AVENGED SEVENFOLD · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Bat Country

16 fills to learn, played 46 times across 159 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
125 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
159
LENGTH
5:05
DIFFICULTY
87/100

Bar 10, and 2 more times

LOOP · 125 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 10-12 · LANDS ON BAR 13

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 66 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 13. 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 14, and 1 more time

LOOP · 125 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 14 AND 16 · LANDS ON BAR 15

On crash, snare and kick. 75 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 15. 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 19, and 5 more times

LOOP · 125 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 19-21 AND 39-41 · LANDS ON BAR 22

On crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 76 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 22. 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, and 5 more times

LOOP · 125 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 24-25, 44-45 AND 124-125 · LANDS ON BAR 26

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 55 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 26. 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 · 125 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 28 · LANDS ON BAR 29

On crash, snare, high tom and kick. 54 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 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 36

LOOP · 125 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 36 · LANDS ON BAR 37

On crash, snare and kick. 77 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. 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 48, and 1 more time

LOOP · 125 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 48 AND 128 · LANDS ON BAR 49

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 48 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 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 56, and 1 more time

LOOP · 125 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 56 AND 136 · LANDS ON BAR 57

On crash, snare and kick. 67 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 57. 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 63, and 9 more times

LOOP · 125 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 63-72 · LANDS ON BAR 73

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 75 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. 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 75, and 1 more time

LOOP · 125 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 75-76 · LANDS ON BAR 77

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 62 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 77. 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 87, and 3 more times

LOOP · 125 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 87-90 · LANDS ON BAR 91

On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 100 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. 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 110

LOOP · 125 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 110 · LANDS ON BAR 111

On crash, snare and kick. 60 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 111. 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 120, and 1 more time

LOOP · 125 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 120-121 · LANDS ON BAR 122

On crash, snare, high tom, floor tom and kick. 66 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 122. 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 143, and 1 more time

LOOP · 125 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 143-144 · LANDS ON BAR 145

On snare and kick. 81 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 145. 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 152

LOOP · 125 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 152 · LANDS ON BAR 153

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 70 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 153. 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 158

LOOP · 125 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 158 · LANDS ON BAR 159

On crash, snare, floor tom and kick. 45 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 159. 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.

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 Bat Country?

16 distinct fills, played 46 times: bars 10-12, 14, 16, 19-21, 24-25 and 28, and 16 more places.

What is the hardest fill in Bat Country?

The one at bar 87, at 100 out of 100. 159 bars of 4/4 at 125 BPM, about 5:05 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 159 BARS ANALYSED