Drum fills Archives | Total Drummer

Mastering 9/8 Drum Fills: How to Create Flow and Groove in Odd Time

Mastering 9/8 Drum Fills: How to Create Flow and Groove in Odd Time Learn how to play nine eight drum fillsWhen it comes to playing in odd time signatures, many drummers find 9/8 to be one of the more intriguing and expressive grooves. While the time signature might seem complex at first glance, with the right approach, it opens the door to a world of creativity—especially when it comes to crafting drum fills. In this lesson, we’ll break down how to feel 9/8 time and how to confidently play fills that support the groove instead of disrupting it.What Is 9/8…

Seven Eight Drum Fills: How to Master Drum Fills in 7/8 Time

Seven Eight Drum Fills: How to Master Drum Fills in 7/8 Time Learn how to play seven eight drum fillsDrumming in odd time signatures can be one of the most exciting and challenging aspects of playing the drums. One particularly interesting time signature is seven eight (7/8). Unlike the familiar feel of 4/4, seven eight time pushes drummers to think outside their regular patterns and develop creative phrasing. That’s why the Seven Eight Drum Fills lesson at Total Drummer is an essential resource for anyone looking to master this unique rhythm.Understanding Seven Eight TimeIn the seven eight time signature, each…

The Polyrhythm Behind Phil Collins’ Most Famous Drum Fill

The Polyrhythm Behind Phil Collins' Most Famous Drum Fill Learn how to play a cool polyrhythmic fillThe Polyrhythm Behind Phil Collins' Most Famous Drum Fill. This drum lesson breaks down a cool polyrhythm fill. What is a polyrhythm?A polyrhythm is defined as, "the simultaneous use of two or more rhythms that are not easily perceived as derived from one another or as simple variations of the same meter. It creates a complex rhythmic texture by combining different rhythmic patterns together, often resulting in a feeling of tension or dissonance." When we use this in a drum fill context we can briefly create an…

The Coolest Drum Fill Ever?

The Coolest Drum Fill Ever? Learn how to play a really exciting drum fill Is This The Coolest Drum Fill Ever? Could this be the coolest drum fill ever? Is it even possible to have a coolest drum fill ever? Surely it's subjective!Well I agree but this is a really cool drum fill in my opinion. It could even be considered a drum beat instead of a drum fill but I would always use this as a drum fill rather than a repeating pattern to form a groove.This type of fill is heavily influenced by Steve Gadd. He used this…

EASY Linear Drum Fills Using The Hi hat

EASY Linear Drum Fills Using The Hi-hat Learn how to play awesome linear drum fillsWelcome to this drum lesson where we will learn to play easy linear drum fills using the hi-hat.Linear fills involve playing one thing at a time...never layering up different limbs. We often use the snare and toms in a fill, and sometimes we even use the bass drum, but we often leave the hi-hat out of it. That means that when we do incorporate the hi-hat in fills, it sounds really interesting and unusual.In this drum lesson we will learn some simple phrasing and then develop it…

Blushda Drum Fills

Blushda Drum Fills Learn how to use the blushda in drum fills This Is The Blushda Drum Fills Lesson Welcome to the blushda drum fills lesson. Here we will learn how to use a blushda in drum fills.What is a blushda?A blushda is a rudiment that has become popular since the likes of Vinnie Colaiuta, Tony Williams and many more since, have wowed drummers with it as they tried to figure out what was being played.It's not particularly difficult so we're going to break it down and develop lots of ways that we can use it to spice up our…

Flam and Drag Drum Fills

Flam and Drag Drum Fills Learn how to use flams and drags in drum fills This Is The Flam and Drag Drum Fills Lesson Welcome to the flam and drag drum fills lesson. Here we will explore drum fills using these two common rudiments.Flams and drags are two of our core rudiments. When played on the snare they can sound very military, which harks back towards their origins. But they are really useable rudiments to spice up our beats and fills on the drum kit.In this drum lesson we break down how to execute the core rudiments properly. We then…

6 Stroke Roll Drum Fills

6 Stroke Roll Drum Fills Learn how to use six stroke rolls in drum fills This Is The 6 Stroke Roll Drum Fills Lesson Welcome to the 6 stroke roll drum fills lesson. Here we will learn how to use six stroke rolls in drum fills.Recently we looked at the 5 stroke roll and how we can use it to be creative on the drums. In this lesson we will progress this on to the six stroke roll. This is a great rudiment which lends itself well to 16th note triplets due to the nature of having six notes.So we…

5 Stroke Roll Drum Fills

5 Stroke Roll Drum Fills Learn how to use a five stroke roll to create fun drum fills This Is The 5 Stroke Roll Drum Fills Lesson Welcome to the 5 stroke roll drum fills lesson. Here we will learn how to use five stroke rolls in creative ways. You are probably familiar with a five stroke roll but just to be sure; It consists of five notes played as: r r l l R and then reverse the sticking to play l l r r L Those last single notes are accents and the first four notes are played…

Polyrhythmic Fills

Polyrhythmic Fills Learn how to use polyrhythms in drum fills This Is The Polyrhythmic Fills Lesson Welcome to this polyrhythmic fills lesson. We will learn how to use polyrhythms in drum fills. Previously we looked at the basics of polyrhythms, polyrhythm snares in grooves, and polyrhythm bass drum in grooves.So now let's explore some options with polyrhythmic drum fills. Using polyrhythm in fills instantly makes them sound interesting and more advanced. It adds an extra layer of rhythmic sophistication that can feel like you're taking the music somewhere different. Usually we will only use this technique briefly before returning to…