BOOXRAS · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Beyond Faith

3 fills to learn, played 4 times across 123 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
150 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
123
LENGTH
3:17
DIFFICULTY
56/100

Bar 8

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 8 · LANDS ON BAR 9

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 47 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 9. 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 26

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 26 · LANDS ON BAR 27

On crash, hi-hat, snare 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 27. 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 67, and 1 more time

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 67 AND 104 · LANDS ON BAR 68

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom and kick. 51 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 68. 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 Beyond Faith?

3 distinct fills, played 4 times: bars 8, 26, 67 and 104.

What is the hardest fill in Beyond Faith?

The one at bar 67, at 59 out of 100. 123 bars of 4/4 at 150 BPM, about 3:17 of playing, on crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 123 BARS ANALYSED