The pattern
90 BPM · 12/8 · 12 step
| Instrument | Beat 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Beat 2 | Step 5 | Step 6 | Beat 3 | Step 8 | Step 9 | Beat 4 | Step 11 | Step 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kick | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest |
| Snare | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest |
| Closed hi-hat | hit | rest | hit | hit | rest | hit | hit | rest | hit | hit | rest | hit |
How to play it and where it comes from
The blues shuffle (Chicago and Texas blues, Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Pride and Joy", Chris Layton): written in 12/8 on the triplet grid (3 steps = one quarter note, BPM referring to the quarter note). Hi-hat or ride on the first and third triplet of each beat ("dum-da, dum-da"), kick on 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4. Variants: Texas shuffle with the snare also playing the third triplet, "double shuffle" with both hands, slow blues in 12/8 with hat on all the triplets.