The Shuffle

Play the blues with straight eighth notes and it sounds stiff. The blues swings, and what that means is precise: each beat is divided into three, not two.

Say "trip-a-let, trip-a-let" over a beat and you are hearing the division. Then drop the middle syllable and keep the first and third: "trip - let". That long-short, lopsided pair is the shuffle.

The classic shuffle rhythm part uses that feel on a two-note shape: your root and fifth on beats one and three, root and sixth on beats two and four. It is the boogie pattern you have heard a thousand times, and it is only two fingers.

The trap for new players is rushing the short note. It comes later than you think. Count the triplets out loud while you play until the space stops feeling wrong.

Before you worry about chords, spend five minutes on the feel alone. Mute the strings with your fretting hand and strum nothing but the rhythm, counting the triplets out loud, until the lopsided pair stops feeling like a mistake.

Then take it to a band and put the chords back in.

A horn-driven swing blues in A. Lock in with the drummer rather than the guitar, and keep your strumming hand moving even through the chord changes.