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Music vocabulary · Rhythm, Meter and Tempo

Shuffle

Meaning in music, with examples

nounCommon term

In music, shuffle means: A rolling rhythm based on a repeated long-short division of the beat, commonly felt as the first and third parts of a triplet.

In Turkish: shuffle ritmi, üçleme tabanlı uzun-kısa ritim

How it is used

Common in blues and related styles. Drummers and bassists agree on the shuffle feel rather than treating all written eighth notes as equal.

Example sentences

  1. Play a light shuffle on the cymbal while the singer introduces the first verse.

    The cymbal establishes the recurring long-short pulse beneath the vocal.

  2. The band changed the straight rhythm to a shuffle for the acoustic version.

    The arrangement changes the internal spacing of the beat, not just its speed.

Common collocations

  • shuffle rhythm
  • shuffle feel
  • blues shuffle
  • grooveThe rhythmic feel of a piece that makes people want to move, created mainly by the drums and bass locking together.
  • swingA rhythmic feel in which notes are unevenly spaced in a flowing way, often linked with jazz and danceable groove.
  • eighth noteA note value equal to half a quarter note, often written with a flag or joined by a beam.

More terms: Rhythm, Meter and Tempo

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