EL VY · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Return to the Moon

3 fills to learn, played 7 times across 129 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
126 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
129
LENGTH
4:06
DIFFICULTY
67/100

Bar 61, and 4 more times

LOOP · 126 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 61-65 · LANDS ON BAR 66

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom and kick. 73 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. 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 101

LOOP · 126 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 101 · LANDS ON BAR 102

On hi-hat, snare, mid tom and kick. 66 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 102. 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 105

LOOP · 126 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 105 · LANDS ON BAR 106

On hi-hat, snare and kick. 61 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 106. 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 Return to the Moon?

3 distinct fills, played 7 times: bars 61-65, 101 and 105.

What is the hardest fill in Return to the Moon?

The one at bar 61, at 73 out of 100. 129 bars of 4/4 at 126 BPM, about 4:06 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 129 BARS ANALYSED