Texas Blues-Rock Shuffle drum pattern
A two-bar Texas double shuffle: both hands play the shuffle, hat and snare together, with the backbeat accented out of the snare line over four even kicks. Press Play to hear it with a sampled drum kit at 118 BPM, change the tempo or swing, and follow every hit on the grid.
How to count the Texas Blues-Rock Shuffle
Count it as: 1 trip let 2 trip let 3 trip let 4 trip let · two bars. The pattern is a 2-bar phrase in 4/4 (two-bar two-handed triplet shuffle).
The Texas Blues-Rock Shuffle pattern, hit by hit
Each character is one step of the grid and each group is one beat. X is an accented hit, x a normal hit, o a quiet or ghost note and - a rest.
| Voice | Bar 1 | Bar 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Kick | X-- x-- X-- x-- | X-- x-- X-- x-- |
| Snare | --- X-- --- X-- | --- X-- --- X-- |
| Ghost snare | o-o --o o-o --o | o-o --o o-o --o |
| Closed hat | x-x x-x x-x x-x | x-x x-x x-x x-- |
| Open hat | --- --- --- --- | --- --- --- --x |
Tempo and feel
Rolling like a train. Both hands shuffle together; the accents on 2 and 4 jump out of a steady, quiet snare line. The default tempo is 118 BPM. It plays with 67% swing by default; move the Swing control toward 50% to hear it straight. Slow it down until every hit is controlled, then raise the tempo a few BPM at a time.
How to practise the Texas Blues-Rock Shuffle
Play the shuffle with both hands together, hat and snare, very quietly. Accent the snare on 2 and 4 without the hat getting louder. Add four even kicks and the bar-two open hat on the last let.
Variations to try next
Play the lead hand on the ride for the solo. Drop the left-hand shuffle for a single-hand shuffle. Play the kick on 1 and 3 only.
Where to hear this feel
Records in this family include Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble - Pride and Joy and ZZ Top - Tush. A practice study of the Texas double shuffle heard in blues-rock: both hands play the long-short shuffle, the lead hand on the hat and the other on the snare, with 2 and 4 accented out of the snare line over four even quarter-note kicks. The shuffle lives on the triplet grid with the let notes on the Swing control. It differs from the library's one-handed shuffles and is authored for practice, not transcribed.