Ways to Learn about Second Line and New Orleans Beats (on Guitar)
- Listen to the music
- Play along with the music
- Understand where the music comes
- Understand some of the foundations of what makes a 2nd Line (and also NOLA old school jazz)
So I’ve been trying to learn about that second line for awhile now.
I grew up in the north, so I heard some New Orleans stuff but didn’t really think about it till I got join a New Orleans-style jazz group.
I’m still learning a lot but picked up some ideas that might help you, too. Here’s what I’ve learned so far (imho) – I hope this helps you on your musical journeys, too!
Table of Contents
Listen to Second Line Music!
Rebirth and New Birth are two great brass bands that I’ve listened to a lot, too. There are tons of great bands to check out!
The Meters and The Wild Tchoupitoulas
While The Meters and The Wild Tchoupitoulas aren’t brass bands, I think they embody how a band (and a guitarist) really incorporate a lot of Second Line and NOLA music.
When I think about what a guitar would play for Second Line style of music (or music inspired by 2nd Line), this is what I imagine it could sound like (of course everyone has their own take)
I’ll Fly Away
Bourbon Street Parade
Check out Wynton Marsalis’ version of Bourbon Street Parade. It’s nice cause there’s no piano or guitar, so you can practice along very easily. I like this track a lot – it sounds and feels great, and it captures a lot about the music with a trio.
Here’s Wynton playing Bourbon Street with Herlin Riley on drums and (I believe) Reginald Veal on bass. I’ve listened to this clip a lot. My friend says the kid is Trombone Shorty. (We’ll come back to this clip in a minute)
Preservation Hall Jazz Band playing Bourbon Street Parade!
So you hear how the bass isn’t 1, 2, 3, 4 – the bass player doesn’t play quarter notes like (a lot of time in) swing and bebop. And the bass drum is playing some cool patterns, too.
The New Orleans Big Beat
Quincy Davis explains a lot about the roots of New Orleans style music as it relates to the drumset. Guitarists, (imho) can learn a lot about music from listening to drummers. Plus, I love playing drums, too π
The Tresillo
There’s tons of different grooves, but one common 2nd Line groove is based on the tresillo.
2nd Line has got a lot of groove and has a rolling feel to it. Besides the tresillo feel, I hear a lot of where the bass drum is playing mostly 1 & 3 and the snare is adding the syncopations. For example, in the tune I’ll Fly Away, some bands play with a more tresillo feel and some were playing with more of the classic 1 & 3. My apologies, I don’t know the names for the actual beats!
Listen to the snare drum. This is a good place to start playing your guitar part. Basically, try and get the swing that snare drummer is getting. Or if there’s some kind of bell, that’s good too.
- Learning to groove with Rebirth Brass Band
- Learning to Groove with the New Birth Brass Band!
- Swing, Bop, Ragtime, 2nd Line
Play with the music!
So like I was saying, I try to line up what I’m playing with what one of the drummers is doing. I don’t really try to play what the bass drum is doing though.
To start don’t worry about the notes, just muffle the strings and lock the time in with what the drummers are playing.
Bourbon Street Parade
Chords to Bourbon Street Parade
Wynton Marsalis plays Bourbon Street Parade in Bb. A lot of other band play it in Ab.
It has a very typical form for old jazz tunes. 32 bars.
The first 16th go between the 1 (Bb) and 5 (F).
The second 16 goes from the 1(Bb) to the 4(Eb). Then there’s turnaround. 4, 4#, 1 , 6, 2, 5, 1. Which is Eb, E diminished, Bb, G7, C7, F7 back to Bb.
———- A Section ——————–
Bb | Bb | Bb | Bb |
Bb | Bb | F | F |
F | F | F | F |
F | F | Bb | F |
———- B Section ———————-
Bb | Bb | Bb | Bb |
Bb | Bb7| Eb |Eb |
Eb | Edim| Bb/F | G7 |
C7 | F7 | Bb | F |
| Section | . | . | . | . |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | I | I | I | I |
| A | I | I | V7 | V7 |
| A | V7 | V7 | V7 | V7 |
| A | V7 | V7 | I | V7 |
| B | I | I | I | I |
| B | I | I7 | IV | IV |
| B | IV | #IVdim | I | VI7 |
| B | II7 | V7 | I | V7 |
In the key of Bb, I = Bb, II = C, IV = Eb, #IV = E, V = F, VI = G.
In the key of Ab, I = Ab, II = Bb, IV = Db, #IV = D, V = Eb, VI = F.
Play along to the record for awhile. It’s such a great song and they have a great groove, too!
If you do this for awhile, you’ll start to learn a lot about 2nd line feel and New Orleans jazz.
