A Unique Pick Withers Drum Fill Technique
By Nate Brown
Pick Withers uses a unique drum fill technique throughout the song Sultans of Swing. The most common fills we play are full or partial measure and end with a crash on beat 1. Sometimes, the fill is extended into the next measure, and the fill ends with a crash after beat 1. Withers, however, extends the drum fill into the next measure while also crashing on beat 1.
Take a look at the notation below. The fill begins on beat 2 of bar 47 and extends to beat 1 of the next measure where both a tom and a crash are played. It can take some time to get used to, as we don't do this very often.
Experiment with this concept in your drum fills. Play your usual drum fills, but throw in a tom on beat 1 along with the crash.
