Notating Swing Rhythms
There are various ways of notating shuffle rhythms and swinging eighth notes. The two outside notes of the triplet group can be grouped together either as a quarter note and an eighth note with a triplet sign above them or as two eighth notes with a rest in between. On the drums these two forms of notation sound exactly the same as demonstrated in the following example.
Another common way of indicating that eighth notes are to be swung is to write 6 = z at the start of the music and write the whole pattern in eighth notes. Both this and the previous example sound exactly the same, they are just different ways of notating the same rhythm.
Accents
Sometimes you may want to play certain notes louder than others for dramatic effect. This is when accents are used. An accent is indicated by a wedge mark placed above or below the note as shown below.
This example contains accents both on and off the beat. The accents apply to the snare drum only. When learning accents, the natural tendency is to accent the other limbs as well. However, this is exactly what you need to train yourself not to do. Listen carefully to your playing and keep the volume of the bass drum even regardless of whether you are playing an accent on the snare drum or not.
Here a shuffle groove which is commonly used in Blues. It is often called a Chicago shuffle or double shuffle. Notice that the snare drum plays a constant shuffle rhythm throughout. The important thing here is that the backbeat is accented. When playing this kind of shuffle, it is common to play all snare notes quite softly except for the backbeat.
Here is a common variation. This time the notes on the let of one and the let of three are played softly and the backbeat is accented once again.
Now you know that eighth notes can be swung, it is important to realise that this makes it possible to play any eighth note groove (beat) with two possible interpretations. Go back and try swinging some of the eighth note grooves from earlier in the book.
Another important pattern to learn is the swing beat shown below. It is the most common beat in Swing and Jazz music as well as being used in Rock, Blues and Country music.
