Blues Shuffle and Swing strumming

In this rhythm guitar lesson, we look at how to play triplets and swing, aka shuffle rhythms. These are useful for blues, folk and also some pop songs. They are both totally different to the 'straight' strumming we have looked at so far and should never be mixed.

Triplet Strumming

A song either uses a straight rhythm or a triplet rhythm. Straight rhythms, such as 8th strumming split a beat into 2. A triplet is a beat which is split into 3, shown by the small 3 above the notes linked together. The best way to count it is '1 & a 2 & a' etc as shown.

Song examples: Mull Of Kintyre, Stormy Monday and other blues and folk standards

Blues Shuffle

A blues shuffle palm mutes the & to create a pause. This creates the familiar 'bounce' rhythm used in blues songs such as Before You Accuse Me and Sweet Home Chicago. Pop songs such as Sit Down by James use this too but tend to just muss the & strum rather than muting to stop it sounding bluesy!