Tasodrums
What are fills
Fills (fill-ins) are short rhythms played between grooves, and they're a big part of drumming. A fill's main job is to tell the rest of the band that a new section of the song is coming, or to highlight certain spots, but fills are also used to add more variety to drum parts. There are countless possible fills, which is why coming up with your own can feel hard, especially for a beginner. In this post we'll go over a way to create new fills easily from ready-made concepts.
What makes a good or bad fill
Before we start coming up with new fills, I have to say that not every fill fits everywhere. So we can't just come up with 10 fills and use them in every situation. A good fill is simply one that creates the feel you want in the spot where you play it. It doesn't mess up the structure of the song, doesn't feel out of place, and doesn't cover up other instruments by accident. For example, a fill leading into a chorus usually lifts the energy. In pop, fills are often short, while in metal people often play fast notes really loud.
A bad fill, of course, is the opposite. A fill that's the wrong length or has an unsuitable structure, in the wrong spot, and doesn't bring anything the song needs.
A good fill that fits the groove around it
A bad fill that doesn't fit
How to come up with an endless supply of fills
Next, let's go through the steps you can follow to come up with new fills easily.
1. Listen to the song
Like we went over earlier, the main thing to remember is that a fill always has a job. So the first thing you have to think about is a fill that suits the feel of the song. If there's no song and you're just playing drums by yourself for fun, the same thing works when you listen to your own playing: think about what kind of fill could fit this groove.
Is the song calm or energetic? Do you need a lot of notes or just a few? Do you want a big, loud fill or a small, almost unnoticeable one?
2. Fill length
The next step is to think about how long the fill could be. Here are examples of fills played on the snare, ranging from a whole bar down to just one eighth note.
- A whole bar (beats 1,2,3,4)
- Half a bar (beats 3 and 4)
- One beat (4)
- One eighth note (4 &)
3. Notes
Once you've decided on the length of the fill, it's time to come up with rhythms, or in other words, which notes are in the fill.
The easiest way to start coming up with ideas is to begin with just the snare drum and come up with as many different rhythms as you can for the length you picked.
Let's use half-bar fills as an example, since they're very common. You can do this exercise without drums too, by clapping your hands or hitting your sticks together. Think of a rhythm and try to play it.
Note: Remember stickings
You can play the same rhythm in lots of different ways. A handy way to get more options is to remember that you don't always have to play rhythms RIGHT-LEFT-RIGHT-LEFT. This helps in the next step, because you can move between drums more easily depending on the stickings you've come up with.
Let's use the second bar from the previous section as an example. R = right hand, L = left hand.
4. Orchestration
Let's keep going with the same rhythm.
Next, we move the rhythm from the snare drum to the other drums. (Of course, you don't have to. A fill can work fine even if you play nothing but the snare.)
The challenge with orchestration is that the whole drum kit gives you a huge number of options. It's hard to decide which drum to start on and where to go next. It's also sometimes hard to tell what sounds good and what doesn't. There are simply too many options.
If all those options feel overwhelming, go one note at a time: What if I start the fill on the snare? Or what if I start on the rack tom? What's the next note? And so on. That way you don't have to come up with the whole fill at once, you can go one stroke at a time.
See how many different fills you can make from just one rhythm, even one this simple.
Your own go-to moves help you get started
One really effective way to come up with your own fills is to develop a few go-to moves, meaning the same short rhythms or combinations that work as fill starters.
This could be, for example, a simple Flam + bass drum, followed by notes that change. That way it's easy to get going, and it doesn't feel like you have to come up with a completely new fill every time.
Another go-to move could be, say, rack tom and snare.
Watch the video for more ideas
This video goes through a similar process, and it also gives you a clear picture of what coming up with fills can look like in practice. You can grab some good-sounding rhythms for your own fills while you're at it. In this video the starting point is a sticking, which is also a good way to begin.
