The fills in this lesson are all based on a Single Stroke 7. The fill is a pretty simple orchestration using the hi hat and two accented snares. Throughout this lesson you will learn the straight fill as well as ideas for varying it.
Lesson Contents
Single Stroke 7 Fill 2
The half bar seven stroke roll fill looks like this:
Fill 2
TASK
- Spend time getting this fill up to a tempo of at least 90bpm.
Adding Groove
Now fill up the rest of the bar up with groove. It doesn't matter what groove you use as long as it's only half a bars worth. Below are a couple of examples. Because of the nature of the fill, the snares are written in voice 1 for the second half of the bar. You could also add a kick on beat 3.
Grooved Version 1
Grooved Version 2
Grooved Version 3
A half time version
TASK
- Spend time getting these patterns up to a tempo of at least 90bpm.
Ideas For Adding Feet
Listed below are some ideas for adding feet to the fill. The groove has been excluded again in these examples, create your own patterns to complete the bar. Note that no hi hats have been used on the feet because the hands are using them also.
Foot Variation 1
Here you are using crotchets on the kick.
Foot Variation 2
We have a similar idea here but using eighth notes instead. Adding the extra eighth note at the end after the quarter note snare hit helps bring the next bar back in time, particularly when you are playing at slower tempos.
Foot Variation 3
In this example you are highlighting the accents with a kick drum.
Foot Variation 4
Finally, just play a kick at the start of the fill then again on the '+' after beat 4.
TASK
- Spend time getting these patterns up to a tempo of at least 90bpm.
Extending To A Full Bar
In these fills the last half of the bar will be the original fill and the first half turns it into a full bar fill using various ideas. Three versions of this idea are listed below.
Full Bar Variation 1
Here you are starting with a pattern following a sixteen beat type groove.
Full Bar Variation 2
In this fill you play a slightly altered version of the sextuplets from the single stroke 7 three times before hitting the quarter note. Technically this could be described as a 19 stroke roll.
Full Bar Variation 3
For this fill you start by playing notes around the toms followed by the original fill. This creates a nice contrast between the two halves of the bar.
TASK
- Spend time getting these patterns up to a tempo of at least 90bpm.
Example Piece
The short piece below includes various versions of the fill combined with different grooves. The sticking has been excluded in each fill so remember to use the single stroke 7.
