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Lesson 3 of 4
  • Year 7

Phrases in drum kit writing and composing a fill

I can judge how and when to add an appropriate drum fill to a drum groove.

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Lesson 3 of 4
New
New
  • Year 7

Phrases in drum kit writing and composing a fill

I can judge how and when to add an appropriate drum fill to a drum groove.

Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and

Copyrights help

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Pop music often uses four-bar phrases.
  2. These phrases may end with drum fills, which help listeners feel the phrases.
  3. Drum fills change the underlying groove of the music to create a contrasting break in the pattern.
  4. They can use all parts of a drum kit and we created fills using the kick and snare.

Keywords

  • Phrase - a section of a piece of music; often two or four bars long

  • Drum fill - a short variation in a drum groove, usually at the end of a phrase or section

  • 1/8th note - a note lasting half a beat; it is also called a quaver

  • 1/16th note - a note lasting a quarter of a beat; it is also called a semiquaver

  • Improvise - improvising a new idea is to create it on the spot

Common misconception

Drum fills must be more complex than the fundamental groove.

Show how absence of sound can be as powerful as added sound by giving an example of the groove briefly stopping.


To help you plan your year 7 music lesson on: Phrases in drum kit writing and composing a fill, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Encourage pupils to start by recording several attempts at an improvised fill before choosing one so they are not overly concerned with right or wrong ideas. Model ideas for simple drum fills as a starting point for pupils.
Teacher tip

Equipment

A DAW or other suitable compositional tool or instrument.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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