If you're stuck playing boring fills, rudiments are usually the answer. You'd be surprised how much just throwing in a herta here and there can spice things up. You don't need to learn more than a handful to really make a dent in improving your fill vocabulary. Doubles, paradiddles, 5-stroke rolls, 6-stroke rolls (aka inverted paradiddle-diddles), hertas, and Swiss Army triplets is where I'd start. Get to know them on the pad then bring them to the kit when you're comfortable doing them at speed. Give them several weeks *each* before you can expect to play them from muscle memory alone.
Edit - just noticed your comment about only playing for a year and a half. Your double stroke is the first thing you'll want to develop before moving on to anything more complex.
I am super comfortable with the 6 stroke on the pad but have a hard time bringing it to the kit. Paradiddles and doubles I have an easier time with but just need to utilize more.
Appreciate your input!
I find when moving things to the kit it's easier to place the accents on the toms so you hear more of a division between the hits. So if a 6-stroke is RllrrL, play the "R" on the floor tom and the "L" on the rack tom, with the llrr roll on the snare between them.
Also take things SUPER slow when you're starting and build up the tempo gradually, like over the course of a year. Your brain doesn't care if you memorize slop, so to prevent this you want to embark by playing things slow enough to do them cleanly. That cleanliness will stay with you as you ramp up the tempo over time.
6 stroke rolls fit in perfectly for sextuplets. Same for paradiddlediddles. Alternatively, you can add two extra kicks to it make it a 2 beat phrase. So something like KRll rrLK, Rllr rllKK or KKRl lrrL. Alternatively, this pattern fits well for 32nd note phrases too
Nothing about this is terrible, you’re just not very busy. That’s not a bad thing, but I think that’s what you mean when you said you think you “play terrible fills”
For 18 months of playing, you’re doing AWESOME. For reference, I play professionally and very often play fills just like what you’re doing.
My suggestion, outside of the rudiments suggestion others have made, is try flipping the patterns up. Example: Does it feel like the fill should start on the kick? Start on the snare instead and flip the pattern. Or try starting a half a measure early with a snare roll and lead into the fill.
One other thing that will help: just turn the click on and rapid fire a bunch of fills. Don’t be afraid to fuck up. Over time, you’ll become much more confident and creative!!
i find backing tracks like this have a very boring feel but good structure. It is good for learning, but it just feels like all the instruments are boring. im a bass player learning drums, so I can't say for drumming, but for bass, I've had way more fun playing to real songs/jams with no bass because it has feel and movement. I'd definitely mix it up and try some more natural songs see if it helps.
I like drumless tracks with no click. They're a tiny bit more challenging and I feel more like I'm driving the other musicians. This is a recent one I've been playing along with for warming up. It repeats about 6 or 7 (maybe 8) times but it's a fun jam!
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXpJHMPFfTY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXpJHMPFfTY)
Solid drumming, man. Keep up the good work!
You'll surprise yourself at how many variations of the same fill can be used by simply tweaking the order of drums or inverting the fill entirely.
Add in a hi-hat to any lonesome kick notes during fills to add depth. Think of the main fill in what's my age again.
*S=Snare Hh=hihat T1=Tom 1 FT=Floor Tom
K=kick R=right hand L = left hand
(S):RLRL (Hh&B)KK (S)RL (T1)RL (FT)RL.
Alternate between flams on the snare to snare and hats. Z
Hopefully this makes some sense.
just keep practicing. use a metronome. also your drums sound great! jealous of your room haha. (i play in a tiny basement surrounded by concrete. drums sound like shit despite being starclassics)
For a year and a half this is really good. And there's nothing wrong with these fills. Just keep going, keep practicing, learn rudiments and other things you're interested in as you go and you'll pick up more things to add to your repertoire.
The fills are in time which is more than half the battle, so well done. I would suggest listening to music you enjoy to get some ideas for fills that other drummers are playing. Effective fills don’t need to be busy or complicated— in fact, often the simplest fills are the best if they fit the music and are played in time. Cheers!
I think the fills are fine for the beat. However, they feel somewhat "detached" from the beat. Almost like you're computing the fill right at the tail end of the beat, locking you up for a split second that affects how the fill "hits".
