drum fills

[drummergurl]

     Hey, my name is Shameka and I have been playing since March of 2005.  I do not know how to do a drum fill perfectly.  I need some help, so if anybody on here knows how, please help.

[Smelly_granny]

Hey,

Well, what type of fill are you thinking of? A fill is basicly doing something that is different to the original beat in a set space of time.

That opens up a load of different things to do, that could even include just doing nothing!

So what are you trying to do?

Im guessing you mean a roll down the drums (thats a common fill that sounds good and everyone like hearing/doing it). Thats starting from the snare and moving to the high tom, the low tom and then the floor tom (if you have that set up).

Do you mean that? Tell me if you didnt understand any bit of that  

[drummergurl]

i understood it. i just wanted to know how to do a drum fill. my set up is snare, two toms, floor tom and bass.  i play at my church and the type of music is gospel. i don't know exactly what type of music it is. so if you can help by the description, please do.

[Smelly_granny]

Thats what i mean...you ask "how do i do a fill", but thats almost like asking "what should i drink", becuase its up to you. Thats why in a lot of drum transcriptions, there will just be the word "fill" in the bar, and it leaves you make your own choice as to what fill to use.

First you say your playing gospel, and then you say you dont know what type of music it is...have you listened to it? You cant even begin to play with music if you dont know what it sounds like.

The only things i can suggest is, listen to some records of gospel with drums in it, and see what they use as fills. Watch videos etc to get an idea.

But really, the idea is to make up fills as to what the rest of the music is doing. Follow the music.

Or, another idea: Just play along with a normal beat. As you get to know the music, you will get more confident and naturally make the beat more complex. Out of that, you are likely to start moving around the kit to the music. After a while, a fill will come out of it somewhere.

[drummergurl]

alright. thanx for the advice. i hope to be hearing from you soon.