MORTERRA · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Penitence

4 fills to learn, played 9 times across 191 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
150 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
191
LENGTH
5:17
DIFFICULTY
88/100

Bar 83, and 5 more times

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 83-85 AND 95-97 · LANDS ON BAR 86

On crash, 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 86. 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 140

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 140 · LANDS ON BAR 141

On crash, snare, mid tom, floor 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 141. 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 145

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 145 · LANDS ON BAR 146

On crash 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 146. 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 158

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 158 · LANDS ON BAR 159

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 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 159. 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 Penitence?

4 distinct fills, played 9 times: bars 83-85, 95-97, 140, 145 and 158.

What is the hardest fill in Penitence?

The one at bar 158, at 69 out of 100. 191 bars of 4/4 at 150 BPM, about 5:17 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 191 BARS ANALYSED