Turnarounds
A turnaround in jazz music is the chords you play at the end of a section. These chords “turn the song around” to bring it back to the top of the form. So the main turnaround for Bourbon Street would be at the end on form (bars 31 & 31).
Here’s some ways you could play the last four bars (29-32) – the turnaround is the last 2 bars (31 &32):
| Bar # | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| “basic chords” | C7 | F7 | Bb | F7 |
| Turnaround #1 | C7 | F7 | Bb G7 | C(min)7 F7 |
| Turnaround #2 | C7 | F7 | Bb Eb7 | Bb. F7 |
| Turnaround #3 | C7 | F7 | Bb. Db7 | C7. F7 |
| Turnaround #4 | C7 | F7 | Bb. Bdim | Cmin7. F7 |
Learn about 2nd Line Music!
Here’s what Wikipedia says about 2nd line:
Second line is a tradition in brass band parades in New Orleans, Louisiana. The “main line” is the main section of the parade, or the members of the actual club with the parading permit; those who follow the band just to enjoy the music are called the “second line.” The second line’s style of traditional dance, in which participants walk and sometimes twirl a parasol or handkerchief in the air, is called “second lining.”
Musical Roots
New Orleans music fuses a lot of genres of music. Some big influences (that I hear and that others have mentioned) are Black American music – jazz, church music, funk, RnB and hiphop, and AfroLatin rhythms. Remember that NOLA is the birthplace of jazz.Β And it’s really close to Cuba and the Caribbean and Mexico, too!
So Second Line uses the 3 side of the clave (the tresillo) a lot but usually swings it, too. I realized this when I started swinging the mambo drum beats I was learning to play on kit. I was like that’s really funky, it sounds sort of like 2nd line (at least for how well I can play drums)!
A lot of these New Orleans beats are based off of mambos and calypsos and stuff like that.
Zigaboo Modeliste on NOLA Beats (https://youtu.be/rMoYQawJy80)
Clave
Here’s a picture of a 2-3 son clave. New Orleans Second Line (I think) uses the 3-side. The 3-side is the side that is counted 1, 2+, 4. In the picture below, it’s the 2nd half.
Important Accents – Tumbao and Tresillo
Unlike some music (like Detriot Funk – on the 1), 2nd Line usually gives a lot of extra push on the 2+ and/or 4. It’s kind of like the tumbao in Latin music. You’ll hear it in all the instruments, but especially the bass drum.
Tumbao
The Tumbao are the beats in orange.
Tresillo
The tresillo is counted 1, 2+, 4, 1, 2+, 4.
In 2nd Line this is swung. But in other styles of music the tresillo pattern can be more of a straight 8ths kind of feel.
- Playing Tumbao and Montunos Together, Fingerstyle Salsa Guitar Studies/Lessons
- How to Play Salsa Guitar!
Great Class on Second Line
The Rebirth rhythm section gives an amazing class on New Orleans music.
Check out this book – Guitar Info for 2nd Line
This a great book about playing 2nd Line on guitar. New Orleans funk guitar: the guitar styles of New Orleans funk, Cajun and zydeco greats by Shane Therlot.
This is a great book – I need to get it to learn more and support the author.
Zigaboo Modeliste talks about New Orleans Beats
We all love the Meters! Please check these workshops out with Mr. Zigaboo Modeliste!
Practice Makes Progress!
I am very grateful to have the chance to hear so much inspiring and beautiful music.
Some many great musicians from the New Orleans area have shared such beautiful music with the world for many, many years.
I’ve never been to NOLA, but I do hope to visit some day!
Check out the article where Wynton talks about these 12 great practice tips!
In any case I hope these ideas have helped you learn some more about the music. If you have any ideas, comments, questions, suggestions, please leave them below or contact me.
If you’re interested in the swing/jazz aspects of NOLA music, please check out some other ideas:
- Playing 4 on the Floor!
- Jazz Guitar Ideas β How to Improve Time (and Groove) for Jazz Guitar β Count Out Loud!
- 10 Ideas on How to Cultivate Better time (for Musicians)
- 30 Lessons in Jazz Guitar (Groove, Fundamentals, Soloing, Songs)
- Swing, Bop, Ragtime, 2nd Line
In any case, thanks for checking this out – all the best and peace and love!
Some Great Tunes/Videos to Check Out
Thanks to pdf2png.com for converting the pdf to an image.
Thanks to klophoto.com for the parade photo! And also thanks to DSB Nolan for a parade photo!
Beautiful Sounds from a Brass Band
This musical band is from Virginia. It’s such a beautiful rendition that I thought it would be nice to add this here. Hope you enjoy!
