Drum Fill #3

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First, I must apologize for a lack of video to go along with this week’s Friday Drum Fill. I would love to tell a fantastic story of extreme technical woes, armed robbery or being chased by a bear. However, the truth is that I taught this fill incorrectly and didn’t realize it until editing the video. So, I’ve instead shared this lesson with plain old words on a page — but we’ve got audio samples to go along with the notation.

The most interesting part of this fill (to me) is how the right stick lines up with quarter-note triplets. It’s difficult to nail the timing of quarter-note triplets, but if you think of them as eighth-note triplets — playing only every other stroke — you’ve got perfectly-timed quarter-note triplets. See how they line up below:

Although the featured drum fill in this lesson is actually playing eighth-note triplets, the real focus is on the quarter-note triplet pulse played on the hi-hat. The snare drum holds the fill together with an accented back-beat on both 2 and 4.

Here are the drum fills once more:

PRINT THIS DRUM FILL

#1 is the first step to mastering this fill. Each right stick stroke is accented. The audio recordings below start with a slow example, and then play a fast example.

#2 simply moves the accented strokes to the hi-hat. Accent the hi-hat strokes a bit to make them standout. Also, take notice of the accented snare on beats 2 and 4. These will create a solid back-beat to hold the fill together.

#3 adds the bass drum along with each hi-hat stroke, making the quarter-note triplet pulse stand out even more.

#4 uses the open hi-hat technique to further bring out the quarter-note triplet pulse. It sounds difficult, but really your feet are simply playing eighth-note triplets (R L R L R L … ) right along with the hands.

#5 gives an example of how to shorten the fill for a partial-measure drum fill.

#6 further shortens the drum fill to only on beat 4. This creates a cool sound, losing the back-beat during the fill.

Sorry again about the lack of video. Enjoy the fill, and be sure to check back on Monday for my Monday Video Drum Lesson. Keep drumming!