200 STAB WOUNDS · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Skin Milk

8 fills to learn, played 47 times across 82 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
100 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
82
LENGTH
3:17
DIFFICULTY
92/100

Bar 9, and 1 more time

LOOP · 100 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 9-10 · LANDS ON BAR 11

On crash, hi-hat, floor tom and kick. 89 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 11. 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 19, and 11 more times

LOOP · 100 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 19-30 · LANDS ON BAR 31

On crash, ride, hi-hat, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 100 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 31. 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 35, and 5 more times

LOOP · 100 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 35-40 · LANDS ON BAR 41

On crash, hi-hat and kick. 93 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 41. 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 42, and 6 more times

LOOP · 100 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 42-48 · LANDS ON BAR 49

On crash, ride, hi-hat, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 76 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 49. 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 50

LOOP · 100 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 50 · LANDS ON BAR 51

On crash, ride, hi-hat and kick. 100 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 51. 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 52, and 5 more times

LOOP · 100 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 52-57 · LANDS ON BAR 58

On crash, ride, hi-hat and kick. 88 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 58. 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 62, and 5 more times

LOOP · 100 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 62-67 · LANDS ON BAR 68

On crash, ride, hi-hat, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 71 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 68. 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 75, and 6 more times

LOOP · 100 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 75-81 · LANDS ON BAR 82

On crash, ride, hi-hat, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 96 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. 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.

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 Skin Milk?

8 distinct fills, played 47 times: bars 9-10, 19-30, 35-40, 42-48, 50 and 52-57, and 2 more places.

What is the hardest fill in Skin Milk?

The one at bar 19, at 100 out of 100. 82 bars of 4/4 at a walking 100 BPM, 3:17 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 82 BARS ANALYSED