ALL THAT REMAINS · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in What If I Was Nothing drums

2 fills to learn, played 2 times across 151 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
145 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
151
LENGTH
4:10
DIFFICULTY
41/100

Bar 96

LOOP · 145 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 96 · LANDS ON BAR 97

On snare, mid tom and kick. 17 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 97. 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 136

LOOP · 145 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 136 · LANDS ON BAR 137

On crash, snare, floor tom and kick. 32 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 137. 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 What If I Was Nothing drums?

2 distinct fills, played 2 times: bars 96 and 136.

What is the hardest fill in What If I Was Nothing drums?

The one at bar 136, at 32 out of 100. 151 bars of 4/4 at 145 BPM, about 4:10 of playing, on crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 151 BARS ANALYSED