In this free drum lesson, Jared Falk teaches three 16th note linear drum fills geared towards the intermediate drummer. These drum fills introduce two new themes. The first one is the use of cymbals instead of tom/snare shots. This is a great way of incorporating new textures into your tom/snare based linear drum fills. The second theme comes in the form of spreading single stroke rolls between one hand and the bass drum foot, which is great for further developing your 4-way coordination.
If you’re fairly new to the world of 16th note linear drum fills, we encourage you to check the free drum lesson “Beginner 16th Note Linear Drum Fills” before going through this one. These free drum lessons on 16th note linear drum fills build off of each other, so even if you’re not a beginner drummer, chances are you’ll still learn something new, or at least learn new patterns that you can get some inspiration from.
Exercise #1 introduces you to the two main themes of this free drum lesson. Count 3 features the main challenge found on this exercise. Focus on playing consistent sounding and evenly spaced strokes between the hi-hat hand and the bass drum foot. Taking your time with count 3 of exercise #1 will actually have you developing the techniques required for playing exercise #2 accurately. You can even practice count 3 separately from the remainder of drum fill #1. Do it over and over again while changing the hand with which you play the hi-hat.
Once you’re done with this free drum lesson, you can take the linear concept and apply it to some intermediate linear drum beats. If you need some ideas to get you started in the right direction, we encourage you to check the free drum lesson “Intermediate Linear Drum Beats“. If you’re interested in learning how to play more linear drum fills, check the free drum lesson “Intermediate Broken 16th Note Drum Fills“.