WIND ROSE · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in The King Under the Mountain

17 fills to learn, played 40 times across 131 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
95 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
131
LENGTH
5:31
DIFFICULTY
90/100

Bar 5, and 7 more times

LOOP · 95 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 5-12 · LANDS ON BAR 13

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 76 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 13. 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 14

LOOP · 95 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 14 · LANDS ON BAR 15

On crash, snare and kick. 54 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 15. 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 19, and 1 more time

LOOP · 95 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 19-20 · LANDS ON BAR 21

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 67 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 21. 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 36

LOOP · 95 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 36 · LANDS ON BAR 37

On crash, hi-hat, snare 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 37. 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 48

LOOP · 95 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 48 · LANDS ON BAR 49

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 100 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 49. 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 51, and 1 more time

LOOP · 95 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 51-52 · LANDS ON BAR 53

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 100 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 53. 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 55, and 1 more time

LOOP · 95 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 55-56 · LANDS ON BAR 57

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 81 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 57. 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 59, and 1 more time

LOOP · 95 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 59-60 · LANDS ON BAR 61

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 100 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 61. 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 65, and 3 more times

LOOP · 95 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 65-68 · LANDS ON BAR 69

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 100 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 69. 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 71

LOOP · 95 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 71 · LANDS ON BAR 72

On ride, snare, mid tom and kick. 100 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 72. 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 2 more times

LOOP · 95 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 73-75 · LANDS ON BAR 76

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom and kick. 97 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 76. 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 81, and 1 more time

LOOP · 95 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 81-82 · LANDS ON BAR 83

On crash, 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 83. 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 106, and 2 more times

LOOP · 95 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 106-108 · LANDS ON BAR 109

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom and kick. 92 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 109. 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 111, and 3 more times

LOOP · 95 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 111-114 · LANDS ON BAR 115

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 96 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 115. 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 116

LOOP · 95 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 116 · LANDS ON BAR 117

On crash, snare and kick. 84 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 117. 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 122

LOOP · 95 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 122 · LANDS ON BAR 123

On hi-hat, snare, mid tom and kick. 100 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. 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.

Bar 125, and 1 more time

LOOP · 95 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 125-126 · LANDS ON BAR 127

On crash, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 84 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 127. 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 King Under the Mountain?

17 distinct fills, played 40 times: bars 5-12, 14, 19-20, 36, 48 and 51-52, and 11 more places.

What is the hardest fill in The King Under the Mountain?

The one at bar 48, at 100 out of 100. 131 bars of 4/4 at a walking 95 BPM, 5:31 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 131 BARS ANALYSED