3 Drum Fills for Beginners: Play the Fill and Return to the Beat

A drum fill changes the repeating groove for a short passage. For your first fills, use a simple snare pattern and pay attention to where the groove returns.

These three exercises use alternating sixteenth notes. You will begin with one beat of fill, extend it to two beats, then try a full bar. Each version keeps the same four-beat bar length.

Open the one-beat fill at 60 BPM and listen to the complete phrase before playing.

Know where the fill fits

In these exercises, you play three bars of groove. The fourth bar contains the fill. Count through all four bars so you know where you are:

Bar 1:  1 2 3 4
Bar 2:  1 2 3 4
Bar 3:  1 2 3 4
Bar 4:  1 2 3 4
Return: 1 ...

The fill replaces part or all of bar 4. Its start moves earlier as its length increases. The return always arrives on the next 1.

Fill 1: four snare strokes on beat 4

Play the normal groove through beats 1, 2 and 3 of the fourth bar. On beat 4, play:

Count:  4 e & a
Hands:  R L R L
Drum:   S S S S

S means snare. The next stroke belongs to beat 1 of the returning groove. Keep the space between the final a and that 1 equal to a sixteenth-note space.

Listen for the two common errors: beginning the fill on beat 3, or pausing after its last stroke. Say 4 e & a 1 aloud before trying it with the groove.

The player marks the return with crash and bass drum on 1. Treat those as one timed event.

Practice the one-beat fill.

Fill 2: eight snare strokes across beats 3 and 4

Keep the groove for the first two beats of bar 4. Begin the fill on beat 3:

Count:  3 e & a 4 e & a
Hands:  R L R L R L R L
Drum:   S S S S S S S S

Your hands use the same alternating motion as the first fill. You simply start one beat earlier.

Count 1, 2, 3 e & a, 4 e & a, 1. Make the start on 3 deliberate. If you lose track halfway through, return to the one-beat version and count the whole fourth bar.

Practice the two-beat fill.

Fill 3: a full bar of sixteenth notes

Replace all of bar 4 with sixteen alternating snare strokes:

Count:  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Hands:  R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L

Keep the numbered beats audible in your counting. Sixteen strokes can blur together when you focus only on the hands.

Begin at the tempo that worked for your short fill. If you need more time to follow four full beats of subdivisions, lower it. Longer fills add counting demands even when their individual strokes are familiar.

Practice the full-bar fill.

What the guided player does

The player gives four count-in clicks, then plays the groove-and-fill phrase twice. It finishes with a landing bar. You can select a groove, choose the fill length and change BPM.

The three examples here all use snare strokes. Moving them to toms is a later variation you can try at your kit; it is separate from this player’s snare exercise.

Fix the return before adding notes

If the first groove stroke after a fill feels late, practice the join alone: the final beat of the fill, then the first beat of the groove. Count it aloud several times.

If the fill rushes, listen to a full phrase without playing. Then play only the fill and its landing. Add the preceding groove once those positions feel clear.

Aim to complete the phrase several times with the same count and bar length. Playback completion tells you when the example ends; it does not assess your timing.

Use rhythm letters to see the fill length

Letter E puts four strokes inside one beat. A one-beat sixteenth-note fill uses one E-shaped timing unit. A two-beat fill uses two, and a full bar uses four.

The fill’s displayed R L R L hands tell you how to play those positions. Keep following the count to know where each E-shaped unit begins in the bar.

Practice the short fill again, or build your hand control with beginner rudiments.