New Orleans Drumming Course: Funeral Marches and Dirges

Hi, and welcome to another lesson within the New Orleans drumming course.

Introduction to Funeral Marches and Dirges

We're going to talk about funeral marches and something called the dirge, which is a very easy pattern to play.

Basic Pattern

There are two ways of playing the dirge:

• Straight Pattern: Four beats with a roll on beat four.
• Snares: The snares are switched off for this; however, sometimes the snares can be on as well. It's your choice.

Demonstration

Let me give you an example:

1. Open Roll: I'll demonstrate one with the open roll.
2. Closed Roll: Then I'll try one with the closed roll so you can hear the difference.

These demonstrate the two different styles of rolls.

Rolling Techniques

• 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.

Key Takeaways

• Spirit of the Music: It's very much about capturing the spirit of it. If you get that right, you're pretty much there.
• Leave Space: Sometimes I change it up a little bit, but again, leave as much space as you can while always thinking of those triplets in the background.

Tip: See how slow you can play it. It's far more effective the slower it's played.

Recommended Listening

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.

Conclusion

So, explore different grooves and see what you can find! I'll see you in the next lesson.