METALLICA · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Shoot Me Again

3 fills to learn, played 6 times across 199 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
110 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
199
LENGTH
7:13
DIFFICULTY
74/100

Bar 80

LOOP · 110 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 80 · LANDS ON BAR 81

On crash, snare and kick. 66 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 81. 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 134, and 3 more times

LOOP · 110 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 134-135 AND 197-198 · LANDS ON BAR 136

On crash, snare and kick. 58 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 136. 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 151

LOOP · 110 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 151 · LANDS ON BAR 152

On crash, snare and kick. 64 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 152. 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 Shoot Me Again?

3 distinct fills, played 6 times: bars 80, 134-135, 151 and 197-198.

What is the hardest fill in Shoot Me Again?

The one at bar 80, at 66 out of 100. 199 bars of 4/4 at 110 BPM, about 7:13 of playing, on crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 199 BARS ANALYSED