drummingman
Gold Member
When I have time to write out fills for songs I come up with some pretty unique and cool stuff (well at least I think I do lol). But when I have to improvise fills off the top of my head I find that I absolutely suck at doing this anymore and I feel like I'm just flailing around trying not to sound awful! I'm sure it's because I've been writing everything out not for note for so long and have not been applying improvisational skills to songs. But, this is something that I want to change and get much better at. I still plan to write out some fills in some song's. But I need to get way better at playing good fills off the top of my head
What has brought this whole issue into sharp focus is the fact that I'm working on cover tunes for an audition on Friday. I really don't have time to write detailed charts and practice everything note-for-note perfectly spot-on. So I'm improvising the fills in the same general feel of the songs original fills. But I feel like I'm just hacking through trying to sound half way musical and not suck too bad!
So, what are the exercises that you all use to improve on your improvisational skills when it comes to fills, and even beats for that matter while playing?
I've always been a pre-planned beat and fill kind of guy like Neil Peart used to be. So to be honest my improvisational skills have always been weak. I really like the things I come up with when I have the time to pre write them and pre-plan them. But when I have to come up with beats and fills on the fly while I'm playing I usually come up with stuff that's not very good in my opinion. So I've got to get better at this asap!
What has brought this whole issue into sharp focus is the fact that I'm working on cover tunes for an audition on Friday. I really don't have time to write detailed charts and practice everything note-for-note perfectly spot-on. So I'm improvising the fills in the same general feel of the songs original fills. But I feel like I'm just hacking through trying to sound half way musical and not suck too bad!
So, what are the exercises that you all use to improve on your improvisational skills when it comes to fills, and even beats for that matter while playing?
I've always been a pre-planned beat and fill kind of guy like Neil Peart used to be. So to be honest my improvisational skills have always been weak. I really like the things I come up with when I have the time to pre write them and pre-plan them. But when I have to come up with beats and fills on the fly while I'm playing I usually come up with stuff that's not very good in my opinion. So I've got to get better at this asap!