QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in The Fun Machine Took A Shit And Died

2 fills to learn, played 2 times across 208 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
128 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
208
LENGTH
6:28
DIFFICULTY
90/100

Bar 191

LOOP · 128 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 191 · LANDS ON BAR 192

On crash, snare, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 72 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 192. 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 203

LOOP · 128 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 203 · LANDS ON BAR 204

On ride, snare, floor tom and kick. 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 204. 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 The Fun Machine Took A Shit And Died?

2 distinct fills, played 2 times: bars 191 and 203.

What is the hardest fill in The Fun Machine Took A Shit And Died?

The one at bar 203, at 79 out of 100. 208 bars of 4/4 at 128 BPM, about 6:28 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 208 BARS ANALYSED