QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Walkin on the Sidewalks

8 fills to learn, played 51 times across 124 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
100 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
124
LENGTH
4:58
DIFFICULTY
61/100

Bar 5, and 4 more times

LOOP · 100 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 5-9 · LANDS ON BAR 10

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 57 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 10. 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 11, and 29 more times

LOOP · 100 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 11-40 · LANDS ON BAR 41

On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 59 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 41. 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 43, and 2 more times

LOOP · 100 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 43-45 · LANDS ON BAR 46

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 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 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.

Bar 47, and 1 more time

LOOP · 100 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 47-48 · LANDS ON BAR 49

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 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 49. 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 50, and 2 more times

LOOP · 100 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 50-52 · LANDS ON BAR 53

On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 55 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 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.

Bar 54, and 4 more times

LOOP · 100 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 54-58 · LANDS ON BAR 59

On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 65 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 62

LOOP · 100 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 62 · LANDS ON BAR 63

On crash, ride, snare, mid tom and kick. 57 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 63. 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 65, and 1 more time

LOOP · 100 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 65-66 · LANDS ON BAR 67

On crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom 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 67. 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 Walkin on the Sidewalks?

8 distinct fills, played 51 times: bars 5-9, 11-40, 43-45, 47-48, 50-52 and 54-58, and 2 more places.

What is the hardest fill in Walkin on the Sidewalks?

The one at bar 65, at 68 out of 100. 124 bars of 4/4 at a walking 100 BPM, 4:58 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 124 BARS ANALYSED