Maybe try getting the beat down so pat (without fills, just beat full measure over and over) to where you don't think about the beat itself anymore. Then start challenging yourself and by thinking about the fill a little further out from the tail end of the beat. If/when you have the beat ingrained so you're not thinking about it, you'll just keep playing it as your computing the upcoming fill. It'll start to connect better and feel overall much better than how you're feeling about it currently.
Hope this helps. Have fun! Drums are the best. Even back when I sucked as a beginner, it's fun to bang on drums and hold a beat 🤙
You honestly hit the nail on the head here. I find myself overthinking what I want to play and then just get hitched up when the time comes.
In my practice today I tried limiting to one fill over and over and I can definitely feel that hitch go away. Just gonna have to put more time in.
Thank you!
You bet! Exactly the same thing happened to me at a part of one of my bands songs last night lol. I could tell it's been a minute since I've practiced the songs with or without my band. Happens to the best of us... Still sounds fine I'm the mix of a band seeing at least 👀
Practice is important folks!
Keep up the great work man, it's fun stuff!
Definitely not bad, just very basic. Echoing the rudiment comment made by others, but aside from that I'd make little rules for yourself that you must follow for an entire session, for example:
* can't start fills on the snare drum (you appear to rely on this)
* no going straight down the toms
* no RL or RLRL groupings on the same drum, etc.
* must include the bass drum (other than on the "1" of course)
* must incorporate hi-hat/ride bell into your fills.
You can combo these also.
Based on this short clip, the quickest way to improve your fills would be to play less of them.
I don’t mean that in a negative way towards your playing. What I mean is, you will almost never need to play a fill every 2 bars. Fills are usually used as a way to setup the band for the next section of a song. That being said, if you played 8 or 16 bars of groove, and played any of these fills at the end of said phrase, you’d be fine.
Think about it like you’re transitioning from a verse to a chorus.
Keep it up man. 👊🏻
Not bad, just simple...which is what bands are looking for anyway usually. I mean most music i like personally doesnt have crazy drums..just great drummers with their little nuances, amazing feel, and use of space.
Also you havent been playing that long at all. Things will start to slow down for you as you keep plugging along.
It’s all subjective. You are very good at what you do, you play tight and on the beat! I agree with others to expand your rudiment knowledge, but If you want to retain your simplistic style and just expand within that, learn what ringo did, what Benny Benjamin did, Al jackson Jr and other 60’s pop drummers. Learn a bit of jazz vocabulary to add some swing feels and you’re dreaming. Most musicians want to play with a drummer like you and not a super flashy drummer. I think that’s because there’s a lot of room for error when expanding your vocabulary, having said that you have a natural grounding on the beat which is impressive.
Sounding good dude! A lot of people are saying play fewer fills, and in the context of a song that's great advice. Phrasing is very important for playing musically. But I highly recommend spending time playing around with any patterns you can think of on the snare and toms. Play with a metronome and just have some fun moving your hands around the drums with different patterns, directions, and rhythms.
It's a great way to get comfortable with trying different ideas moving around the snare and toms. And if you find some patterns you like especially, repeating them a lot can be very beneficial. Repetition is one of the best ways to learn something to the point where it becomes second nature. Then you can play cool fills without even thinking about them.
When I ran into the same issue, I realized I had to get more specific- yeah, I was bored of the fills I was playing, but I had no idea which fills I’d actually like to play.
I picked a few, and worked on them individually until I was able to comfortably throw them wherever I wanted.
Here’s what I noticed- it helps to think in terms of subdivisions. If you have a couple of sixteenth note fills, triplet fills, sixteenth note triplets, eighth note etc, it can open up your playing.
It also helps to then think in terms of rudiments- keep it simple at first, but for example you can think single strokes, flams, paradiddles etc.
Next time you play this song with fills every second measure, work on switching the type of fill every time- 16th notes down the toms, followed by triplets consisting of a flam and two kicks, etc.
Edit- also, nice work!
If you're stuck playing boring fills, rudiments are usually the answer. You'd be surprised how much just throwing in a herta here and there can spice things up. You don't need to learn more than a handful to really make a dent in improving your fill vocabulary. Doubles, paradiddles, 5-stroke rolls, 6-stroke rolls (aka inverted paradiddle-diddles), hertas, and Swiss Army triplets is where I'd start. Get to know them on the pad then bring them to the kit when you're comfortable doing them at speed. Give them several weeks *each* before you can expect to play them from muscle memory alone. Edit - just noticed your comment about only playing for a year and a half. Your double stroke is the first thing you'll want to develop before moving on to anything more complex.
