4 fills to learn, played 5 times across 83 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.
On ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 87 out of 100 -- hard -- 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.
On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, 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 70. 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.
On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 97 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 78. 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.
On hi-hat and kick. 41 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat.
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 →4 distinct fills, played 5 times: bars 65, 69, 77 and 82-83.
The one at bar 69, at 100 out of 100. 83 bars, 4:41, at 71 BPM: slow enough that every note is exposed. Crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot and nothing else.