Half-Time Shuffle

[dblinkhorn]

Well this thread is mainly to brag, so please excuse me of that!

Anyway, I have finally (pretty much) perfected the so-called Purdie Shuffle. This is probably one of the hardest core grooves I have ever tried to learn. Bear in mind I've only been playing for about 2 years so I'm sure there will be more difficult ones to come. I'm just really excited that for the past few sessions I've sat down with this groove, it's been a great experience and the practicing has paid off! It took me quite a long time to get this groove down right. The ghost notes were giving me a hell of a time and screwing my whole groove up (since the half-time shuffle without the ghost notes is pretty simple).

What are some of the grooves that you have found especially difficult to master?

[Wavelength]

2 & 4.

................

[NUTHA JASON]

we will rock you.

.

[tak22thegoat]

16th note rock beat is the hardest

[gusty]

today i started practising paradiddle grooves (i got groove perspectives by darryn ferrugia), and just doing Rlrr Lrll with a samba bass pattern and making the accents very loud and the ghost notes really soft is a LOT harder than it looks. although, ive only been doing it for 40 minutes.

[Wegadrummer]

Making a simple beat swing and getting people dancing.. other than that, blues..

[King Of Drums]

I really doubt you have actually mastered the purdie shuffle. I believe there are very few people on this forum who can truly say they have "mastered" a groove. That takes a long time... What you have described is that you learned a difficult groove, that's just the first step. To truly master a groove is also to put your own spin on it. If you have mastered a groove I think that would mean it is second nature for you to infinitely improvise in it. Meaning you would never get bored of your own playing, and you'd be able to groove in that style in your sleep.

Anyways, I think my reggae groove is pretty good. I have a solid one drop and am comfortable jamming with musicians that play reggae, but there's no way I would say I am even close to mastering it.

[dblinkhorn]

Well then I haven't mastered it. I can play the core groove fine, but I can't play around in this groove in my sleep so to speak. I still have to think about some of the fill quite a lot.

[brennenlesser]

boom cha......................

[a1DrummerT]

yea...now you should try playing the snare (accents and ghosts) w/ only one hand. and build the speed up like that something like:



HH|x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--|
SD|-gg-ggXgg-gg-gg-ggXgg-gg|
BD|x--x-----x-----x-----x--|

the break the HH up sorta like

HH|x--x----xO--x-xX--O-----|
SD|-gg-ggXgg-gg-gg-ggXgg-gg|
BD|x--x-----x-----x-----x--|

HH|x--X-----x-----x-----o--|
SD|-gg-ggXgg-ggggg-ggXgg--R|
BD|x--------x-----x-----x--|




just some ideas..but you sound like you are doing a great job so far..good luck man

[DestinationDrumming]

Well then I haven't mastered it. I can play the core groove fine, but I can't play around in this groove in my sleep so to speak. I still have to think about some of the fill quite a lot.

Hey fella, Don't let that discourage you. You sound well on the way and by the sounds of it you've put in a lot of work to get to where you are now. Time to celebrate.....yippeeeeee! You'll get to the mastering stage at some point and if not then you've still as much right as anyone to celebrate your accomplishment to date.

Well done!!

[samthebeat]

As far as shuffles go, i recon the texas shuffle is a killer, i think its also known as something else to, buts is basically when you play the shuffle figure with both hands at once ghosting all the appropiate notes.

The jazz shuffle is pretty hard to. NIce one on the puride, that groove is a beast still working on that. Like the dude said you will be workin on that forever, but fair play for getting it....just dont ever stop workin it out.

[frank0072]

I just learned the two-beat groove, it's very basic but I like the drive it has.

Purdie Shuffle is something for when I am old and wise I think. Way out of reach.

[Mapex589]

hey congrats on "getting it" I am still woring on making my "shuffle" shuffle. It's tough! Good job!!

[maddrummr]

I'm working on a Songo right now.

[Steady Freddy]

As far as shuffles go, i recon the texas shuffle is a killer, i think its also known as something else to, buts is basically when you play the shuffle figure with both hands at once ghosting all the appropiate notes.


I try to play a Texas Shuffle every time I'm on the kit. Greg Bissonett suggests that you play the ghost notes as softly as possible and then lay into the back beats hard. This will helps develop the technique. There's a lot going on with the left had. Landing the rim shots consistently can be a challenge.

I've found that just playing four on the floor is helpful getting the hands in sync. Some guys accent the back beat with both hands and some just land a rim shot on the back beat with the left hand while ghosting the shuffle feel.

Getting a shuffle to feel good takes some work.

[JackBennett]

Well this thread is mainly to brag, so please excuse me of that!

