9 fills to learn, played 20 times across 167 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 hi-hat, snare and kick. 32 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how fine the subdivision is. In the song it lands on bar 3. 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, mid tom and kick. 22 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is how fine the subdivision is. In the song it lands on bar 19. 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, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 27 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how fine the subdivision is. In the song it lands on bar 21. 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, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 58 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 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.
On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 45 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 26. 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 and kick. 52 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 42. 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 hi-hat, snare and kick. 19 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is how fine the subdivision is. In the song it lands on bar 58. 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 mid tom. 19 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 94. 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 hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 37 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 110. 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 →9 distinct fills, played 20 times: bars 2, 4, 12, 14, 16 and 18, and 12 more places.
The one at bar 22, at 58 out of 100. 167 bars, 12:07, at 55 BPM: slow enough that every note is exposed. Crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick and nothing else.