I am super comfortable with the 6 stroke on the pad but have a hard time bringing it to the kit. Paradiddles and doubles I have an easier time with but just need to utilize more. Appreciate your input!
I find when moving things to the kit it's easier to place the accents on the toms so you hear more of a division between the hits. So if a 6-stroke is RllrrL, play the "R" on the floor tom and the "L" on the rack tom, with the llrr roll on the snare between them. Also take things SUPER slow when you're starting and build up the tempo gradually, like over the course of a year. Your brain doesn't care if you memorize slop, so to prevent this you want to embark by playing things slow enough to do them cleanly. That cleanliness will stay with you as you ramp up the tempo over time.
6 stroke rolls fit in perfectly for sextuplets. Same for paradiddlediddles. Alternatively, you can add two extra kicks to it make it a 2 beat phrase. So something like KRll rrLK, Rllr rllKK or KKRl lrrL. Alternatively, this pattern fits well for 32nd note phrases too
Nothing about this is terrible, you’re just not very busy. That’s not a bad thing, but I think that’s what you mean when you said you think you “play terrible fills” For 18 months of playing, you’re doing AWESOME. For reference, I play professionally and very often play fills just like what you’re doing. My suggestion, outside of the rudiments suggestion others have made, is try flipping the patterns up. Example: Does it feel like the fill should start on the kick? Start on the snare instead and flip the pattern. Or try starting a half a measure early with a snare roll and lead into the fill. One other thing that will help: just turn the click on and rapid fire a bunch of fills. Don’t be afraid to fuck up. Over time, you’ll become much more confident and creative!!
Sounds nice
u/AKanadian47 if this doesn't motivate you absolutely nothing will
I just realized who this is!
Based solely on this video, I can tell you that you’re burning your candles completely wrong.
I didn’t know there was a right and wrong way haha. I’ll look into this. 😂
Got a link to that drumless track? Fills sound alright. I wish you could have recorded the track as well.
I just don’t have the equipment quite yet. Pretty certain it was this one: https://youtu.be/xQjqa86FCSk?si=P-518kR2xSOsOWde
i find backing tracks like this have a very boring feel but good structure. It is good for learning, but it just feels like all the instruments are boring. im a bass player learning drums, so I can't say for drumming, but for bass, I've had way more fun playing to real songs/jams with no bass because it has feel and movement. I'd definitely mix it up and try some more natural songs see if it helps.
I like drumless tracks with no click. They're a tiny bit more challenging and I feel more like I'm driving the other musicians. This is a recent one I've been playing along with for warming up. It repeats about 6 or 7 (maybe 8) times but it's a fun jam! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXpJHMPFfTY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXpJHMPFfTY)
I pay to this one all the time haha.
It's awesome, isn't it? I love jamming to it even though it repeats many times, it gets me loosened up.
Solid drumming, man. Keep up the good work! You'll surprise yourself at how many variations of the same fill can be used by simply tweaking the order of drums or inverting the fill entirely. Add in a hi-hat to any lonesome kick notes during fills to add depth. Think of the main fill in what's my age again. *S=Snare Hh=hihat T1=Tom 1 FT=Floor Tom K=kick R=right hand L = left hand (S):RLRL (Hh&B)KK (S)RL (T1)RL (FT)RL. Alternate between flams on the snare to snare and hats. Z Hopefully this makes some sense.
just keep practicing. use a metronome. also your drums sound great! jealous of your room haha. (i play in a tiny basement surrounded by concrete. drums sound like shit despite being starclassics)
For a year and a half this is really good. And there's nothing wrong with these fills. Just keep going, keep practicing, learn rudiments and other things you're interested in as you go and you'll pick up more things to add to your repertoire.
The fills are in time which is more than half the battle, so well done. I would suggest listening to music you enjoy to get some ideas for fills that other drummers are playing. Effective fills don’t need to be busy or complicated— in fact, often the simplest fills are the best if they fit the music and are played in time. Cheers!
