JAMES BROWN · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in I got you (I feel good)

2 fills to learn, played 6 times across 96 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
144 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
96
LENGTH
2:40
DIFFICULTY
30/100

Bar 29, and 3 more times

LOOP · 144 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 29, 33, 53 AND 57 · LANDS ON BAR 30

On ride, snare and kick. 18 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. 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 35, and 1 more time

LOOP · 144 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 35 AND 59 · LANDS ON BAR 36

On snare, kick and hi-hat foot. 21 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 36. 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 I got you (I feel good)?

2 distinct fills, played 6 times: bars 29, 33, 35, 53, 57 and 59.

What is the hardest fill in I got you (I feel good)?

The one at bar 35, at 29 out of 100. 96 bars of 4/4 at 144 BPM, about 2:40 of playing, on crash, ride, snare, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 96 BARS ANALYSED