Shuffle
A rhythm in which each pair of notes is played long-short, so the second note falls about two thirds of the way through the beat rather than halfway.
The shuffle is written as a triplet pair with the first two notes tied, and its unevenness is what gives blues, boogie and early rock and roll their rolling, propulsive feel. On guitar it is usually produced in the strumming hand by playing a long downstroke followed by a shorter upstroke, and players who play it straight lose the style entirely. Tempo changes the character: a slow shuffle drags and swings, while a fast one becomes a driving train rhythm.
Example: A blues with a rolling long-short pulse on every beat, rather than an even division, is played as a shuffle.
See also
Related
- PageTriplet
- PageSwing feel
- PageBlues
- PageAccent
- PageAction height
- PageAlternate picking
- PageAaron Dessner
- PageAce Frehley