RHYTHM The Blues Shuffle Dylan Schorer Adding a few twists fo the 1 2-bar blues progression Il really spice up your playing abhor he blues wouldn't be the blues without rhythm guitar. Rock-solld rhythm defines the sound and groove ofthe blues as much as hot guitar solos and mournful harmonica licks do, You can play great music with just the knowl- ‘edige of the 12-bar blues progression, but adding a few twists to it wil really splce up the sound of your playing Let's begin with a simple shuttle pattern that is chorded with only two fingers. Begin by playing the open fifth string along with the fourth string fretted with your index fn ser at the second fret. You'll no ice that these are the lowest two notes of an open A or AT chord, This pared/town version ofan A chord contains only the root and fith and can be referred to as an AS, When strumming this chord, be careful to hit only the fourth and fifth strings. you're having dificuty avotding the higher strings, try flattening the index finger of your left hand slightly in order to dampen the second and third strings. The next step isto fret the fourth string a the fourth fret with your ring finger while playing, the fit st ng open. Play this pattern with a steady elghth-note rhythm, as in Example 1 on oe on oy ee 9 ie ‘Try playing this and all of the following examples with a swing, or shuffle, rythm, To make it swing, play the eighth notes with a triplet fee ike this a Basically, the upbeat (second) eighth note iss tly shorter than the downbeat (rst) ‘one. If you're unclear about how this should sound, try counting aloud 1 23 123 and tapping your foot each time you say 1. Then leave out the 2 in your count: 1_3,1_3. Probably the best way to get a handle on the timing is to imagine a familiar tune that swings, such as “Battle Hymn of the Republic Here's a variation on the baste shulfle pattern, Fret the fourth string at the fourth fret on only the second and fourth downbeats (notes three and seven), going back to the AS (open filth string and fourth string, second fret) for the upbeats. Accent the second and fourth beats strongly to make it groove, Play it stra to sound like Chuck Berry and swing it to sound like Leadbelly or Muddy Waters.anyrnm 15 aehae , 2e422242 65885: Now let's try playing the 12-ar blues using this pattern. In the key of A, we can play simple versions of all ofthe chords in the progression. Play the AS discussed above, For the D chord, simply play the A5 moved down one string: open fourth string and third string, second fret. The E chord can be played using the open sixth string and the fifth string fretted at the second fret. The entire 12-bar blues in A is shown in Example 3. sehr Ex. 3 © A D A Pero er eer va mm b6686536 ge4ee 66666 “This patter also works well or blues in the Key of E, The E-and A chords are played in the same positions as they were inthe previous example, The V chord is aB. You could keep the shutfle going on the B chord, but I’ a bit ofa streteh: ay Ex. 4 oo”,Acon a variation on the shuttle patter is playing the seventh of the chord on the third beat like this Hiss You can play this variation throughout the 12:bar blues or just throw it in oceasion- ally as in Example 6, The tune sticks to the standard shuifle pattern thr ighout, except for the strummed IY chords and the introductory and ending licks, 8 & rn ; 2 TS a 4 ee ea — | [D8 8663333 p34 pe ee 2 ae d 85358 635 3 ‘Try to recognize these erns as you listen to musie. Play any blues or Chuck Berry album, and you're sure to hear plenty of examples and variations,