Here’s fill of the week #9

This is one of the those fills that sounds easy but needs careful practice to play precisely. There is a fill similar to this on Extreme’s Get The Funk Out. During the song it’s played while a horn section plays the same rhythm and it sounds huge. Let’s get into it.

Learn The Fill

Lets take a look at the fill with the counting added.

That’s a lot of “Es” and “AHs” we have to play without any support from the notes in between. The first step is to get comfortable playing all those 16th notes on the “Es” and “AHs”. Try this exercise:

Work with a metronome at 40bpm and count out loud. I recommend a metronome that can play 16th note subdivisions clearly – such as TempoPerfect by NCH software (it’s free.)

If you can’t play those 16th notes accurately, you can’t play the fill. Keep practicing and counting – it may take a while. Try mixing it up with this exercise to help feel the difference between playing on the 8ths and 16ths:

If you’ve made it this far, you should be able to play the fill now. While playing the fill, focus on keeping your left hand moving smoothly; it should help get those 16th notes played evenly.

Taking It Further

As the original fill is all played on the snare, the simple way to change it up is to add in some toms:

Another simple way to change this fill up is to add a quarter note bass drum to it. It’ll help to keep the time going and hopefully prevent your bassist from getting lost.

I hope you’ve enjoyed learning this fill – take it slow and play with precision. If you’re in Singapore and would like a free trial lesson, send us a message on the contact us page.