19 fills to learn, played 46 times across 263 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 crash, snare and floor tom. 26 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. 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 snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 18 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. 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, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 57 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 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 snare, high tom, mid tom and floor tom. 24 out of 100 -- straightforward -- 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 crash, ride, snare and kick. 75 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 134. 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. 67 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 138. 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 and kick. 40 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 150. 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 and kick. 42 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 153. 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 and kick. 36 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 162. 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. 36 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 170. 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. 41 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 178. 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. 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 190. 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. 34 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 194. 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. 51 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 225. 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. 24 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 232. 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 and floor tom. 44 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 236. 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. 47 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 241. 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 how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 252. 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. 55 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 256. 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 →19 distinct fills, played 46 times: bars 96-97, 112-113, 117, 125, 129 and 133, and 30 more places.
The one at bar 133, at 75 out of 100. 263 bars of 4/4 at 123 BPM, about 8:33 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick.