This week we're gonna work on a couple of simple fills based on eighth notes, using our muffled tones. And just remember that because these fills will take us away from our tumbao pattern a bit, and create some tension within the groove, we should use them sparingly in our playing. Generally only once in an entire song.

Now we can use these fills to help add some intensity in the "up" section of an arrangement, and in the case of the first two, use them to emphasize the downbeat of any two-, four- or eight-bar phrase.

So for this first fill, we'll use the "and" of one on the three side of the clave as our jumping-off point. And we'll leave a rest on the first beat of the bar to help us start the fill with our left hand. Let's hear what it sounds like as a four-bar phrase in 2-3 clave.

This is a super simple fill that works really well to build up intensity and lead us into the downbeat of the following bar. And the combination of muffled tones and open tones will really help us develop our sound as we work on this slowly and focus on the clarity of each stroke.

So for this next fill, all we're gonna do is swap out the open tone on our main drum that we play on the "and" of four, for a low-drum open tone. Let's check it out.

Other than using these fills to lead into a downbeat freely, a very common place to play these would be in the fourth bar of the phrase, just after we move from a "down" section to an "up" section in an arrangement. Now, in the coro section of an arrangement in a more modern context, for example, it's very common to hear a small fill, phrase or build-up played by the congas, timbales or bongo bell in the four or eight bars after we transition "up" from a "down" section. This can be something that's played by only one of the instruments, or something that's more like a call and response in which two or more of the instruments are involved. Now in any case, the main idea here is that after we transition "up," we'll sometimes want to reinforce that louder dynamic section by emphasizing the beginning of the following four- or eight-bar phrase.

So for this next example, let's work on playing these fills in the context that I just described. We'll play eight bars of tumbao as if we were in the "down" section of an arrangement, and then we'll transition "up," where we'll hear a bongo bell playing in the backing tracks. Now, once we're in this "up" section, we'll play our first fill in the fourth bar to help us build up to, and emphasize, the downbeat of the following bar. We'll then transition back down after four bars, and repeat this sixteen-bar cycle, this time using our second fill. Let's hear what that sounds like.

So this is a very common structure that we can reference to implement these fills when playing an arrangement in a modern salsa or timba context. Now, of course we can also use these freely, but working on them in a more structured way helps us develop a better sense of how certain numbered phrases work and feel, and also gives us some concrete options to use these fills in a way that can help us support the form of a particular arrangement. So, make sure you keep an ear out for fills that serve a similar purpose as you're listening along to some of your favorite tracks.

For this last example, we'll use the muffled tone figure from our first two fills as the foundation. But this time, instead of playing constant eighth notes for an entire bar after we initiate our fill, we're going to take out a couple of notes to create some more tension. So in the second half of the bar, we'll leave an eighth-note rest on beat three, play a low-drum open tone, then leave another eighth-note rest, an open tone on our main drum, followed by three more open tones in the following bar to lead us into our two-drum tumbao pattern with the tumbadora on the two side of the clave. This will give us a phrase that creates some extra tension just before the downbeat, as opposed to just creating a build-up of eighth notes to lead us into the following bar. Let's check it out.

So you can hear that although the first two beats of this fill are identical to the first two fills we worked on in this lesson, by adding some rests in the second half of the bar, we were able to come up with something that feels completely different. Now this is why it's super important to experiment with all of the fills we're studying here after you've taken the time to master them. Being aware of their feel and function will give you a great foundation for creating some fills of your own, and will ultimately help you build your musical language very quickly.

So now let's work on this fill once every eight bars, over our Modern Solo Vamp 3 practice loop from CongaChops.com.

So all three of these fills can work great in specific situations. The first two can work really well to use as a build-up within a certain structure, or just to emphasize the downbeat of any particular bar in a phrase. They can work great in a variety of situations across different styles and genres. And our last fill is something that feels somewhat busier and adds a bit more tension. Now as a result, we need to be very careful when and how we choose to use it. This fill could sound great in a modern salsa or timba context, but might be a little out of place if we were to play in a more traditional style like son. In any case, by listening to and analyzing different players, songs and styles, we can start to inform the decisions we make in regards to when and where we play all different types of fills.

So, as you listen along to your favorite recordings, make sure you're always paying attention to any contributing factor that you feel may have influenced the conga player's decision to play a particular fill. Was the fill played in response to something that was played by another instrument? Was it used as a build-up within a four- or eight-bar phrase? Or was it used just to add some variety to the groove in a place where the conga player found an adequate space to play it? Striving to understand the way that your favorite percussionists think will give you some insight as to when these types of fills can feel natural to play throughout the course of an arrangement, as well as generally improve the way you approach any musical situation, whether it's laying down a groove, playing through an arrangement, or even when taking a solo.