PAIN OF SALVATION · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Used

5 fills to learn, played 24 times across 136 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
116 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
136
LENGTH
4:56
DIFFICULTY
77/100

Bar 1, and 4 more times

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 73 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 6. 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, and 6 more times

LOOP · 116 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 48-54 · LANDS ON BAR 55

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 68 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 55. 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 57, and 1 more time

On crash, snare and kick. 77 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 59. 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 69, and 4 more times

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 73 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 74. 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 124, and 4 more times

LOOP · 116 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 124-128 · LANDS ON BAR 129

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 79 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 129. 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 Used?

5 distinct fills, played 24 times: bars 1-5, 48-54, 57-58, 69-73 and 124-128.

What is the hardest fill in Used?

The one at bar 124, at 79 out of 100. 136 bars of 4/4 at 116 BPM, about 4:56 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 136 BARS ANALYSED