Shuffle!

The Shuffle!

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 than "Moanin'" is borderline heretical, so start listening and playing along here.

This song is basically the definitive recorded shuffle, so listening to and trying to imitate Art Blakey should be your starting point.  The other person to listen to to get your bearings is Mel Lewis.  Here is his famous shuffle on "The Groove Merchant":

Notice that neither one of these guys is overplaying, one of the many temptations when playing a shuffle.  Even though their groove is incredibly driving and strong, they are playing to the ensemble and staying dynamically balanced at all times.  Notice how much Mel drops down at :47 for example!  

The Moeller Stroke: Jeff Hamilton style

The original inspiration for this technique comes from a fantastic Ray Brown trio album called "Black Orpheus" featuring Jeff Hamilton and Gene Harris.  On the the opening track "The Days of Wine and Roses", Jeff plays some phenomenal rolls around the drum set.  There is a similar sort of roll at around 1:50 in the video above.  The following exercises will help you work your way towards this technique using a variation of the Moeller stroke. 

Blue Monk with Moeller Strokes

Soloing with Moeller Strokes over "Blue Monk"
In todays post I wanted to illustrate some applications of the Moeller stroke around the drum set in the context of the song "Blue Monk" by Thelonious Monk.  I have been developing my Moeller stroke technique for some time now using the Caravan Warmup, which I have described in detail in previous posts.  In this video I am singing and thinking of "Blue Monk" with a head-solo-head format.  In my solo I will use several applications of the Moeller around the drum set.  Try singing the melody along with my solo to stay oriented in the form.

The Caravan Warmup: Moving moeller strokes between drums

As promised in an earlier post, I am going to show what some of the later sections of the Caravan Warmup look like.  This warmup has been incredibly beneficial for me, and I hoping that some of you will be able to use it and benefit from it as well.  

In todays post I am going to be playing parts of steps 1-3 of section B of the Caravan warmup.  The first step is just playing uptempo Moeller strokes on the snare, like this:

The Complete Caravan Warmup

The Caravan Warmup

The Complete Caravan Warmup
A little while ago I posted the first step of the warmup that I have developed and have been using for about a year.  This is the complete version which is also going to be the first exercise in my book "Melodic Syncopation".  Some of the formatting got a little messed up in the uploading process, but I think the whole thing is legible.  

I can tell you from personal experience that this warmup is really phenomenal.  Since I started it I have found using Moeller strokes around the set really opens up my playing by keeping me relaxed even when I am playing fast ideas.  I also feel that beyond the technical advantages of just practicing Moeller strokes around the set, this warmup has the advantage of keeping me constantly focused on form and melody no matter what I else I am doing. 

This warmup goes to the heart of what my book and this blog is all about, trying to bridge the gap between the drums and melody instruments.  Give it a try for yourself, and see if you don't notice some pretty dramatic improvement after a couple of weeks.  I will try to post some videos of me doing the later steps of the exercise on the set reasonably soon.  

Enjoy!

Here is a link to some videos of me playing step B.

The Caravan Warmup Part 1 from "Melodic Syncopation"

The Caravan Warmup  

Here I am playing part of the first step of the Caravan Warmup from my forthcoming book "Melodic Syncopation".  See the description below to learn how to play this warmup. Check this warmup out for yourself let me know what you think.

The Caravan Warmup

Here is a link to the Jojo Mayer DVD mentioned:

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Weapons-Modern-Drummer-DVD/dp/B000S6TNLI

Here is a clip explaining the Moeller Stroke from the DVD:

http://www.drummerworld.com/Videos/jojomayeraboutmoeller.html

Finally, here is a link to a great version of "Caravan":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP12RhmBIRw