SYSTEM OF A DOWN · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in War?

2 fills to learn, played 4 times across 129 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
200 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
129
LENGTH
2:35
DIFFICULTY
47/100

Bar 43, and 1 more time

LOOP · 200 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 43-44 · LANDS ON BAR 45

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom 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 45. 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 61, and 1 more time

LOOP · 200 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 61 AND 125 · LANDS ON BAR 62

On crash, snare and kick. 38 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 62. 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 War??

2 distinct fills, played 4 times: bars 43-44, 61 and 125.

What is the hardest fill in War??

The one at bar 43, at 47 out of 100. 129 bars at 200 BPM -- fast, and 2:35 of it without a break -- on crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 129 BARS ANALYSED