FOLLOW MY LEAD · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Crestfallen

14 fills to learn, played 36 times across 213 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
175 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
213
LENGTH
4:52
DIFFICULTY
52/100

Bar 16, and 1 more time

LOOP · 175 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 16-17 · LANDS ON BAR 18

On crash, snare, mid tom and kick. 46 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 18. 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 · 175 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 24 · LANDS ON BAR 25

On crash, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 40 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. 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 29, and 1 more time

LOOP · 175 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 29 AND 60 · LANDS ON BAR 30

On crash, snare and kick. 40 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 30. 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

LOOP · 175 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 32 · LANDS ON BAR 33

On crash, snare, mid tom, floor 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 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 39, and 3 more times

LOOP · 175 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 39-40 AND 107-108 · LANDS ON BAR 41

On crash, snare and kick. 30 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. 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 44

LOOP · 175 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 44 · LANDS ON BAR 45

On crash, snare and kick. 29 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 45. 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 58

LOOP · 175 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 58 · LANDS ON BAR 59

On crash, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 45 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 59. 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 73, and 9 more times

LOOP · 175 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 73-74, 125-126, 133-134, 173-174 AND 199-200 · LANDS ON BAR 75

On crash, snare and kick. 29 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- 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 81, and 1 more time

LOOP · 175 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 81 AND 181 · LANDS ON BAR 82

On crash, snare and kick. 29 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 82. 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, and 3 more times

LOOP · 175 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 95-96 AND 99-100 · LANDS ON BAR 97

On crash, snare 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 97. 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, and 1 more time

LOOP · 175 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 152 AND 164 · LANDS ON BAR 153

On crash, snare and kick. 49 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 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 154, and 1 more time

LOOP · 175 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 154 AND 162 · LANDS ON BAR 155

On crash, snare and kick. 37 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 155. 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 166

LOOP · 175 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 166 · LANDS ON BAR 167

On crash, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 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 167. 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 190, and 2 more times

LOOP · 175 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 190-192 · LANDS ON BAR 193

On crash, snare and kick. 39 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 193. 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 Crestfallen?

14 distinct fills, played 36 times: bars 16-17, 24, 29, 32, 39-40 and 44, and 18 more places.

What is the hardest fill in Crestfallen?

The one at bar 152, at 57 out of 100. 213 bars at 175 BPM -- fast, and 4:52 of it without a break -- on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 213 BARS ANALYSED