DIRE STRAITS · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Sultans Of Swing Alchemy

8 fills to learn, played 15 times across 379 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
150 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
379
LENGTH
10:06
DIFFICULTY
55/100

Bar 314, and 4 more times

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 314, 350, 358, 366 AND 374 · LANDS ON BAR 315

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 51 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 315. 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 329

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 329 · LANDS ON BAR 330

On snare. 17 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 330. 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 338

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 338 · LANDS ON BAR 339

On snare. 22 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 339. 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 345, and 1 more time

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 345-346 · LANDS ON BAR 347

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 51 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 347. 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 354

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 354 · LANDS ON BAR 355

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 58 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 355. 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 361, and 1 more time

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 361-362 · LANDS ON BAR 363

On crash, hi-hat, 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 363. 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 369, and 1 more time

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 369-370 · LANDS ON BAR 371

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 77 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 371. 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 379

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 379

On crash, ride and snare. 26 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for.

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 Sultans Of Swing Alchemy?

8 distinct fills, played 15 times: bars 314, 329, 338, 345-346, 350 and 354, and 6 more places.

What is the hardest fill in Sultans Of Swing Alchemy?

The one at bar 369, at 77 out of 100. 379 bars of 4/4 at 150 BPM, about 10:06 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 379 BARS ANALYSED