Mike Portnoy’s Fill System
The Test That Stumped Them All
Was the first song I learned — or tried to learn at least — on the drums:
I found (and still find) the intro insane, and wanted to learn it as quickly as possible. After the wow effect, and when you start to learn the drum parts, it’s just a combination of sixteenth notes on the snare or toms, followed by sixteenth notes on the bass drum.
And it’s the trademark move of Mike Portnoy
I mean no disrespect, Mike Portnoy is a beast and a huge influence in my drumming today. But he’s been doing fills like this since 1986, and Parasomnia is again, the same sauce.
But as we say in French, c’est dans les vieux pots qu’on fait les meilleures confitures. These fills are impressive, easy to do, and it would be a shame not to know them. So here comes the…
Mike Portnoy’s Fill System
- You will always play sixteenth notes.
- Alternate between 2/4/6 (remember Misunderstood at 6’08”) or even 8 (although he never goes to 8,
prove me wrong 😈) notes followed by 2/4/6/8 notes on the bass drum. - You can do it as long as you want. That’s why I provided all combinations from 4/16 to 16/16. You can even do that on multiple bars for maximum epicness.
- Almost forgot: you can of course move your hands around the kit and toms. Mike usually does all subsequent hits on the same drum (although there are some exceptions,
I know 🤓, like in Honor Thy Father)
As always, the best part, files!
I did not include indications/variations for hands on toms, but you’ll manage 🤓.