20 fills to learn, played 38 times across 187 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 hi-hat, snare, floor tom and kick. 31 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 36. 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, snare, kick and hi-hat foot. 56 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 44. 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, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 69 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 52. 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, hi-hat, snare, 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 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.
On crash, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 60 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 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.
On hi-hat, snare, floor tom and kick. 66 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 80. 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, snare, floor tom and kick. 55 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 84. 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 floor tom and kick. 5 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 86. 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, snare, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 52 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 92. 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 snare, high tom, floor tom and kick. 50 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 100. 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, snare, high tom, floor tom and kick. 64 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 108. 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, snare, floor tom and kick. 62 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 116. 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, snare, floor tom and kick. 56 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 123. 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, floor 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 132. 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, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 33 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 134. 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, hi-hat, snare, floor tom and kick. 40 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- 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.
On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 79 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 156. 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, snare and kick. 53 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 164. 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, snare and kick. 46 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 172. 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, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 60 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet.
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 →20 distinct fills, played 38 times: bars 35, 43, 50-51, 55-57, 67 and 75, and 20 more places.
The one at bar 152, at 79 out of 100. 187 bars at 190 BPM -- fast, and 3:56 of it without a break -- on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.