dr um c our se dr um fi l l s - totaldrummer.com · drum fill lesson pack what is a drum fill? drum...

DRUM FILLS DRUM COURSE

develop drum fills and learn to

create your own

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DrumFillLessonPackWhatisadrumfill?Drumfillsareafunpartofdrummingthatgiveusadeparturefromourbeats.Theyservetofillaspaceinthemusicand/ormakeatransitionfromonepartofthesongtothenext.Oftenasdrummerswegetoverexcitedandfilltoomanyspacesinthemusic,orplayinappropriatefills.Thereforethelearningprocessisoneofbuildingavocabularyofgreatfillsinvaryingtempos,timesignaturesasndstylessothatwehavesomethingreadyforanygivensituation.Butthenaswedevelopexperiencewelearntomaketherightmusicalchoicestoplaysomethingthatservesthesongratherthanourego.Oftenasmall,subtlefillworksbetterthanthetwobar,32ndnote,doublebasdrumbeastthatwehavebeenlearningforthelastsixmonths!Thehardestapspectis……Oftenthehardestthingisnotthefillitselfbutmakingasmoothtransitionfromthebeatintothefill,andthenfromthefillbacktoabeat.Soonceyouhavelearnteachfillyoumustlearntoplayitinsequencewithabeateithersideofit.Aimforflawlesstransitionsatalltimes.Whatdowehaveinthislessonpack?Herewewilllearnarangeofdifferentfillsthatoucanusestraightfromthebox.Butdon’tforgetthateachfillcanbeorchestrated(movedaroundthekit)indifferentways.Sotakeeachideaanddevelopit.Becomefreewithit.Experiementandcreate.Tothatendwefinishwithadrumfillgeneratorconcept.Herewewilllearnsmallerrhytmicblocks.Wethenlookathowwecouldusedifferentblocksindifferentorderstocreatedifferentfills.Yourtaskistofinishbyusingtherhythmblockstocreateyourownfills.Onceyougetusedtothisyoucanmakeendlessfillsforever.Youcankeepcreatingnewideasandkeepyourideasfresh.Asyougetmoreconfidentyoucanimprovisetheseonthespotratherthanplanningthembeforeplaying.Atthatstageyouarefreetocreateinthemomentandthatisthebestplacetobeinmusic.Let’sgetstarted!

Drum Fills

1

R L R L R L R L etc.......

2

R L R L R L R L R L R L

3

R L R L R L R L

4

R L R L R L R L etc...........

5

R L R R L R......etc.

6

7

R L R L R R L R L R L

8

R L R L R L R L etc...........

Fills Cont......

1

2

3

4

5

6

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7

8

1 Bar Fills

1

R L R R L R L R

2

R L R R L R L R

3

R L R L R L R L R R L L R

4

R L L R L L R L L R L R LR L R L R L R L R R L L R

5

R L R L ......etc.

6

R L R L ......etc.

7

R L R L R R L R L R L L R L R L

8

R L R L R R L R L R L L R L R L

2 Bar Fills

1

2

3

6

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4

R L R L R R L

6

6

6

2 Beat Fills

1

3

2

3

4

3 note groupings

5

6

7

8

6

6

3 Beat Fills

1

6

2

3

4

5

3

3

6

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7

8

1 &

1 e & a

1 e &

1 e & a

1 e & a

1 trip let

1

Building blocks of rhythm

Drum Fill Generator

2

3

4

5

63

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1 & 2 e & a 3 & 2 e & a

1 e & 2 e & 3 e & a 4 &

1 e & a 2 & 3 e & a 4 e &

1 & 2 trip let 3 e & a 4 e &

44

44

Put those rhythm blocks together to create a fill

1 2 1 2

Example One

3 3 2 1

Example Two

5 1 2 3

Example Three

1 62 3

3

Example Four

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2

1 & 2 e & a 3 & 2 e & a

1 e & 2 e & 3 e & a 4 &

1 e & a 2 & 3 e & a 4 e &

1 & 2 trip let 3 e & a 4 e &

Once you're comfortable with those fills we can orchestrate them to create many variations of the same fill.

Here is one possible orchestration for each fill. You can learn these and then try your own orchestrations.

1 2 1 2

3 3 2 1

5 1 2 3

1 6 2 3

3

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Drum Fill Generator 3

Now create your own fills using the rhythm blocks from page one.

There are endless possibilities - especially when you vary the orchestrations around the kit.

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Drum Fill Generator4