Fill (music)

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In popular music, a fill is a short musical passage, riff, or rhythmic sound which helps to sustain the listener's attention during a break between the phrases of a melody. A fill may be played by rock or pop instruments such as the electric guitar or bass, organ, or drums, or by other instruments such as strings or horns. In blues or swing-style scat singing, a fill may even be sung. In a hip-hop group, a fill may consist of rhythmic turntable scratching performed by a DJ.

Each type of popular music such as funk, country, and metal has characteristic fill passages, such as short 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.

In some styles, such as jazz or jazz fusion, musicians have more freedom to improvise fill passages. In other styles, such as bluegrass, performers are more likely to use standard "walkup" or "walkdown" scalar passages as fills. Some groups use previously composed fills as part of the identity of a song. The Eagles, for example, play the same fills each time a song is played.^[vague]

[edit] Comparison with similar techniques

Fills are distinguished from solo breaks, which are short, often unaccompanied solo passages interpolated between sections of a song. Whereas fills are relatively unobtrusive, solo breaks such as bass runs are usually composed to draw attention to the soloist's virtuoso skills by using difficult techniques and rapid passages.

Fill passages are also distinguished from "lead" passages, in which a musical instrument becomes a melodic substitute for the singer for a substantial period, and from solos such as guitar solos.