[drums Lessons]- Dave Weckl - 101 Shuffle.pdf 153353

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101 SHUFFLE Song Concept: One of my favorite feels to play and listen to is the shuffle, which can be looked upon as a fusion of jazz and rock all in one groove. There are many ways to approach this groove depending on the vibe of the song and the desired effect from the composer/arranger. In this song, given the instrumentation, Jay and I wanted to lean towards a blues/rock type of shuffle, while still incorporating the inevitable jazz influence that we both grew up with. There is a lot of grooving going on in this song behind the melodies and solos, but there are figures (rhythms) the band plays that need to be “set up” from the drums, a la a “big band” vibe. There was no “click” on this tune; I created one for you in some of the more open sections, but basically you are playing to the band’s “feel” as we recorded it.

The Explanation: The song starts with the keys alone again (who’s record is this anyway?), with the band entering after four bars (no count-off again). I played a long buzz roll that actually starts very softly in the fourth bar leading up to the downbeat of bar 5. As I said, there are many ways to play a shuffle, to “voice” the kit, so to speak. I sometimes like to define the sections of a song with changes of color or groove, so in the Intro, I start with a full shuffle on snare and ride cymbal, then go to the open hi-hat at letter A. I accented the snare on 2 and 4, and the cymbal (and hi-hat at A) on quarter notes, almost ghosting the other strokes of the shuffle. This is a personal decision as to how I wanted it to feel; you may want to play it more evenly. Fig. 1 shows the basic groove of the Intro, and Fig. 2 shows the hi-hat groove at A. 3

Intro

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Ride cym Sn BD HH-Foot

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x ‰ x x ‰ x x ‰ x x ‰ x .. 5œ 5 5œ 5 5œ 5 5œ 5 .. x x x x Fig. 1

A 3

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x ‰ 5x 5x ‰ 5x 5x ‰ 5x 5x ‰ 5x .. ÷ .. 5œ œ œ œ

HH-open Sn BD

Fig. 2 The quarter notes on the bass drum are not played all that loud; it’s almost more of a jazz approach here, and is “felt” more than heard. I didn’t play it quite as soft as if it were a jazz shuffle, though—somewhere in between loud and soft. In bars 15 and 16 some hits occur with the rhythm section as the chords rise up to the IV chord. Again, there are a few ways to approach this. My general rule where “hits” are concerned is to never let the forward motion or time suffer because of the accents. One thing I almost always do to achieve this is keep the hi-hat going on quarter notes with the foot, either in a “splashing” manner or a tight “chick.” This helps maintain forward momentum and creates the feeling that you never stop playing time. 10

In Session with the Dave Weckl Band

Fig. 3 and Fig. 3a show the basic idea of a couple different approaches I use throughout the song, as this rhythm figure happens quite often, even in the solo sections.

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x x‰ XX x‰ X X x ‰ XX‰ ‰X e 5 e 5 5 ÷ 44 e œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 6 œx 5 Fl.Tom

15 Openbar HH/Crash Sn BD HH-Foot

Fig. 3

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Ride/Crash Sn BD HH-Foot

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j j X. > > X X. > > X 5 5 œx ‰ 5 x ‰ œ œx ‰ 5 x ‰ œ

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Fig. 3a Measures 17–20 have some melody figures written (I went to the ride here to outline the section change); they are there more to show you what’s happening, although I did play with the sax in bar 18 on the snare only, and again in 20 with the sax and whole rhythm section, as this is going back to the tonic chord. I kept the left foot hi-hat going on quarters, and played a small fill leading up to the hit on the last triplet of 2 and the “and” of 4 with the snare and crash, allowing the bass drum to come back in on the downbeat of 21 (back to the open hi-hat again). The end of 24 going to 25 is a natural place for a small fill, so I played some triplets on the snare on beat 4—no big deal, just something to fill the space. The next eight bars are sort of a “call and response” section with a rhythm figure in 25 and 26 (written above the bar), answered by a sax fill for two bars, then the rhythm figure again for two measures and a response from the guitar. (Again, I outlined these sections by going to the ride for the figures and the open hi-hat for the responses.) The figure is a tricky one to make groove, and at times may be best left alone so the time stays consistent, and so there is counterpoint between the figure and the groove. One approach I used (if paid attention to it at all) was to play the figure with the ride cymbal bell while lightly filling in some of the triplet subdivisions with the snare (still accenting 2 and 4 though), keeping the quarters on the bass drum and hi-hat. An idea of this can be seen in Fig. 4

Rhythm of the Soul

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101 SHUFFLE q»¡£¡ ÷ 44

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Intro - Shuffle Time

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Intro 2 - Vamp

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Time w/hits/bass and sax melody

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Intro 3 - Vamp

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