Anyway, I have finally (pretty much) perfected the so-called Purdie Shuffle. This is probably one of the hardest core grooves I have ever tried to learn. Bear in mind I've only been playing for about 2 years so I'm sure there will be more difficult ones to come. I'm just really excited that for the past few sessions I've sat down with this groove, it's been a great experience and the practicing has paid off! It took me quite a long time to get this groove down right. The ghost notes were giving me a hell of a time and screwing my whole groove up (since the half-time shuffle without the ghost notes is pretty simple).

What are some of the grooves that you have found especially difficult to master?

The half time shuffle is a tricky one to master.. not only getting the dynamic difference (between accents and ghosts) just right with BOTH hands, but the overall feel in general. Check my latest take on Fool In The Rain (a popular half time shuffle) for some more ideas on getting the groove to "work"..

www.icanplaydrums.com/fool.wmv

Hope this helps! Jack

[dblinkhorn]

Yes the dynamic difference was a difficult thing to get down. I also practiced over-accenting the back beat and hitting abnormally soft notes to help the technique as you note Greg Bissonnette recommends. This did help, especially with the Texas Shuffle. Although the Texas Shuffle was decidedly easier to become comfortable with compared to the Purdie Shuffle.

Jack, I actually consulted your video for "Rosanna" by Toto several times while learning this groove to get the "feel" right. I was having trouble getting an even triplet feel between both hands, but your video definitely helped cement that feeling, along with other influences, in my playing of this groove.

Once you get the hands going on their own, then you can play around with the bass drum all you want, and change the groove drastically.

[fourstringdrums]

One thing I want to mention that I know gave me trouble is the ghost note that is played immediately following the back beat. Strangely, in all the instructional videos I've seen on it, no one talks about it.

All of the ghost notes fall on the & or the "trip" of the beat in between the hi-hat notes. I used to think that the ghost note right after the back beat was supposed to also fall on the same spot in the beat. For example:

1 & a 2 & a 3 & a 4 & a

I could never go from the strong back beat to the soft ghost note cleanly enough. I also realized that it didn't sound quite right. Eventually I realized that the placement of the ghost note after the back beat is the exception. You want to actually play it on the "a" of the beat that you play the back beat on.

1 & a 2 & a 3 & a 4 & a

I'm not sure if others were confused like I was, but If so I hope that clears it up.

[JackBennett]

One thing I want to mention that I know gave me trouble is the ghost note that is played immediately following the back beat. Strangely, in all the instructional videos I've seen on it, no one talks about it.

All of the ghost notes fall on the & or the "trip" of the beat in between the hi-hat notes. I used to think that the ghost note right after the back beat was supposed to also fall on the same spot in the beat. For example:

1 & a 2 & a 3 & a 4 & a

I could never go from the strong back beat to the soft ghost note cleanly enough. I also realized that it didn't sound quite right. Eventually I realized that the placement of the ghost note after the back beat is the exception. You want to actually play it on the "a" of the beat that you play the back beat on.

1 & a 2 & a 3 & a 4 & a

I'm not sure if others were confused like I was, but If so I hope that clears it up.

Yes I agree, and this is something I always forget to mention! Doing it with the ghost straight after the rimshot is tricky, definitely easier to play the ghost on the 1+A

[spinupspindown]

One thing I want to mention that I know gave me trouble is the ghost note that is played immediately following the back beat. Strangely, in all the instructional videos I've seen on it, no one talks about it.

All of the ghost notes fall on the & or the "trip" of the beat in between the hi-hat notes. I used to think that the ghost note right after the back beat was supposed to also fall on the same spot in the beat. For example:

1 & a 2 & a 3 & a 4 & a

I could never go from the strong back beat to the soft ghost note cleanly enough. I also realized that it didn't sound quite right. Eventually I realized that the placement of the ghost note after the back beat is the exception. You want to actually play it on the "a" of the beat that you play the back beat on.

1 & a 2 & a 3 & a 4 & a

I'm not sure if others were confused like I was, but If so I hope that clears it up.

Did Porcaro play it this way? I seem to remember him playing it on the '&'. But I don't have an mp3 of Rosanna here, will have to check.

Regardless, I've had _lots_ of trouble with that particular ghost note as well (and I've been able to play the Purdie shuffle for 10+ years). I used to just leave it out. I'll try your suggestion though. Thanks!

[rmandelbaum]

Isn't it funny how easily it rolls right off of Bernard and we all struggle with it.

I too have been working on it off and on for years, oh I can play the groove but does it groove? I wish I could say yes.

Its funny I used to struggle with the Texas Shuffle, not I have a hard time play shuffles any other way, I have to consciously not do it.

But I have been playing in blues / blues rock bands for the last 5 years.