ED SHEERAN · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Castle On The Hill Full

2 fills to learn, played 2 times across 143 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
134 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
143
LENGTH
4:16
DIFFICULTY
21/100

Bar 126

LOOP · 134 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 126 · LANDS ON BAR 127

On snare and floor tom. 16 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 127. 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 138

LOOP · 134 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 138 · LANDS ON BAR 139

On hi-hat, snare and kick. 73 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 139. 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 Castle On The Hill Full?

2 distinct fills, played 2 times: bars 126 and 138.

What is the hardest fill in Castle On The Hill Full?

The one at bar 138, at 73 out of 100. 143 bars of 4/4 at 134 BPM, about 4:16 of playing, on crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 143 BARS ANALYSED