8 fills to learn, played 36 times across 373 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, mid tom and kick. 80 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 19. 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. 61 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 27. 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, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 67 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 265. 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, floor tom and kick. 26 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how fine the subdivision is. In the song it lands on bar 305. 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 and floor tom. 22 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is how fine the subdivision is. In the song it lands on bar 353. 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 ride, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 49 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is how fine the subdivision is. In the song it lands on bar 357. 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, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 51 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is how fine the subdivision is. In the song it lands on bar 365. 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. 75 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 370. 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.
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 →8 distinct fills, played 36 times: bars 8-18, 26, 249-264, 304, 352 and 356, and 2 more places.
The one at bar 8, at 80 out of 100. 373 bars, 23:28, at 64 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.