Guitar Lab: Shuffle Secrets

The purpose of this course is to give you a thorough understanding of rhythm as it applies to a swing or shuffle feel. You will receive a breakdown of the subdivisions of the quarter note both from a math and a sound standpoint. The differences between straight and swing eighth notes will be discussed to help you easily categorize music into one of these two rhythmic grooves.

You will receive a number of combined rhythmic figures to aid you in developing your own inventory of note combinations: quarter notes, shuffle eighth notes, eighth note triplets, 16th note triplets, and quarter note triplets. Different groupings of shuffle eighth notes will also be covered which will give you many ideas for creating asymmetrical rhythmic phrases.

You will also learn to utilize the minor pentatonic scale over a shuffle groove by inserting three notes into a fixed rhythmic figure. This concept takes rhythm and phrasing out of the picture and help you focus on scale tone selection. This also teaches you to think ahead in terms of a target note. The format will be as follows: the first and second notes of the rhythmic figure will be fixed and the third note is a variable.

This course will explore many different techniques which will reveal how you can get a lot of different licks out of the same three notes formula. The following techniques will be presented: hammer ons, pull offs, legato slides, grace notes, bends, pre-bends, vibrato, upper and lower neighbors, staccato, pick raking, and octave displacement. Another important tool you will learn is note duplication on the fingerboard which will allow you to explore different layouts of a musical phrase. This often overlooked tool can help you mold and shape your sound as well as solve technical problems.

After you have applied these lessons to your practice regimen, you will be able to enjoy an endless flow of ideas within the shuffle groove.