THE WHO · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in My Generation

2 fills to learn, played 2 times across 154 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
192 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
154
LENGTH
3:13
DIFFICULTY
74/100

Bar 42

LOOP · 192 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 42 · LANDS ON BAR 43

On snare, floor tom and kick. 78 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 43. 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 88

LOOP · 192 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 88 · LANDS ON BAR 89

On snare, floor tom and kick. 78 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. 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.

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 My Generation?

2 distinct fills, played 2 times: bars 42 and 88.

What is the hardest fill in My Generation?

The one at bar 42, at 78 out of 100. 154 bars at 192 BPM -- fast, and 3:13 of it without a break -- on crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 154 BARS ANALYSED