BRODEQUIN · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in The Gridiron

4 fills to learn, played 13 times across 106 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
106
LENGTH
2:48
DIFFICULTY
77/100

Bar 43, and 1 more time

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 43 AND 55 · LANDS ON BAR 44

On crash, snare and kick. 47 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 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.

Bar 45

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 45 · LANDS ON BAR 46

On ride, snare and kick. 83 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 46. 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 73, and 1 more time

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 73 AND 85 · LANDS ON BAR 74

On crash, ride, snare and kick. 69 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 74. 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 99, and 7 more times

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 99-106

On crash, ride, snare and kick. 69 out of 100 -- demanding -- 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 The Gridiron?

4 distinct fills, played 13 times: bars 43, 45, 55, 73, 85 and 99-106.

What is the hardest fill in The Gridiron?

The one at bar 45, at 83 out of 100. 106 bars of 4/4 at 150 BPM, about 2:48 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 106 BARS ANALYSED