Five Fills That Changed My Life - Drum Lesson

Each one of these fills unlocked a door of conceptual creativity for me. I hope they do the same for you!The notation for each of the 5 drum fills is below :)

NOTATION FOR ALL 5 FILLS

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Endorsements
• Gretsch Drums
• Meinl Cymbals
• Aquarian Drum Heads
• Vic Firth Sticks
• DW Hardware
• Audio Technica Microphones
• Aiya Matcha

Timecode
0:00 - Intro solo
0:15 - I love teaching
0:44 - Fill #1
1:50 - Fill #2
3:30 - Fill #3
4:37 - Fill #4
6:00 - Fill #5

[mikeslessons]

Alright y’all. Out of these 5, which one is your favorite?

[PedroMau]

"Teaching without passion.. that's demonstration.
Teaching with passion... that's education."

Mark these words guys! Awesome Mike!

[teebee]

I love that you push learning and then modifying. It’s a theme in all your lessons.
I could not do ghost notes, way back in the day, until I saw a Les DeMerle clinic where he demonstrated and wrote out a jazz samba pattern. I lived in the wood shed with that thing for a week until it was smooth and felt good. But what it actually did was get me past a road block. I didn’t even realize I was free until one day I just started ghosting while playing a rock beat. It opened the door to a new left hand in ever other style of music. Especially funk. It’s amazing how mastering one thing can lead to a much wider palette. ❤️ your stuff Mike.

[YanickDrums]

The hi-hat fill is so nice and smooth. I always like in jazz when they add hi-hat fills.

[KnownAsTheInconspicuous]

That's actually a cool collection of some nice fills. I'm going to learn and play around with them in a minute.

[christopherjsmith]

I’m 54. I joined my first band when I was about to turn 13. Even if your lessons were total crap, your positive energy and enthusiasm would be worth the trip. You keep it moving, interesting, and understandable, no matter what the skill level of the viewer. You were correct about teaching being an art. Having knowledge is great. possessing the ability to successfully pass it to a wide array of humans, are horses of very different colors. The 4 stage practice method is nothing short of Genius. Weather you’ve played all your life or just got your first pair of sticks.... It’s the Rosetta Stone of drumming. The inspiration and enthusiasm are contagious. Some days... it’s not about the licks and lessons. Thankful for you Mike!

[aligrant]

Are we just gonna skip by this? 0:29
So well said mike!

[MoPoppins]

Mike, because you're SUCH a gifted teacher (both instructional AND entertaining), I'm not even a drummer and don't ever plan on drumming, YET I've been subbed to your channel for years and watch your vids because I just enjoy your personality so much. I'm glad you enjoy your calling, as much as we delight in it.

[jwlee]

One of my favorite people. Truly a genuine guy.

[ronphilbeck]

"and you're out. What? And you're out. What?" Mike you're awesome. Gotta go practice my homework. 🥁

[DimaPavlenko]

Business trick I learned from Peter McKinnon: if you wear the same hat for long enough - you can sell hats.

[addisoncarpenter]

That solo at the beginning was brilliant!

You have become my drum teacher over lockdown as I haven’t had one for over a year. You are the best mike

[gerdmeyer]

Thanks for the Notation of Fill No 3 it was not so easy to play but i like it the most. greetings from a drummer playing since 50 Years from germany.

[daebakday]

As an educator and a drummer, this is a SUPERB video and i salute you! we need more passionate educators/musicians in the world. rock on dude!

[TheDayisMineTrebeck]

That first one is a classic. My drum teacher taught me that one for Carol King's Jazz Man in 8th grade.

[luisrichardsilvaulloa]

Very good, teacher, Mike... La raja hermano, saludos cordiales desde Chile!

[soundoutrhythm]

Keeping the hats going throughout those monster fills is monster in itself! Unbelievable stuff! Every video Mike does is a lesson you’ll take with you forever.

[foodstrongfamily]

It's been a long time since I've seen one of your videos! Today I reconnected and boy, it is easy to remember why you are so loved. Thank you Mike! All the best for you, always!

[adambrown]

This is the first time I've heard Meinl crash cymbals that sounded like traditional full crash cymbals a la Zildjian/Sabian. I always played Zildjian K cymbals in my day, but when I heard the modern Meinl sounds a few years ago then Zildjian sounded boring to me. On another note, life took a different path & I haven't played drums since 1998, but I'm getting interested again, in part to the sound of modern Meinl cymbals. Your Transition ride is probably my favorite ride that I've heard.

[claytonwilhelm]

4:40 You play to get out of trouble...I play that to get in trouble