DRUMYLearn
Drum fills
Four fills, easiest first, each set in a loop of groove so you practise getting into it and out of it: bars of beat, the fill, then the crash on the 1 as the loop comes round. They run from two beats to two bars long.
- Half-bar fillTwo beats long. Three bars and a half of groove, then eight sixteenths round the toms and back to the one.
- One-bar fillOne bar long. Three bars of groove, then a whole bar of sixteenths down the kit.
- Triplet fillOne bar long. The shuffle, and a bar of triplets round the kit to end the phrase.
- Around-the-kit fillTwo bars long. A two-bar fill after two bars of groove: sixteenths that walk every drum and come home.
Where each fill starts
- The half-bar fill: three bars of groove, then the fill from the 3 of bar 4, two beats long, landing on the crash on the 1 as the loop comes round. The loop goes round four times at 92 BPM.
- The one-bar fill: three bars of groove, then the fill from the 1 of bar 4, one bar long, landing on the crash on the 1 as the loop comes round. The loop goes round four times at 92 BPM.
- The triplet fill: three bars of triplet groove, then the fill from the 1 of bar 4, one bar long, landing on the crash on the 1 as the loop comes round. The loop goes round four times at 90 BPM.
- The around-the-kit fill: two bars of groove, then the fill from the 1 of bar 3, two bars long, landing on the crash on the 1 as the loop comes round. The loop goes round four times at 88 BPM.
Drum fills: questions
Which drum fill should I learn first?
The half-bar fill: three bars and a half of groove, then eight sixteenths round the toms and back to the one. Snare, snare, high tom, high tom, mid tom, mid tom, floor, floor — then crash on the one.
How long are these fills?
The half-bar fill is two beats, the one-bar fill is one bar, the triplet fill is one bar and the around-the-kit fill is two bars.
Browse drum songs
- Easy drum songs for beginners
- Intermediate drum songs
- Hard drum songs
- Slow songs to play on drums
- Fast drum songs
- Drumless songs to play along to
- Kick, snare and hi-hat songs
Practise
Guides
- How to connect an electronic drum kit to your computer
- How to play along to songs on electronic drums
- Why your electronic drums feel late — and how to fix it
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