Press Play for a blues shuffle drum beat at 70 BPM. It starts with When the Levee Breaks, and you can switch to Purdie Shuffle, Fool in the Rain Shuffle, Texas Blues-Rock Shuffle, Southern Soul Shuffle, Rosanna Shuffle and Soul Ballad (12/8 Feel). One beat lasts 857 ms.
Playing over a blues shuffle drum beat at 70 BPM
70 BPM is at the slow end for blues shuffle. Slow tempos show every timing slip, so it is the best place to learn a new part: play it until it feels boring, then move up.
What plays at 70 BPM
When the Levee Breaks is written at 72 BPM, so 70 BPM is its home tempo. In 4/4 at this tempo a quarter note lasts 857 ms, an eighth note 429 ms and a sixteenth 214 ms, which is the spacing of the hi-hat you hear. Switch to Purdie Shuffle, Fool in the Rain Shuffle, Texas Blues-Rock Shuffle, Southern Soul Shuffle, Rosanna Shuffle and Soul Ballad (12/8 Feel) on the page and the tempo stays at 70 BPM.
How long is a phrase at 70 BPM?
Knowing how long a phrase lasts helps you plan a song, a solo or a recording take. The drums play a fill at the end of every four or eight bars, so these are the lengths you will hear.
Phrase lengths at 70 BPM
Length
Time
One bar of 4/4
3.4 seconds
Four-bar phrase
14 seconds
Eight-bar section
27 seconds
Twelve-bar blues chorus
41 seconds
Three-minute song
about 53 bars
How a blues shuffle drum beat works
A shuffle divides each beat into three and plays the first and last parts: long-short, long-short. Your part should swing the same way. If you play straight eighths over a shuffle, the band sounds like it is arguing with itself.
How to play along
Play a twelve-bar blues over it: four bars of I, two of IV, two of I, then V, IV, I, V. Guitarists can use the classic boogie shape on the lowest strings and swing every pair of notes. Count "one-and-a two-and-a" to feel the triplets.