This month, we move the backbeat of the shuffle groove over to beat three. What this does is transform the shuffle into a half-time, triplet-based funk groove, which we’ll call “shuffle funk.” The Purdie shuffle made famous by the legendary R&B drummer Bernard Purdie, is one version of this type of groove. The first hand pattern contains no ghost notes. The grooves become more and more dense as we add ghost notes. As in the previous exercises, the ghost notes should be played extremely soft. The primary focus of the groove is on the bass drum and the back beat. As mentioned before, it’s very helpful in your practice to alternate between a simple groove and the more difficult exercise. For instance, you can switch between each line of the exercises and this traditional mangambe groove. Advertisement

April 2023 Issue