Groove the Half Time Shuffle

Jeff Porcaro

Let's talk about how to make a song groove (feel) in half the time by building upon my previous article, in which I talked in depth about the Shuffle (Click here view that article: Do You Know How To Shuffle). That article discussed what a shuffle is, gave some example songs that utilize the shuffle pattern and provided in-depth examples to learn that shuffle. In this article, I’m going to introduce the Half-Time Shuffle, provide you with some example songs to listen to in order to feel the groove and provide some examples so that you can take it to the kit and start learning this new technique to add to you skill set. The detail of this article if taken from the material that my drum instructor provided to me on May 29^th, 2013 at his studio inside Willis Music Store on Hurstbourne Lane here in Louisville Ky.

What is Half Time?

Half Time, in music, is a way in which you play a piece of music that gives it a different rhythm and feel. In the case of drums, it revolves around the snare drum beat. If you think that you never heard a song that is in Half Time, take a listen to these below all on YouTube.

Rosanna - Toto

Babylon Sisters - Steely Dan

Fool in the Rain - Led Zeppelin

So lets now move to how this applies to drums. As I stated in a previous article (Intro to the Drum Kit –Eighth Note Exercise), one of the basic beats is an with eighth notes on the hi-hat, kick drum played on the counts of 1 and 3 and the snare drum on the counts of 2 and 4. 

Basic Rock Groove

In order to make the same beat groove in Half Time, the snare drum is going to be removed from the second beat and only played on the count of 4 and replaced with the kick drum on the count of 2.

Half Time Rock Groove

The Shuffle as discussed in my previous article, has twelve beats per measure and will have the hi-hat played on all counts (1 to 6, 1 to 6, or 1 to 12), the kick drum played on both counts of 1 (1 and 7) and the snare drum on both counts of 4 (4 and 10) as the example below demonstrates.  See Do You Know How To Shuffle for the time signature and notation for Shuffles.

Shuffle - Example

The Half Time Shuffle, the snare drum is removed from the count of 4 and replaced with a kick drum and it's this substitution of snare that gives the beat the half time feel.

Half Time Shuffle - Example

Lesson Objectives

 

To build upon the Shuffle article and introduce Half Time feel in a 12/8 time signature a long with providing exercises that assist in developing the technique.

Exercises included in PDF document is now available for downloading: Shuffle Half Time

Exercises

Now lets move on to learning to apply the Half Time Shuffle technique.  

The first exercise is the basic triplet with the snare drum only on the second count of 1 (or 7). 

Half Time Shuffle - Exercise 1

The second exercise adds a kick drum to both beats of 3 (3 and 9).

Half Time Shuffle - Exercise 2

The third exercise builds upon the first two and adds another kick drum to both counts of 6.

Half Time Shuffle - Exercise 3

The next exercise the kick that was on both counts of six are now moved to both counts of five.

Half Time Shuffle - Exercise 4

The fifth exercise does some more moving.  The kick is moved to both counts of two.

Half Time Shuffle - Exercise 5

The sixth exercise, we moved to a true shuffle with the second and fifth hi-hats removed so that it swings.  The kick drum in on the counts of 1 and 3 and last 3 counts.  The snare is on the second 1 count.

Half Time Shuffle - Exercise 6

The final exercise is the same as the sixth, but another kick drum is added on both counts of 3.

Half Time Shuffle - Exercise 7

That is it! By moving that one note on the count of four and placing it on the second count of 1 (or 7), it changes the groove (feel) of the altogether. By moving this beat, it provides a great illusion that can be used in music to provide a different type of groove and combinations of beats that keeps the listener on edge and interested.

Your Assignment

 

It's your turn now!  Download the accompanying exercises here: Shuffle Half Time PDF, take it to the kit and start working on this new technique, the Half Time Shuffle.  By learning this technique, it will add depth and dimension and some serious skills and greatly expand the type of music that you will be able to play. Remember to start out slowly and gradually increase your speed when and only when you can play them without errors and comfortably.  Always use a metronome so that you can hear the spacing between the notes and make sure that each note sounds evenly.

You can also expand upon the exercises included here and the accompanying PDF by making the first five exercises into Shuffles by removing the second and forth hi-hat beats.
 
This wraps up another lesson, which built upon my previous article Do You Know How To Shuffle and presented yet another technique to boost your skills behind the drum kit.  Keep it real and about the music! Until next time--Thanks for reading!