SEPULTURA · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Born Stubborn

3 fills to learn, played 3 times across 136 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
139 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
136
LENGTH
3:55
DIFFICULTY
71/100

Bar 19

LOOP · 139 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 19 · LANDS ON BAR 20

On snare, high tom, floor tom and kick. 68 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 20. 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 43

LOOP · 139 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 43 · LANDS ON BAR 44

On crash, snare, floor tom and kick. 76 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 44. 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 119

LOOP · 139 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 119 · LANDS ON BAR 120

On crash, snare, high tom, floor tom 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 120. 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 Born Stubborn?

3 distinct fills, played 3 times: bars 19, 43 and 119.

What is the hardest fill in Born Stubborn?

The one at bar 119, at 77 out of 100. 136 bars of 4/4 at 139 BPM, about 3:55 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 136 BARS ANALYSED