EZ one-beat fill with tom moves

I think this is my third or fourth take on this particular subject since I started blogging, but it can take awhile to find the best format for teaching basic things. These days I like to isolate things from their context, without a steady pulse running in the background, and without counting complete measures.

Here we're working on the tom possibilities with a 16th note fill on beat 4, with an ending cymbal/bass drum note on 1, so I suggest just counting 4-e-&-a-1 while playing the numbered exercises. Play it one time, stop, take a breath, and do it again. When you have the move memorized, do it with the practice phrases at the bottom of the page, while counting in 4.

For many students it probably won't be necessary to play through all five of the practice phrases, but the steps are there for those who do need them. You can vary the bass drum pattern on the non-fill part of the measure however you like.

Get the pdf