Swing Like Billy

His playing isn’t terribly complex on this track; in fact, he predominantly plays the same, simple rhythmic figure, shown and discussed in Example 1. What makes this part so remarkable is how Billy sinks into the groove and meshes with the rest of the band, making you want to snap your fingers along with the triplet-based shuffle feel of the tune. Check out the example below for tips on digging into the shuffle feel and, as you practice this (and any other groove-oriented keyboard part), work with the metronome and listen. It’s a common beginner mistake to get excited and rush ahead of the tempo, leaving bandmates in the dust. You can learn a lot by listening to Billy, who almost does the opposite on this track, laying back and playing just a little bit behind the beat.

“Honky Tonk” grooves hard within its swinging, shuffle feel, and Billy makes it sing while playing the same rhythmic figure over and over. Example 1a shows that rhythmic figure, transcribed in triplets. If you’ve never played triplets before, an easy way to get a feel for them is to recite the syllables tri-pa-let over and over, with each syllable corresponding to a note. In 1a, the first eighth-note rest is “tri,” the second eighth -note rest is “pa,” and the following eighth -note is “let.” Play along with a metronome, make sure that “tri” falls right when the metronome clicks, and do your best to space the other two notes/syllables out evenly before the next click comes. When you’ve got it down, you should hear yourself playing the same sort of shuffle feel that Billy does on “Honky Tonk.”