3 Easy Fills That Sound Hard

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Are you an ‘experienced beginner‘ or intermediate drummer looking to add some more complex-sounding vocabulary to your arsenal? This is the lesson for you.

In just 10 minutes, you’ll learn three drum fills that are actually really easy, but sound difficult.

Since drumming is mostly a combination of single strokes and double strokes – just changing where you place them – the sky’s the limit when it comes to writing and playing fills. These ones help build skills with your left hand leading, and involve odd groupings of 3s, 5s, and 7s translated to 16ths.

Don’t forget to experiment with these combinations around the kit in whatever order sounds or feels good to you. Start slowly and then try them out at higher tempos.

1. Groups of 3 as 16th notes

You’re probably familiar with the basic LRR pattern. If you change the grouping and separate them into 16th notes, LRR LRR LRR LRR LRR becomes LRRL RRLR RLRR LRRL (with an extra L at the end to resolve the phrase).

2. Groups of 5 as 16th notes

LRLRR LRLRR LRLRR L becomes LRLR RLRL RRLR LRRL.

3. Groups of 7 as 16th notes

LRLRLRR LRLRLRR LL becomes LRLR LRRL RLRL RRLL.

Once you’ve got the patterns down, get them up to speed. If you’re having trouble with playing faster fills, check out this free course where you’ll get 10 days of game-changing video lessons!

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Jared Falk is a lifelong drummer, drum teacher, and the co-founder of Drumeo. For over 18 years, Jared has been a leader in the online music education industry, publishing his first online video lessons in 2003 and founding Musora in 2005.