26 fills to learn, played 49 times across 238 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 high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 30 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 7. 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, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 52 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 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.
On crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, 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 23. 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, high tom, mid tom and kick. 24 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 29. 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. 35 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 38. 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, kick and hi-hat foot. 35 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. 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.
On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 28 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how often it moves around the kit. 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.
On ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 35 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 90. 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, high tom, mid tom and kick. 53 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 92. 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, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 14 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is how often it moves around the kit. In the song it lands on bar 96. 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, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 41 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 98. 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, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 16 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 100. 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, snare and kick. 29 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 106. 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, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 27 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 108. 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, kick and hi-hat foot. 31 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 110. 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, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 27 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 112. 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, snare and kick. 33 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 114. 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, high tom, mid tom and kick. 39 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 116. 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, snare and kick. 27 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 118. 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, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 24 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 120. 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, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 9 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is how often it moves around the kit. In the song it lands on bar 122. 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, snare and kick. 7 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is how little of it repeats. In the song it lands on bar 124. 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, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 37 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 128. 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, snare and kick. 29 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 130. 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. 8 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is how often it moves around the kit. In the song it lands on bar 132. 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, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 24 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 136. 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 →26 distinct fills, played 49 times: bars 6, 10-14, 18-22, 28, 37 and 41-45, and 22 more places.
The one at bar 18, at 61 out of 100. 238 bars of 6/4 -- not four -- at 68 BPM, 18:08 of playing on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.