Here’s a funky shuffle for groove of the week #44.

That’s one funky groove right there. The challenge with this groove is keeping a a consistent shuffle feel in the right hand and placing the bass drum accurately within the groove. Let’s check it out.

Get The Groove

Let’s start by looking at what is happening on the hi-hat.

The subdivision we’re working with to create this groove is the 16th note triplet. To create the 16th note triplet shuffle we skip the second and fourth partial of each group of 16th note triplets. We normally count 16th note triplets as 1-ti-ta-&ti-ta-2-ti-ta-&-ti-ta etc. So if you’re counting along, don’t play the hi-hat on the “ti”.

Play this shuffle pattern at tempos between 40 – 85bpm and focus on keeping a consistent shuffle happening. Pay attention to the spacing of your notes.

Now let’s add in the snare drum:

The snare drum is just on 2 and 4 as it is in most of our grooves. Make sure you’re shuffle feel doesn’t change when you add the snare.

The final step is to add the bass drum.

The bass drum is playing a funky off beat pattern. All of the bass drum beats, except the first one, land on “ta”. Play this groove slowly at first and count out loud while doing so.

Taking It Further

With any groove you learn, you need to be able to add drum fills to it. With the funk shuffle, it’s natural to stay in the 16th note triplet subdivision for the fills. Here’s a few examples:

The first two fills are simple 16th note triplet fills around the kit using RLRL sticking. The final fill copies the shuffle feel from the groove before finishing off the fill with a flourish around the kit. Note the sticking on the last fill, it finishes with the right hand on the floor tom = crash after the fill with your left hand.

I hope you’ve enjoyed groove of the week #44. If you’re in Singapore and you’d like a free trial drum lesson, send us a message from the contact us page.