11 fills to learn, played 25 times across 111 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 hi-hat, snare, floor tom and kick. 57 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 19. 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, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 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 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 snare and kick. 41 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 27. 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 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 50. 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, floor tom and kick. 53 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 54. 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, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 43 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how fine the subdivision is. In the song it lands on bar 65. 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, 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 87. 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 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 99. 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. 51 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 103. 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 and kick. 50 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 107. 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, mid tom and kick. 50 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet.
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 →11 distinct fills, played 25 times: bars 17-18, 20-22, 26, 49, 51-53 and 57, and 8 more places.
The one at bar 17, at 57 out of 100. 111 bars of 4/4 at 127 BPM, about 3:29 of playing, on crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.