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musical passage,
riff, or rhythmic sound which helps to sustain the listener's attention during a break between the
phrases of a
melody. "The terms riff and fill are sometimes used interchangeably by musicians, but [while] the term riff usually refers to an exact musical phrase repeated throughout a song", a fill is an improvised phrase played during a section where nothing else is happening in the music.
[2] While riffs are repeated, fills tend to be varied over the course of a song. For example, a drummer may fill in the end of one phrase with a sixteenth note hi-hat pattern, and then fill in the end of the next phrase with a snare drum figure.
In drumming, a fill is defined as a "short break in the
DJ
.
"Fills can vary as to style, length, and
scalar
licks, runs, or riffs. Musicians are expected to be able to select and perform stylistically appropriate fills from a collection of stock fills and phrases. "Although it is a small break in the pattern, the
tempo is not changed at all, and in most instances the time-keeping pattern is resumed immediately after the fill...An important point to remember is that the flow of the music should not be sacrificed to the technicality of the fill."
[4]Chordal fills on guitar or keyboard instruments are "groups of single notes played within the context of a specific chord" to "produc[e] a countermelody."[5] A guitarist playing chordal fills will strum the chord for several strums and then interpolate several passing notes that lead to the next chord.
Tradition and improvisation
G run in G major Playⓘ contains both hammer-ons and a pull-off.
In some styles, such as
The Eagles
, for example, play the same fills each time they perform a song.
Comparison with similar techniques
Fills are distinguished from solo
bass runs
.
Fill passages are also distinguished from "lead" passages, in which a musical instrument becomes a melodic substitute for the singer for a substantial period.
Sources
![\version "2.16.2"
\header { tagline = ##f}
\score {
<<
\drums \with {midiInstrument = "drums"} \with { \numericTimeSignature } {
\repeat volta 1 {
<<{cymra8 cymra cymra cymra cymra [cymra cymra]}\\{bd4 sne bd sne8 sne16 sne16}>>
<<{cymra8 cymra cymra cymra cymra cymra cymra cymra}\\{bd4 sne4 bd8 bd8 sne4}>>\break
}}
>>
\layout {indent=0}
\midi { \tempo 4 = 102 }
}](http://upload.wikimedia.org/score/g/k/gkk9u46uul3vzcf3m99vbn8m0eg38f0/gkk9u46u.png)
