Counting Measures + Traditional Fills

nocTurnal

Senior Member
Any special technique for keeping track of which measurement you're on?

I finally started taking lessons again, and my teacher had me play in both 8th note rock grooves and then switch to 16th and then to 1/4. That was the first thing he checked, and immediately he spotted problems. I was speeding up to fast from 8th to 16th. So he gave me an exercise:

A = 8 (measures)
B = 8
A = 8
B = 8
C = 8
B = 8
B = 8

A = 8th HH
B = 16th HH
C = 1/4 HH
* Bonus = Transitional fills

Funny how I got something that should be so standard wrong. I've been practicing 'Groove Essentials' and 'Great Hands for the most part, but I guess I just neglected to practice switching from 8th to 16th. I seem to do all right after a bit of practice now. I just count each measure out loud. But if I play a more complex groove than the standard straight rock beat, that's when things might get complicated. Any particular method to track where you are?

Also, what are some examples of "transitional fills"? What's a transitional fill as opposed to a regular fill? Any songs you can recommend to me for examples. If Pollyanna is reading this, maybe you could give me a Beatles example. :)


Thread title should read "TRANSITIONAL Fills."
 
I think your teacher means that the fills should set up and prepare the listener for what's to come. For example making
the transition from 8th note based groove to a 16th note based groove sound natural and flowing. You could possibly
say that in the fill, you're evolving the current groove into the next. Easiest way would actually be to play something
for you, but that's kind of impossible right now. And I can't think of any good examples from already recorded music :s

Hope that helps! (=
 
The easiest way I know to keep track of measures is to count them as you go. For instance, if you are playing 4 measures of 4/4 then you could count them as: 1234, 2234, 3234, 4234.

I don't know that there would be any "set" transitional fills for going back and forth between an 8th note groove and 16th note groove, but I could be wrong. What I would do, in order to help with the speeding up problem, would be play an 8th note fill into the 8th note groove and a 16th note fill into the 16th note groove. Even if it's just on your snare, you can get creative with it and change up accents each fill to keep it fresh and entertaining for you. But most importantly, this will help you feel the next groove and keep you from speeding up or slowing down.

And don't forget to practice with a click of some sort. That will help you see where you get off as well as keep you locked in to the speed you need to be at. Hoped this helped...Goodluck.
 
Thank you both. Travis, that is a great idea "1234, 2234, 3234, 4234."
 
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