CREED · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Higher

15 fills to learn, played 23 times across 97 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
78 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
97
LENGTH
4:56
DIFFICULTY
71/100

Bar 5

LOOP · 78 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 5 · LANDS ON BAR 6

On snare, mid tom and kick. 47 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 6. 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 9

LOOP · 78 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 9 · LANDS ON BAR 10

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom and kick. 58 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 10. 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 21

LOOP · 78 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 21 · LANDS ON BAR 22

On hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 68 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 22. 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 3 more times

LOOP · 78 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 24-25 AND 48-49 · LANDS ON BAR 26

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 58 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 26. 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 33

LOOP · 78 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 33 · LANDS ON BAR 34

On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, floor tom and kick. 48 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 34. 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 45

LOOP · 78 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 45 · LANDS ON BAR 46

On hi-hat, snare, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 61 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 46. 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 56, and 3 more times

LOOP · 78 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 56-57 AND 93-94 · LANDS ON BAR 58

On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 61 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 58. 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 59, and 2 more times

LOOP · 78 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 59-61 · LANDS ON BAR 62

On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, kick and hi-hat foot. 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 62. 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 65

LOOP · 78 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 65 · LANDS ON BAR 66

On crash, ride, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 62 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 66. 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 69

LOOP · 78 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 69 · LANDS ON BAR 70

On ride, snare, floor tom and kick. 61 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 70. 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

LOOP · 78 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 73 · LANDS ON BAR 74

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 60 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 74. 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

LOOP · 78 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 81 · LANDS ON BAR 82

On crash, ride, snare, floor tom and kick. 63 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 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 89

LOOP · 78 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 89 · LANDS ON BAR 90

On crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 61 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 90. 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 91

LOOP · 78 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 91 · LANDS ON BAR 92

On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, kick and hi-hat foot. 66 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 92. 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 96

LOOP · 78 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 96 · LANDS ON BAR 97

On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 67 out of 100 -- demanding -- 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.

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 Higher?

15 distinct fills, played 23 times: bars 5, 9, 21, 24-25, 33 and 45, and 11 more places.

What is the hardest fill in Higher?

The one at bar 59, at 73 out of 100. 97 bars of 4/4 at a walking 78 BPM, 4:56 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 97 BARS ANALYSED