Drummers play time. They establish style and maintain the groove with other rhythm section instruments, like bass and guitar. It’s not often that drummers get to shine as individual players, so I take playing drum fills very seriously.
The best drummers add to the song. They don’t dominate the musical phrase or showboat outside of the needs of the arrangement. Musical drum fills transition well from the groove to the fill and back, and this is no easy task if you don’t have the proper tools to work with.
This article includes explanations of the different types of drum fills and musical contexts through notated examples. It also references popular songs with iconic drum fills that are, without argument, critical to the song’s composition.
What is a fill?
Drum fills are played when a song has space that would benefit from the drummer playing something that brakes from the groove. Fills can be anywhere from a half a beat to more than a measure. They can be improvised or the same fill every time in the phrase.
Some fills mark phrases. These fills are often crafted to set up the dynamic and aesthetic of the next section of the song. For example, if the song buildings into a loud chorus, the drum fill is going to be loud and usually more powerful of busier than the other fills within the sections of the song.
The following examples are designed to help you practice transitioning from the groove to the drum fill and back to the groove. Each example is marked by how many beats the drum fill takes up in the measure.
Are drum fills important?
All drum fills should be respected by the drummer and other musicians. They can be loud and in your face, so they’re not to be thrown around for fun. Drum fills are part of the song whether they are played the same way every time or not.
Some songs have fills that are so important that the song wouldn’t be same without them. These fills kick off songs, like “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” or they can be integral parts of the groove, like “Come Together.”
When drummers cover these songs, they have to play certain fills. Drummers like Ringo Starr played parts on songs in the second half of the Beatles’ career that are as much a part of the composition as the guitar lines. Covering these songs means you learn the fills and play the parts, otherwise you risk sounding sophomoric. Plus, these fills are awesome. I don’t know why a drummer wouldn’t want to learn the drum fills and kill it!
Here’s a few of my favorite examples. They each offer a different type of influence on the song and serve varying purposes.
“Come Together” by The Beatles
This drum fill more like a fill that became the groove. The main theme in this Beatles classic is this one bar repeated with slight variations. The verse groove kicks in with a strong tom groove that’s more simplified with accents on the downbeats and plenty of space for the vocals to be featured.
“Rock and Roll” by Led Zeppelin
The intro to the song is this fill. It’s actually John Bonham playing a Johnny B Good style guitar intro on the snare and hi hats. Since the song is titled Rock and Roll, this is a fitting musical choice. Defining the accented and unaccented notes is the key to playing it well.
“In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins
I think this is probably the most air drummed fill of all time. The drum set doesn’t even come in until 3:41 in the song. But by the time it does, the one-bar drum fill is the biggest thing happening in the song. Like any of these fill examples, you would have to play this fill like Phil Collins did because that’s the song. That’s the drum fill everyone knows and expects to hear.
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana
Nirvana was the biggest band in the Nineties, and this drum fill kicked off the song that started it for them. Dave Grohl is the epitome of the rock ’n’ roll attitude with a touch of a sophisticated modern, articulate, artist. His drumming may seem simple, but it’s iconic and compositional.
The fat flams and balance of kick snare and slightly open hi hats are well conceived and executed. Luckily, this album had legendary mixer Andy Wallace to make these drums sound like a garageband’s dream of playing a stadium tour.
“Iron Man” by Black Sabbath
Bill Ward is one of the drummers who created modern heavy metal drumming. In this classic song, his fills are thematic and improvised. This means that he plays fills that follow certain phrasing ideas, yet there is some room for interpretation in a live setting. Just don’t stray from the vibe of the original song or you risk sounding like a hack.
The fill written below is one of the many fills that I would definitely play as Bill Ward recorded on the original tracks. The snare drum accents support the guitar riff movement while the fill still claims musical space, especially toward the ends of phrases.
What’s the Best fill?
Beyond compositional fills like the examples above, the best drum fill is the one that makes the song better. This could be because the fill marks phrases, clarifies the timing of the groove so that the band can play together, or simple fills that live within the groove. More on the last one later.
Drum fills that set up ensemble figures lead into the downbeat before the band plays the hit. For example, if the ensemble comes in together on the and of beat 1, the fill leads into a clear stop on beat 1. If the band comes in on beat 1, the fill plays a clear accent on beat 4 of the previous measure.
These are not rules for all ensembles. Smaller ensembles generally do not need this approach to phrasing the fills. Plus, these are guidelines. Sometimes the song sounds better without a fill before ensemble figures.
Here’s a few examples of filling to set up ensemble figures. Notice that the examples include what the chart may look like and a proper drum fill to set up the band.
Check out this article for a lesson on reading drum and rhythm charts.
What’s the Worst Fill?
