31
08. Triplet phrases: snare drum only
7:01
09. Adding triplet phrases to fills
6:11
10. Combining triplets and straight sixteenths
5:28
11. The Shuffle feel
You are here5:48
12. Dynamics
6:37
13. The use of long notes and space
4:54
14. Drum rolls
5:22
15. The remainder
8:24
Lesson transcript
Lesson 11: Playing with a Swing Feel
Welcome to lesson 11! Playing with a swing feel is one of the fundamental elements to making music feel good.
This is a massive topic, and we would be here for months if I were to try to show you everything.
Objectives
In this lesson, I'm going to show you how to swing your fills in regular 4/4 rhythms.
Funky Shuffled Beats
Listen to this New Orleans inspired rhythm for some funky shuffled beats and fills.
- Here, I play the basic interpretations first without the shuffle and then with a shuffle feel.
- Listen to the difference in rhythm and feel.
Exercises
I will now play exercises one to four:
- First as written
- Then shuffled
- Then I move each rhythm around the drum kit.
Start to use your own ideas here.
Special Feature
I want to play you a little Bernard Purdy shuffle.
In this next tune, all my fills are swung.
15 lessons
1h 26m of structured video lessons
Advanced video features
Slow down, loop a passage, follow along
Mobile, tablet & desktop
Practise wherever you are
100% satisfaction guarantee
30-day money-back guarantee
Meet your guru
Meet your guru
Alex is a freelance musician who has performed live and in the studio with artists as diverse as Dizzee Rascal, Unkle, Bat for Lashes, Guy Garvey and Elbow. He has played headline slots at all the major UK festivals, including televised appearances on Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage, Oxygen Main Stage and T In The Park. International TV performances also include Live on MTV, the Jools Holland Hootenanny and The BBC Electric Proms with Dizzee Rascal.
On stage Alex has played with artists who have scored number one singles and albums all over the world, including Boy George, The Jones Girls and Johnny Hates Jazz. Alex has also been Musical Director for Island Records' Cocknbullkid, produced an album for Lotte Mullan, and performed live with Mercury nominated rapper Ty, American Blues legend Earl Thomas and singer-songwriter Ezio.
Alex has recorded in all the major studios in London, including Abbey Road, Angel, Air and Rak, and runs his own private drum studio from East London's Fortress complex. Recorded highlights at The Drum Fortress include the top 5 single Shine with the Lovefreekz, Wretch 32's Breathe, UNKLE's collaboration with Nick Cave and the beat for American rapper Nas's single Nasty. He has also played drums and percussion on major TV adverts for companies that include McDonalds, X-Box and Toyota, provided beats for computer games like Sega Rally 2 and Shellshock 2, and appeared on many TV and film soundtracks, including the major release of Brideshead Revisited.
Alex writes a regular tuition column for Drummer magazine, has written a book with accompanying DVD, and recorded a 1960s funk breaks sample CD. In his MusicGurus course, Fills In Time, he distils all that studio and stage experience into 15 quick lessons that sharpen your time-feel and build a vocabulary of drum fills you can drop straight into your own playing. And yes - he still calls his mum every week.
