dude dun count it like a1 a2 a3, cause that wld make it sound stiff. i understand ur coming in from a straight point of view instead of a swung point of view. if lets say its swung straight 8ths it wld be n1 n2 n3 n4. if it's straight then ur right a1 a2 a3 so on. 1 trip let 1 trip let also works but my mouth gets dry fast heh. with shuffles man, check out they notation then go play along to cds cause that shuffle feel is hard to get better yet go down to crazy elephant and check out ray azziz play buy him a drink and pick his brain abt playing a shuffle. there's another forum where we talk abt shuffles.
check out stevie ray vaugh, muddy waters, bb king, some clapton stuff like riding with the king with steve gadd on drums. red house by jimi hendrix with mitch mitchell on drums. there's one john scofield album with idris muhammad on drums which i can't remember the title but that one is good