Sorry I didn’t write much last week. Busy week.
My question for today has to do with whether you guys think fills should be consistent. By using the word “consistent” in reference to “fill,” I by no means intend to imply that your fills would ever be inconsistent in the sense of being sloppy in their execution or badly timed. I am instead wondering about whether or not the fills in a given tune (pop/rock tune, that is) should be the same in every performance of that song. For instance, it is generally expected that a rock drummer will be consistent with the GROOVES in a song (a certain groove for the verse, a certain groove for the chorus, etc). Every time you perform that song, the grooves should be the correctly played and correctly placed. But should the FILLS be that way too?
Many drummers in rock history have established themselves with “signature” fills… fills that function almost like a melodic hook in the song (e.g. Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” intro fill, or the standard Motown fill on “Ain’t To Proud To Beg”). But at the same time, most of my favorite drummers seem to regard fills as an improvising moment, playing different fills at every performance (John Bonham, Steve Jordan, Stewart Copeland, Manu Katche… to name a few).
I realized a few years ago that the “improvised” approach was my default approach when I played a short tour with a band that some of my friends are in called Pivitplex. I played on all the tracks from their 2006 release “The King In A Rookery,” and about a year later they were between drummers and called me for some subbing. I re-learned all my parts for the songs and showed up to the first gig and everything went great, except afterward the guitarist was commenting that I hadn’t played all the fills verbatim from the record. I was really surprised that he had expected me to – I certainly never planned on it. He wasn’t mad or anything, because I played fills that were in the same vein as the ones from the record, so everything sounded fine. But the fact that he was so familiar with the album, combined with the band requiring their previous drummer to learn the fills exactly, meant that he had all the album fills memorized and noticed when I didn’t do them exactly the same. It turns out that he defaults to a “do-the-same-fill-every-time” strategy, while I default to a “copy-key-fills-but-improvise-all-the-rest” approach.
I have since had a few gigs where I’ve needed to do the fills EXACTLY, and it’s hard. I guess it just challenges the memory a lot more. But then again, drummers who don’t usually improvise seem to find improvised fills to be difficult as well.
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October 6, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Evan Bremer
I’ve always been of the same default as you; many (if not most) fills I play are largely improvised, though centered around some idea or direction I want to communicate.
Grooves, at least at times, can be offered the same liberties (though, as you noted, to a lesser degree).
However, there are quite a few instances where (in my opinion) absolutely NO OTHER fill will work. An example in addition to the Nirvana one you brought up would be the intro to “I Love Rock and Roll” by Joan Jett. If you don’t play eight forte 16th notes on the snare drum, it just won’t sound right. I can’t think of a fill that I would rather hear introduce that song, nor even one that would work as well.
That said, I think it’s important to be able to do both when it’s appropriate. I’ve been asked on many occassions to play tunes exactly as they were recorded, and that may be the only way to get a gig. But, if there is any room for personal creativity, you should try to foster it and take advantage of that freedom.
October 8, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Richter
I don’t play very often, but when I do, I definitely don’t aim to play consistent fills every time. That being said, I probably do play consistent fills more often than I’d like. That’s because I tend to have an arsenal of fills in the bag and pull out the one I feel is appropriate for the particular musical moment. Every now and then, I might play a fill that I’ve never played before, but chances are it’ll come from my bag.
I suspect this is the approach of a lot of beginning or not-serious drummers. True?
I’ll often think of a fill I want to play, but won’t play it because I’m not confident that I can pull it off smoothly. If I could play everything I thought of, I’d be super awesome. That’s where practice comes in.
Word.
October 8, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Bill R
Not to be a “Yes Man” but I tend to agree. Some fills are so characteristic of a tune you just have to play them.
Think of one of your go-to records, Steve. Wallflower’s “One Headlight.” Could you play that tune without the tripping snare/hat fill coming back after the first chorus that Chamberlain does? Not possible. It has to be played.
Another that just came to me is the hi-hat roll and splash on Counting Crow’s “Round Here.” It’s coming out of the breakdown. Can’t play that tune without it.
Grooves create the feel of the song and are most important but some signature fills just can’t be denied. They become as important as the groove.
For the most part, unless it seems to me to be a “signature fill” I’ll do something similar or in the spirit of the original.
October 8, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Danny Warnock
My approach for a long time has been to be creative and try to keep mixing up the fills, discovering new ideas. But in the last year or so, especially at church, I’ve been trying to find the ‘best’ fill for each particular moment. And I’ve found that consistency has helped me play in the pocket much better.
And another result I never thought about (but should have). The other musicians, especially bassist could interact much better when they knew the majority of the fills I played on certain tunes. And everything clicked that much better.
I’m still open to new ideas in those spots, but now I rarely change it. And if I ever do mix it up from my norm, (and is a cool idea) then it’s that much more spontaneous for me and the other guys.
October 21, 2008 at 7:54 pm
david james
Steve. Love the blog keep it up.
I am all about being creative on the fly. Not only with drums, but other parts as well. I get bored if a given song is played the exact same way over and over again. Keep the spirit, the groove, if you will, but don’t be limited by what’s been recorded.