Blues Rhythm
The better blues rhythm guitarists are able to apply chords to a variety of rhythmic feels in all keys. The one rhythmic feel no lesson in the blues could do without is the SWUNG 8th note feel. Rock, jazz and blues players alike SWING the 8th with the aid the triplet rhythm. The triplet is what we get when we divide the quarter note rhythm into three equal parts (counted as 1 trip let, 2 trip let, etc).
To swing or shuffle this rhythm, we play the "1" and "let" portions of the triplet rhythm. . . . in a long/short, long/short fashion (use the syllables "do and "ba" when saying this. . . it will help you to FEEL the rhythm quicker. . . and count less).
In traditional music notation, this rhythm would be written like the following example (ala Howlin' Wolf).
But writing things out in this manner is unnecessarily complicated once you grasp the swing/shuffle feel. What you'll see in transcriptions in guitar magazines is an indication to swing or shuffle the 8th note, as in the following examples (2).
