ALICE IN CHAINS · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Would?

10 fills to learn, played 19 times across 87 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
92 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
87
LENGTH
3:47
DIFFICULTY
81/100

Bar 12, and 1 more time

LOOP · 92 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 12 AND 36 · LANDS ON BAR 13

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 56 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 13. 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 16, and 3 more times

LOOP · 92 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 16, 20, 44 AND 60 · LANDS ON BAR 17

On crash, hi-hat, snare, kick and hi-hat foot. 69 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 17. 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 22, and 2 more times

LOOP · 92 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 22, 46 AND 62 · LANDS ON BAR 23

On ride, snare, high tom, floor tom and kick. 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 23. 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 28

LOOP · 92 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 28 · LANDS ON BAR 29

On ride, snare, high tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 76 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 29. 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 52

LOOP · 92 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 52 · LANDS ON BAR 53

On ride, snare, high tom, floor tom and kick. 70 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. 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 68

LOOP · 92 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 68 · LANDS ON BAR 69

On ride, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 76 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 69. 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 72, and 1 more time

LOOP · 92 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 72-73 · LANDS ON BAR 74

On crash, ride, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 74 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. 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 76, and 1 more time

LOOP · 92 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 76-77 · LANDS ON BAR 78

On crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom 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 78. 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 80, and 1 more time

LOOP · 92 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 80-81 · LANDS ON BAR 82

On crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 70 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 82. 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 84

LOOP · 92 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 84 · LANDS ON BAR 85

On ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 64 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 85. 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 Would??

10 distinct fills, played 19 times: bars 12, 16, 20, 22, 28 and 36, and 10 more places.

What is the hardest fill in Would??

The one at bar 28, at 76 out of 100. 87 bars of 4/4 at a walking 92 BPM, 3:47 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 87 BARS ANALYSED