UNDEROATH · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in A Boy Brushed Red Living In Black And White

16 fills to learn, played 24 times across 95 bars. Two fills that share a rhythm and differ only in how they are spread round the toms are one fill here, learned once and orchestrated twice.

TEMPO
85 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
95
LENGTH
4:28
DIFFICULTY
65/100

Bar 18, and 2 more times

LOOP · 85 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 18-20 · LANDS ON BAR 21

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 56 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 21. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 24

LOOP · 85 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 24 · LANDS ON BAR 25

On crash, snare and kick. 56 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 25. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 28

LOOP · 85 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 28 · LANDS ON BAR 29

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 60 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 29. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 32, and 1 more time

LOOP · 85 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 32 AND 56 · LANDS ON BAR 33

On crash, snare, floor tom and kick. 53 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 33. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 36, and 1 more time

LOOP · 85 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 36 AND 60 · LANDS ON BAR 37

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 53 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 37. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 40, and 1 more time

LOOP · 85 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 40 AND 64 · LANDS ON BAR 41

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 62 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 41. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 42, and 1 more time

LOOP · 85 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 42 AND 66 · LANDS ON BAR 43

On crash, snare and kick. 49 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 43. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 46, and 2 more times

LOOP · 85 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 46-48 · LANDS ON BAR 49

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 47 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 49. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 52

LOOP · 85 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 52 · LANDS ON BAR 53

On snare, mid tom and kick. 62 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 53. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 72

LOOP · 85 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 72 · LANDS ON BAR 73

On crash, snare and kick. 50 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 73. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 74

LOOP · 85 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 74 · LANDS ON BAR 75

On crash, snare and kick. 48 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 75. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 78

LOOP · 85 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 78 · LANDS ON BAR 79

On crash, snare and kick. 57 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 79. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 86

LOOP · 85 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 86 · LANDS ON BAR 87

On crash, snare, mid tom and kick. 59 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 87. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 90

LOOP · 85 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 90 · LANDS ON BAR 91

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 60 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 91. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 92

LOOP · 85 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 92 · LANDS ON BAR 93

On crash, snare and kick. 47 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 93. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 95

LOOP · 85 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 95

On hi-hat, snare, kick and hi-hat foot. 58 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet.

How a fill is practised

A fill is rhythm before it is orchestration. The room plays the whole figure on the snare first, puts the feet under it second, and moves it round the toms last -- looped on its own, round and round, until the hands know it. Then it puts the fill back where it lives: a bar of rest to count in, the figure, and the downbeat it lands on, because landing square is the other half of the job.

PRACTISE THESE FILLS →

Questions

How many drum fills are in A Boy Brushed Red Living In Black And White?

16 distinct fills, played 24 times: bars 18-20, 24, 28, 32, 36 and 40, and 14 more places.

What is the hardest fill in A Boy Brushed Red Living In Black And White?

The one at bar 40, at 70 out of 100. 95 bars of 4/4 at a walking 85 BPM, 4:28 of playing, on crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 95 BARS ANALYSED