Levi Lovering

Last updated
Levi Lovering
BornDecember 22, 1776
Holliston, MA
Died1857, age 80
Massachusetts
NationalityAmerican
GenreDrum Instruction
Notable worksDrummer's Assistant or Art of Drumming Made Easy
Years active1805-1823
SpouseSally Eames

Levi Lovering was an American drummer and early rudimental drum manual author. His books helped bridge the gap between colonial British military drumming and post-revolutionary American drumming.

Contents

Biography

Lovering was born in 1776 [1] in Holliston, MA and was the son of Revolutionary War militia member Lieutenant Jesse Lovering and Marcie Jennings. [2] He learned to play the drum from his father and cataloged 60 unique drum beatings between 1792 and 1805. [3] He published this collection in a book called The Rule of the First Roll or Gamut for the Drum. [4]

Lovering moved around between Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York during his adult life, rarely able to maintain steady work. He married Sally Eames in 1802. [5] Lovering and many of his family members suffered from a form of muscular atrophy known as Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome that limited their ability to walk. They referred to it as the "Lovering Curse." [2] [6]

In 1819, Lovering published his most famous work, Drummer's Assistant or Art of Drumming Made Easy, with Philadelphia's Bacon & Co. [3] It featured what he called a "mode of notes" that he claimed to have invented. It consisted of a set of two staves on which he notated the rhythms for the right and left hands independently. Despite his claim, the notation style is actually quite similar to that of George Robbins, Isaac Day, and other sources from the late 18th and early 19th century, though not likely directly stolen or infringed upon. [2] It was simply the standard practice of the time. The book was issued in a second edition in 1823 by J.G. Klemm. [3]

Lovering's books have been referred to as sloppy and full of errors, and since he did not play the fife nor refer to fife tunes in his works, the drum beatings are not directly correlated to any precise version of the tunes they are based upon. [2] The books were useful tools, however, since they were intended for self-taught drummers [3] and contain information on technique. Other sources in this era sometimes relied on prose descriptions of drum beatings, so notation of any kind was helpful.

Later in life, Lovering and his sister reportedly scammed the U.S. government for their father's pension, which they received some portion of in 1856. [2] Lovering died in 1857 in Massachusetts at the age of 80.

Publications

Related Research Articles

Drum Type of musical instrument of the percussion family

The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a percussion mallet, to produce sound. There is usually a resonant head on the underside of the drum. Other techniques have been used to cause drums to make sound, such as the thumb roll. Drums are the world's oldest and most ubiquitous musical instruments, and the basic design has remained virtually unchanged for thousands of years.

Musical notation Graphic writing of musical parameters

Music notation or musical notation is any system used to visually represent aurally perceived music played with instruments or sung by the human voice through the use of written, printed, or otherwise-produced symbols, including notation for durations of absence of sound such as rests.

Snare drum Type of percussion instrument

The snare drum is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used in orchestras, concert bands, marching bands, parades, drumlines, drum corps, and more. It is one of the central pieces in a drum set, a collection of percussion instruments designed to be played by a seated drummer and used in many genres of music.

Conga Cuban drum

The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto, tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). Congas were originally used in Afro-Cuban music genres such as conga and rumba, where each drummer would play a single drum. Following numerous innovations in conga drumming and construction during the mid-20th century, as well as its internationalization, it became increasingly common for drummers to play two or three drums. Congas have become a popular instrument in many forms of Latin music such as son, descarga, Afro-Cuban jazz, salsa, songo, merengue and Latin rock.

Fife (instrument) Woodwind musical instrument

A fife is a small, high-pitched, transverse aerophone of Portuguese origin, that is similar to the piccolo. The fife originated in medieval Europe and is often used in Fife and Drum Corps, military units, and marching bands. Someone who plays the fife is called a fifer. The word fife comes from the German Pfeife, meaning pipe, which comes from the Latin word pipare.

Fife and drum corps

A Fife and Drum Corps is a musical ensemble consisting of fifes and drums. In the United States of America, fife and drum corps specializing in colonial period impressions using fifes, rope tension snare drums, and (sometimes) rope tension bass drums are known as Ancient Fife and Drum Corps. Many of these ensembles originated from a type of military field music.

