Lesson time: (3min 24sec)
Pat Levett teaches the dirge, the slow, sombre pattern played for New Orleans funeral marches - four beats with a roll on beat four, demonstrated with both open and closed rolls.
This lesson is part of the course New Orleans Style Drumming
Watch a preview of the full course below.
Lesson transcript:
Hi, and welcome to another lesson within the New Orleans drumming course.
We're going to talk about funeral marches and something called the dirge, which is a very easy pattern to play.
There are two ways of playing the dirge:
Let me give you an example:
These demonstrate the two different styles of rolls.
Open Rolls: You can roll like very open doubles. Basically, think of those triplets leading with the right hand, then putting your left hand in between, and then bouncing them all together.
Closed Rolls: If you want to play a very closed roll, the same principles apply. You could play it as a semiquaver or whatever suits you best.
Tip: See how slow you can play it. It's far more effective the slower it's played.
There's a great clip on YouTube you can check out. There's a TV series called Treme, and there was a funeral march in that episode. Look up Closer Walk With Thee, a tune most commonly associated with the funeral march.
Interestingly, Eric Clapton played with Winton Marsalis, a New Orleans trumpet player with a fantastic band. Look up something they did together; there's a great very slow groove on that with an open roll.
So, explore different grooves and see what you can find! I'll see you in the next lesson.
After graduating on drums from the Guildhall School of Music in 1999, Pat has performed and recorded with Liane Carroll, the James Taylor Quartet, Tim Minchin, the Ronnie Scott's All Stars, Zigaboo Modeliste (The Meters), Earl Thomas, Paddy Milner, the Phil Stevenson Trio, the Downtown Dukes, 24 Pesos, the Puppini Sisters, Sandi Thom and Bernard Purdie, amongst others. He has toured extensively across America, Russia, Asia and Europe, playing many well-respected venues, festivals, TV and radio slots. Pat also plays chromatic harmonica and is a featured soloist on two albums by Will Grove-White (Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain). His own projects include 'The Coalminers', dedicated to playing New Orleans funk and soul, and 'June Afternoon', an organ trio featuring Ross Stanley and Nat Martin. In his New Orleans Style Drumming course, Pat unpacks the grooves, feel and second-line vocabulary that define the city's sound, so you can lock into authentic funk and soul behind the kit. read more
