Today’s finish the fill is brought to you courtesy of “e” and “ah”. This is easily one of the best ways to start a funky sounding drum fill, but, how will you Finish The Fill? Here’s some ideas:
Where to start?
We’re starting this week’s drum fill with syncopated 16th notes. We’re playing on beat 1 and then on the “e” and “ah” of beats 1 and 2. It looks like this:
Note that I use my left hand to play all the “e” and “ah” notes. A lot of drummers will approach this kind of drum fill this way as it keeps constant motion in the left hand which helps with time keeping.
What Happens Next?
My first ending for this drum fill is a busy ending with a little 32nd note flourish. This is a good way to pick up the energy after the spacious start to the drum fill.
Note that I finish the drum fill on the right hand, so I crash with my left hand on beat 1 of the next bar.
My second ending for this drum fill embraces the space by putting more space between the notes than the first half. This creates a dramatic ending to the fill.
The third ending to this drum fill was a bit of an experiment. I played alternating 16th notes between the bass drum and floor tom before finishing the fill with the snare and floor tom. It’s quite an aggressive sounding ending, might be useful in song that is moving to a more aggressive feel – or maybe a double time feel.
My fourth ending is probably the most natural ending to this drum fill. It continues with the ‘e’ “ah” pattern established in the first two beats before resolving the fill with a common ending on beat 4.
Again, notice the use of the left hand keeping the timing and the flow going by playing all the “e”s and “ah”s. Try playing it with alternating strokes and decide for yourself which method feels better.
For ending number #5 I decided to throw in a couple of buckets of fish. These give a little flourish to the fill but also give it a stacatto feel.
How Will You Finish The Fill?
That’s my 5 endings for this drum fill. How will you finish the fill? Create as many endings as you can.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this finish the fill. If you’re in Singapore and would like a free trial lesson, send us a message via the contact us page.