STORY OF HOPE · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Forever.

21 fills to learn, played 43 times across 180 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
185 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
180
LENGTH
3:54
DIFFICULTY
55/100

Bar 15, and 1 more time

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 15-16 · LANDS ON BAR 17

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 50 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 17. 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 20

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 20 · LANDS ON BAR 21

On crash, snare 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 21. 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 22, and 1 more time

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 22 AND 72 · LANDS ON BAR 23

On crash, snare and kick. 42 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 23. 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 1 more time

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 24 AND 56 · LANDS ON BAR 25

On crash, snare and kick. 32 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 28, and 2 more times

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 28-30 · LANDS ON BAR 31

On crash, snare 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 31. 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 47, and 1 more time

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 47-48 · LANDS ON BAR 49

On crash, snare, mid tom and kick. 44 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 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 63, and 1 more time

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 63-64 · LANDS ON BAR 65

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom 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 65. 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 78

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 78 · LANDS ON BAR 79

On crash, snare, mid tom and kick. 40 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 79. 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 82, and 4 more times

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 82-86 · LANDS ON BAR 87

On crash, snare 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 87. 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 1 more time

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 95-96 · LANDS ON BAR 97

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 44 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 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 104

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 104 · LANDS ON BAR 105

On crash, snare and kick. 37 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 105. 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 108, and 4 more times

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 108-112 · LANDS ON BAR 113

On crash, snare, floor tom and kick. 50 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 113. 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

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 120 · LANDS ON BAR 121

On hi-hat, snare and kick. 65 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 121. 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 127

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 127 · LANDS ON BAR 128

On crash, snare and kick. 55 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 128. 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 132

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 132 · LANDS ON BAR 133

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 133. 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 135

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 135 · LANDS ON BAR 136

On crash, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 31 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 136. 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 149, and 5 more times

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 149-154 · LANDS ON BAR 155

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor 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 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 160

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 160 · LANDS ON BAR 161

On hi-hat, snare and kick. 73 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 161. 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 165, and 1 more time

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 165-166 · LANDS ON BAR 167

On crash, 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 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 174

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 174 · LANDS ON BAR 175

On crash, snare and kick. 34 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 175. 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 176

LOOP · 185 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 176 · LANDS ON BAR 177

On crash, snare and kick. 41 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 177. 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 Forever.?

21 distinct fills, played 43 times: bars 15-16, 20, 22, 24, 28-30 and 47-48, and 17 more places.

What is the hardest fill in Forever.?

The one at bar 160, at 73 out of 100. 180 bars at 185 BPM -- fast, and 3:54 of it without a break -- on crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 180 BARS ANALYSED