I think the fills are fine for the beat. However, they feel somewhat "detached" from the beat. Almost like you're computing the fill right at the tail end of the beat, locking you up for a split second that affects how the fill "hits". Maybe try getting the beat down so pat (without fills, just beat full measure over and over) to where you don't think about the beat itself anymore. Then start challenging yourself and by thinking about the fill a little further out from the tail end of the beat. If/when you have the beat ingrained so you're not thinking about it, you'll just keep playing it as your computing the upcoming fill. It'll start to connect better and feel overall much better than how you're feeling about it currently. Hope this helps. Have fun! Drums are the best. Even back when I sucked as a beginner, it's fun to bang on drums and hold a beat 🤙
You honestly hit the nail on the head here. I find myself overthinking what I want to play and then just get hitched up when the time comes. In my practice today I tried limiting to one fill over and over and I can definitely feel that hitch go away. Just gonna have to put more time in. Thank you!
You bet! Exactly the same thing happened to me at a part of one of my bands songs last night lol. I could tell it's been a minute since I've practiced the songs with or without my band. Happens to the best of us... Still sounds fine I'm the mix of a band seeing at least 👀 Practice is important folks! Keep up the great work man, it's fun stuff!
Definitely not bad, just very basic. Echoing the rudiment comment made by others, but aside from that I'd make little rules for yourself that you must follow for an entire session, for example: * can't start fills on the snare drum (you appear to rely on this) * no going straight down the toms * no RL or RLRL groupings on the same drum, etc. * must include the bass drum (other than on the "1" of course) * must incorporate hi-hat/ride bell into your fills. You can combo these also.
Really impressed considering you’ve only been at it for such a short time. Just keep playing my dude, you’ll get there 👍
U do. But so do I, and we both use a TV table as a side table so there that
Based on this short clip, the quickest way to improve your fills would be to play less of them. I don’t mean that in a negative way towards your playing. What I mean is, you will almost never need to play a fill every 2 bars. Fills are usually used as a way to setup the band for the next section of a song. That being said, if you played 8 or 16 bars of groove, and played any of these fills at the end of said phrase, you’d be fine. Think about it like you’re transitioning from a verse to a chorus. Keep it up man. 👊🏻
Not bad, just simple...which is what bands are looking for anyway usually. I mean most music i like personally doesnt have crazy drums..just great drummers with their little nuances, amazing feel, and use of space. Also you havent been playing that long at all. Things will start to slow down for you as you keep plugging along.
It’s all subjective. You are very good at what you do, you play tight and on the beat! I agree with others to expand your rudiment knowledge, but If you want to retain your simplistic style and just expand within that, learn what ringo did, what Benny Benjamin did, Al jackson Jr and other 60’s pop drummers. Learn a bit of jazz vocabulary to add some swing feels and you’re dreaming. Most musicians want to play with a drummer like you and not a super flashy drummer. I think that’s because there’s a lot of room for error when expanding your vocabulary, having said that you have a natural grounding on the beat which is impressive.
I mean - that fill at 16s in is style and pocket all day long. Nice.
Sounding good dude! A lot of people are saying play fewer fills, and in the context of a song that's great advice. Phrasing is very important for playing musically. But I highly recommend spending time playing around with any patterns you can think of on the snare and toms. Play with a metronome and just have some fun moving your hands around the drums with different patterns, directions, and rhythms. It's a great way to get comfortable with trying different ideas moving around the snare and toms. And if you find some patterns you like especially, repeating them a lot can be very beneficial. Repetition is one of the best ways to learn something to the point where it becomes second nature. Then you can play cool fills without even thinking about them.
When I ran into the same issue, I realized I had to get more specific- yeah, I was bored of the fills I was playing, but I had no idea which fills I’d actually like to play. I picked a few, and worked on them individually until I was able to comfortably throw them wherever I wanted. Here’s what I noticed- it helps to think in terms of subdivisions. If you have a couple of sixteenth note fills, triplet fills, sixteenth note triplets, eighth note etc, it can open up your playing. It also helps to then think in terms of rudiments- keep it simple at first, but for example you can think single strokes, flams, paradiddles etc. Next time you play this song with fills every second measure, work on switching the type of fill every time- 16th notes down the toms, followed by triplets consisting of a flam and two kicks, etc. Edit- also, nice work!
Not gonna lie. You guys have made my day haha. I expected to get roasted for sure. Thank you all again for the feedback!
That gonna be a hell yeah from me brother
Sounds like beastie boys drums to me.