DRAGON · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Rain

2 fills to learn, played 2 times across 137 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
155 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
137
LENGTH
3:32
DIFFICULTY
42/100

Bar 81

LOOP · 155 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 81 · LANDS ON BAR 82

On snare and kick. 13 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. 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 129

LOOP · 155 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 129 · LANDS ON BAR 130

On hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 43 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 130. 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 Rain?

2 distinct fills, played 2 times: bars 81 and 129.

What is the hardest fill in Rain?

The one at bar 129, at 43 out of 100. 137 bars at 155 BPM -- fast, and 3:32 of it without a break -- on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 137 BARS ANALYSED