Contact a local dance studio or a performing arts center at a local college or university. These places often offer night classes where you can learn dances popular in the 1920s. If the shim-sham is not included in the class, ask your instructor to teach it to your privately or to direct you to a class where you can learn the dance. Working with an instructor is the easiest way to learn the dance. However, if you cannot find an instructor, you can learn the dance on your own.
Watch videos of the dance. Examples of the shim sham are available free online in historical footage by artists, such as Al and Leon, or in instruction form by dancers like Frank Manning and Erin Stevens. Instructional videos are also available for purchase at online bookstores.
Follow the shim sham steps in books. Numerous titles are available from bookstores and the library that are either devoted to the shim sham dance or that include the shim sham steps among other tap dance routines.
Practice the basic step-pattern of the shim sham. Begin with tapping your left foot forward with your weight on your back foot. Then switch to tapping your right foot forward with your weight on your left foot, which is now in the back. Repeat this once, returning to the beginning standing position. Then tap your left foot forward twice, and your right foot once. Continue the original routine of left, right, left right, left, right, left, left, right. Then, move on to left, right, left, right, right, left. The entire dance is very short and repetitive, making it easy to do.