RISE OF THE NORTHSTAR · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in The Legacy Of Shi

2 fills to learn, played 8 times across 83 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
100 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
83
LENGTH
3:19
DIFFICULTY
66/100

Bar 15, and 3 more times

LOOP · 100 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 15-16 AND 33-34 · LANDS ON BAR 17

On snare, floor tom and kick. 56 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 17. 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, and 3 more times

LOOP · 100 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 71-74 · LANDS ON BAR 75

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 88 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 75. 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 Legacy Of Shi?

2 distinct fills, played 8 times: bars 15-16, 33-34 and 71-74.

What is the hardest fill in The Legacy Of Shi?

The one at bar 71, at 88 out of 100. 83 bars of 4/4 at a walking 100 BPM, 3:19 of playing, on crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 83 BARS ANALYSED