Carter Beauford

This one-bar fill by Carter Beauford appears at the 14-second mark of Dave Matthews tune "Too Much", from the Dave Matthews Band album Crash, released back in 1996.

If you don't know what a linear fill, groove or beat is ... read my article entitled The Basics of Linear Drumming.

The fill is a linear fill in that at no point do two voices on the drumkit sound at the same time. The fill occurs during the Intro of the tune, in bar eight, which is actually the fourth bar after the groove starts.

Carter Beauford - Too Much (fill)

Carter Beauford - Linear Drum Fill


You can listen to my sample clip (see above) which gives the first 20 seconds of the tune, including the drum fill ... bringing in the vocals. Or you can purchase the album through the Drummer Cafe ... Dave Matthews Band - CRASH.

It's questionable as to whether the HiHat (un-accented) is played on the AND of beat 3 ... but I went ahead and notated it. I originally notated it for the ease of having a continuous flow of sixteenth-notes. I think this will make it easier to learn and practice the fill, but eventually you should work on dropping that particular HiHat note. Playing it doesn't hurt the fill at all, especially if you ghost it. Also, the fill actually has a pick-up note in the Kick Drum, which occurs on the AND of beat 4 of the previous bar ... I just didn't notate it.

If you are not familiar with linear drumming, be sure to read my drumming terms article by clicking HERE.