Here’s my take on how to play the famous Purdie Shuffle as played by Bernard Purdie himself on Home at Last and Babylon Sisters by Steely Dan and by Jeff Porcaro on Toto’s Rosanna. This is an introductory video made in response to a request by a YouTube viewer. I cover how to develop the hand pattern with the hihat shuffle and the snare ghost notes, adding the backbeat and then some bass drum variations.
I had a great time playing with The Black Diamonds at Ain’t Nothin But last night. Here’s a little clip:
I’ve been listening to Steely Dan’s Album Can’t Buy A Thrill a lot lately and two songs really stand out. One is Dirty Work, a very laid back, greasy and dark tune with a funky groove. The other is Reelin’ In The Years which bounces along beautifully, driven by Jim Hodder’s light and fluffy shuffle with ghost notes. It’s so good I’ve listened to the song about fifty times since Sunday. Shuffles are interesting. Despite being a very common feel,… Read More »Playing Ghost Notes In A Shuffle Groove Like Reelin’ In The Years
Check out this great post about the Shuffle. I recently discovered the Melodic Drummer blog which is heaving with great lessons and exercises to help us develop our Jazz skills. In today’s post we are going to discuss how to play one of my favorite grooves of all time, the shuffle! The best thing you can do to start learning how to shuffle is to get acquainted with it’s sound. Starting a blog post about the shuffle with anything other… Read More »The Melodic Drummer Blog introducing the Jazz Shuffle