Beats to fills - key 01

Here is a page of fill possibilities within this “beats to fills” framework, outlined at that link. Here the fill portions are two and four 8th notes long. I'll do a few more pages as necessary, to show what to do with one 8th/three 8th/other lengths of fills.

Briefly, it involves marking a written out rock beat so:

BD/cym notes = as written, played as crashes
other notes = fill, played a number of ways we'll outline here  

See the above link for illustrations and details. 

I've long felt that one measure beat patterns— the conventional thing— is a very limiting way to learn. The approach here helps people read interpretively and creatively, and to not see a written out groove as an unchangeable, set thing. It's more like professional reading. And it's a really good framework for learning to play fills along with common ensemble accent figures.

Fill number 1 should be practiced several ways, just as an exercise: 

• RH on cym / LH on snare
• RH only
• LH only 
• both hands in unison
• alternating

Fill 2-8 are all connected, based on fairly small changes to fill 2. Fill 9 uses six stroke rolls, which combines the stickings from 7-8.

Fills 10-14 are various forms of alternating singles. 

Fills 15-19 are miscellaneous unique fills, with tom ruffs, paradiddle inversions, and a linear pattern. 

People should spend a good amount of time with each of these, trying out different moves around the drums, in addition to working on timing and sound.

Also play them in context as a two measure phrase, one measure written groove / one measure fill. 

Get the pdf