It’s fill of the week time! Let’s get tripletted!

This week’s fill has an eighth note triplet base, but we’re sneaking some sixteenth notes in to make it sound awesome. We last played a fill like this way back on fill of the week #11. You might want to check that one out after this one. Let’s learn the fill.

Learn The Fill

Let’s start by looking at the basic 8th note triplet sticking pattern we’ll be using for this fill.

That sticking pattern looks pretty random. Play it and count out loud. Get used to which hand falls on which beat.

Now if we add in the 16th note triplets, the hand pattern will become alternating single strokes. However, we’ll keep the counting the same, you’ll need to feel the additional notes between the eighth note triplets.

Play the new pattern slowly at first and count out loud. Use a metronome at 60-80bpm.

The next step is to add in the bass drum on all 4 beats. The bass drum helps to add more weight to the fill and grounds it – keeping the pulse of the groove strong.

The final step is to orchestrate the fill around the kit. You can obviously create your own orchestration – and you should – here’s the one I used:

Taking It Further

Adding 16th notes into your triplet fills creates awesome sounding fills. Here’s some more patterns for you to orchestrate around the kit.

Practice these slowly at first and count out loud. Be careful with the 3rd variation; the first 16th note occurs between the “Let” of 1 and beat 2. This can feel strange the first time you play it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed fill of the week #44. If you’re in Singapore and you’d like a free trial drum lesson, send us a message on the contact us page.