TOOL · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Stinkfist

4 fills to learn, played 33 times across 102 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
87 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
102
LENGTH
5:06
DIFFICULTY
65/100

Bar 25

LOOP · 87 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 25 · LANDS ON BAR 26

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 54 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 26. 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 45, and 3 more times

On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 63 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 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 60, and 11 more times

LOOP · 87 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 60-71 · LANDS ON BAR 72

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 57 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 72. 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 79, and 15 more times

On crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom 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 95. 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 Stinkfist?

4 distinct fills, played 33 times: bars 25, 45-48, 60-71 and 79-94.

What is the hardest fill in Stinkfist?

The one at bar 45, at 63 out of 100. 102 bars of 4/4 at a walking 87 BPM, 5:06 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 102 BARS ANALYSED