Drum rudiment

In rudimental drumming, a form of percussion music, a drum rudiment is one of a number of relatively small patterns which form the foundation for more extended and complex drumming patterns. The term "drum rudiment" is most closely associated with various forms of field drumming, where the snare drum plays a prominent role. In this context "rudiment" means not only "basic", but also fundamental. This tradition of drumming originates in military drumming and it is a central component of martial music.

Dan Emmett

Daniel Decatur Emmett was an American songwriter, entertainer, and founder of the first troupe of the blackface minstrel tradition, the Virginia Minstrels. He is most remembered as the composer of the song "Dixie".

Open, closed, open is a technique of playing snare drum rudiments, especially used during auditions or classical practice routines.

Charles Hudson (American politician) American politician

Charles Hudson was an American minister, writer, historian and politician. Hudson served in both houses of the Massachusetts General Court, on the Massachusetts Governor's Council, and as United States Representative from Massachusetts.

Enoch Lincoln Massachusetts and Maine politician (1788–1829)

Enoch Lincoln was an American politician, serving as U.S. Representative from, successively, Massachusetts and from Maine. He was the son of Levi Lincoln Sr. and his wife, and the younger brother of Levi Lincoln Jr. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Lincoln graduated from Harvard College in 1807. He was elected and served as Governor of Maine from 1827 until his death in October 1829.

"See See Rider", also known as "C.C. Rider", "See See Rider Blues" or "Easy Rider", is a popular American 12-bar blues song that became a standard in several genres. Gertrude "Ma" Rainey was the first to record it on October 16, 1924, at Paramount Records in New York. The song uses mostly traditional blues lyrics to tell the story of an unfaithful lover, commonly called an "easy rider": "See see rider, see what you have done", making a play on the word "see" and the sound of "easy".

John Greenwood (dentist) American dentist

John Greenwood was an American fifer and dentist, serving as George Washington's personal dentist. He was responsible for designing Washington's famous dentures, which were not wood but carved from hippopotamus tusk. He invented the first known "dental foot engine" in 1790.

George B. Bruce was an American Army drum major during the Civil War. Bruce is best known for co-writing The Drummer's and Fifer's Guide with Daniel Decatur Emmett.

Drummer (military)

A drummer was responsible for the army drums for use on the battlefield. Drums were part of the field music for hundreds of years, being introduced by the Ottomans to Europe. Chinese armies however had used drums even before that. With the professionalization of armies, military music was developed as well. Drums were not only used for the men to march in step, but were an important part of the battlefield communications system, with various drum rudiments used to signal different commands from officers to troops. By the second half of the 18th century, most Western armies had a standardized set of marches and signals to be played, often accompanied by fifers.

Ryan Alexander Bloom is an American drummer, author, and teacher. He is known for being a former member of the Colorado-based thrash metal band Havok, member of death metal band Bloodstrike, and the author of several books including the Double Bass Drumming Explained series and Encyclopedia Rudimentia.

Charles Stewart Ashworth was Drum Major of the United States Marine Band in the early 1800s and the author of an influential rudimental drum manual.

Fritz Berger was a Swiss drum teacher and drum method book author. He wrote several influential books on Swiss rudimental drumming, or Basler Trommeln, that are still thought of as the authoritative sources for Swiss drumming in America.

H.C. Hart was an American drum major in the 71st New York Infantry during the American Civil War and an influential fife and drum manual author.

1809 Massachusetts gubernatorial election Massachusetts gubernatorial election

The 1809 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on April 3, 1809.

References

  1. "Lovering, Levi 1776-1857 [WorldCat Identities]".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Levi Lovering and His Mode of Notes". George Washington's Mount Vernon.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Lovering's Drummer's Assistant, 1819". beafifer.com.
  4. "EASMES: S5". www.cdss.org.
  5. "Vital Records of Athol, MA - Marriages". ma-vitalrecords.org.
  6. JAMIS, 21 (1995), 5–29