The worst drum fill is unmusical. It doesn’t support the song and likely takes away from an important part, like vocals or lead instruments.
Drum fills that take away from the song are often too loud, too busy, in the wrong place, or the wrong instrument choices. These issues are not hard to avoid if you listen well and play fills to serve the music.
Tips to Avoid the Worst Drum Fill
- Busy fills can cover vocals. Simple fills work better at the end of phrases with lead lines or critical lyrics performed through the transition to the next section. If you can hear clarity in those lead lines, you’re probably playing an acceptable fill.
- Don’t think about the fill too much. If you are thinking about the fill and getting excited for how awesome it will sound, it’s probably a bad musical decision. Great players listen to the overall song and respond and speak through their instrument without overplanning.
- Use dynamics that make sense for the musical phrase. Drummers who can play the right volume for each part of the song will get a lot of work. It’s very sophomoric to play drum fills that are too loud for the music. Sometimes the dynamic contrast makes sense compositionally, so it’s not like you have to match the dynamic every time.
- Balance your cymbals and drums. Drums are often the go-to instrument choice for a fill, but great players don’t always see it that way. Hi hats and splash cymbals are excellent choices for mixing up the timbres for your fills. Incorporating the cymbals helps to make smooth transitions from the groove to the fill and back to the groove.
Do Fills Change As Styles Change?
Think about what establishes a distinct style of music. It’s often common rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic themes. For example, a lot of Latin music styles follow clave patterns. It’s important to know the variations on those patterns as well as the relationship that other rhythmic and melodic themes have with clave.
Let’s talk about a few more examples.
Double bass drum fills often don’t work with bebop tunes. I’m not saying that it never works, but it’s unlikely that you’ll hear it. These fills work great for heavy metal, of course, or tastefully placed, like to support cymbal rolls at the end almost any song, any style of music.
Pop / rock fills are often downbeat oriented, while jazz and funk fills hang around the upbeats. These aren’t rules, but it’s generally what you’ll hear. And listening is the best way to learn about the style-specific rhythms.
Is Simple Better Than Complex?
The simplicity versus complexity question is best answered in relation to the song. If you’re playing a country ballad, most of the time, the Mike Portnoy rip around the kit for a measure is often not the best choice. But if it’s a song like you would hear from a band like Dream Theater, that blast around the kit will probably work often because it honors the style of music.
Exercises for Developing Drum Fills
Practicing is the best way to develop fluency of movement around your instrument. When your muscles can respond to the music without hesitation, your ideas can flow freely from your instrument. This makes playing fills more second nature.
The following exercises are a mixture of movement concepts and examples. Try your own variations on the exercises. Experiment with different rhythms and instrument choices.
Drum Fills for Beginners
These exercises are good for practicing the transition from one drum to another. Remember to practice with a metronome because it’s within these transitions that a lot of drummers speed up or slow down. Think of drum fills as needing to groove, too.
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Linear Drum Fills
Although linear fills can be really fun, it’s not often that they fit in a song. Maybe linear fills fit in a big moment in the song or during a cadenza, but most of this development helps with coordinating your muscles to respond to your ideas fluently.
Drum Fills in the Groove
I love drum fills within the groove because they don’t mess up a good flow. Drum fills shouldn’t mess up the timing of the groove, and can be thought of as part of the groove. In those cases, try some of the examples below, or ones like them.
Applying Rudiments to Your Fills
Steve Gadd’s fills in between the ensemble figures on “Aja” include a lot of linear voicings and drum rudiments. The rudiments applied around the drum set add a level of rhythmic musicality that breaks up the linear patterns in tasteful ways. Most importantly, the sticking patterns of the rudiments can set you up for drums and cymbal choices that you may not otherwise explore.
Paradiddle Drums Fills
Paradiddles are the ultimate sticking combination that train your brain to change hands quickly and musically. Whether you’re playing single paradiddles, double paradiddles, or paradiddle-diddles, the balance of diddles sustaining the drum sound, single strokes switching instruments smoothly, and the accents versus unaccented notes provide many possibilities for your musical ideas.
Flams
Splitting up the grace notes and primary strokes around the drum set adds a thickness that changes the power of the fill. Whether you’re splitting strokes up among the drums or between drums and cymbals, the seemingly light grace note adds a lot more to the sound and feel.
Rolls
Drum rolls are useful for so many reasons. They are our sustain on the drums. We can use them to define articulations ao our drum fills can be musical and deliberate. Otherwise, we’re just hitting stuff and the stereotype of the non-musical drummer will be reinforced.
Final Thoughts
Drum fills can make or break the groove and the song. Practice your movement around the instrument to the point that you can execute your ideas fluently, without thinking long about them. The ultimate goal is to respond to the music and serve it, not showcase our hot licks.