METALLICA · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in The Prince

2 fills to learn, played 2 times across 179 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
166 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
179
LENGTH
4:19
DIFFICULTY
95/100

Bar 13

LOOP · 166 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 13 · LANDS ON BAR 14

On snare and high tom. 49 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 14. 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 119

LOOP · 166 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 119 · LANDS ON BAR 120

On snare, high tom, mid tom and floor tom. 27 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how fine the subdivision is. 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.

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 Prince?

2 distinct fills, played 2 times: bars 13 and 119.

What is the hardest fill in The Prince?

The one at bar 13, at 49 out of 100. 179 bars at 166 BPM -- fast, and 4:19 of it without a break -- on crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 179 BARS ANALYSED