Opening up a stock fill phrase I use with my students, reading, as ever, from Syncopation. A couple of easy moves for not being so barline oriented. This has a pretty energetic feel, with a lot of cymbal activity, a lot of movement with the hands.
The phrase is: one measure groove | one measure fill.
The groove is a half time feel funk groove, with the snare drum on beat 3, quarter notes on the cymbal.
The fill is the book rhythm played on the cymbal, supported by the bass drum in unison, filling in the spaces with the snare drum, to make running 8th notes. It’s such a basic thing I don’t think I’ve ever even written about it by itself.
And the source rhythm for each phrase is any two measures from pp. 38-45 of Syncopation. The examples below are all from p. 38.
You can see we are adding a left hand on the & of beats 4/1 of the first measure, in effect starting the fill a little early, or extending it across the barline. Whether you play it on the snare drum or the cymbal depends on the context.
Do the crash portion on two cymbals, whichever ones are easiest for each hand to reach. I suggest playing with one of my practice loops, and making them sound as much like music as you can.
I am happy to help you with any of the materials on the site, and with anything else drumming related— contact me for private lessons, online world wide, or in person in Portland, Oregon. All levels of players, and all people, are welcome.
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