24 fills to learn, played 32 times across 256 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.
On crash, high tom, mid tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 60 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 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.
On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 45 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is how fine the subdivision is. 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.
On hi-hat, snare, high tom and mid tom. 41 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how fine the subdivision is. 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.
On hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 45 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is how fine the subdivision is. In the song it lands on bar 89. 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.
On snare, high tom and mid tom. 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 125. 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.
On crash, snare, high tom and mid tom. 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 129. 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.
On hi-hat, snare, high tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 74 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 137. 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.
On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 62 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is how fine the subdivision is. In the song it lands on bar 145. 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.
On crash, snare, high tom, mid 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 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.
On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 67 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 157. 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.
On ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 69 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.
On crash, snare 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 163. 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.
On crash, snare, high tom and kick. 43 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 165. 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.
On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 51 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 169. 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.
On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom and kick. 34 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how fine the subdivision is. In the song it lands on bar 173. 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.
On crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 67 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 211. 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.
On crash, ride, snare, mid tom and kick. 57 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 215. 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.
On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 70 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 217. 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.
On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 64 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 223. 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.
On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid 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 227. 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.
On crash, snare and kick. 56 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 235. 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.
On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 60 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 239. 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.
On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 54 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is how fine the subdivision is. In the song it lands on bar 241. 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.
On hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 58 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 245. 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.
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 →24 distinct fills, played 32 times: bars 16, 24, 32, 40, 88 and 124, and 21 more places.
The one at bar 136, at 74 out of 100. 256 bars at 172 BPM -- fast, and 5:58 of it without a break -- on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.