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Short Fills for Beginners | Bass Drum Backbeat
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Short Fills for Beginners

Part 1

by Dawn Richardson

So you have unpacked that new drum set, played some beats, hit the toms a few times - now what?!?! Well, how about an organized attempt to use the toms in some short fills?!?!

After you get to the point of being able to keep the groove going while you're playing with your favorite CD or jamming with friends - you want to start adding in some short fills. Fills usually help to cue the band into the next section. They also help the listener hear the changes in the song more clearly and often spice up the song a bit! Start identifying where fills might go by listening to music and noticing the sections such as verse, chorus, etc. (see definitions below). It may come easy to you or it might take some time for you to get used to where the fills would fit best in music - listening and practice will help.

Now, you need to be able to execute the fill, and that takes practice. I have written the following exercises for two toms. If you have three toms on your kit, I suggest that you also do some of the exercises using the middle tom as the high tom, so that you use all of the drums. These exercises should help you to become more comfortable moving around the kit. Play them as slowly as you need to - there's no big hurry! It's always better to play something slowly and correctly than fast and wrong. Gradually build up your tempos. Count and stay even and you're on your way! Be patient and try and do these in order to increase your dexterity around the kit. They will gradually increase in difficulty. Soon you'll be impressing your friends and yourself by playing some cool fills and moving all around the kit!

Sticking for Fills:

I suggest that right handed players start the sixteenth note fills with the right and alternate. Left handed players will most likely want to reverse the sticking and start the fills with the left hand. Keep the alternating concept throughout these exercises.

You will also need to know the basic note values of quarter notes eighth notes and sixteenth notes to play these exercises. Make sure you are counting and subdividing the beats in time.

Remember - fills usually help to cue the band into the next section of the song and also help the listener hear those changes. After learning some grooves and fills, we need to know the parts of a song to put all of the elements together!

Parts of a Song:

Introduction - the beginning of the song; often a variation of the verse or chorus.

Verse - in popular music, this is the section that tells the story, where the lyrics often change but the melody usually remains the same.

Chorus - the main section of the song. It's usually the same melodically and lyrically and is most often the more "catchy" repeating part of the song. Often the song title is in the chorus section.

Bridge - a new or contrasting section - different from the verse or chorus.

Solo - often there is an instrumental solo over one of the sections (verse/chorus/bridge).

Pre-Chorus - sometimes songs also have a short section between the verse and chorus that repeats.

Outro - the end of a song is sometimes referred to as this. It is often the chorus with some added elements.