5 Phil Collins Drum Grooves 

Collins was in the same League of Bonham,Moon and Perth....and you give him the credits he deserves

I love that you sang the most famous drum fill ever while sitting at a drum set

Phil Collins was probably one of the top 3 drummers of his generation. Too many people recall him by his bubblegum hits of the 80s but he was one if the best drummers that ever existed. And self-taught for that matter.

Phil was a exceptional drummer, sadly he doesn’t play anymore. The drum duets with Chester Thompson were out of this world 🥁😀👍

25 years of struggling on these exact songs...and Nick fixes it for me in 20 minutes!! You are so THE MAN Nick.

Phil Collins has been my favourite drummer for 40years, the most musical and technical rolled into one. I love Peart, Portnoy, Carey, Bruford and a host of others however Collins just does it all.

Phil’s drumming with Robert Plant was also phenomenal.

Best 30 minutes of my day. Thanks Nick.

Phil's the reason I'm a drummer. Love this!!

Early Genesis is my favorite! Phil has been one of favorite drummers of all time!

Phil was exceptionally musically gifted. His rhythmical freedom made him a really unique and organic singer as well - especially obvious in the late 70s/early 80s live recordings. The vocals on "One for the Vine" from "Three Sides Live" are spine chilling.

Man these drums sound exceptional!

This guy is cool, very calm and collected. What a joy to watch!

I'm 61 yo and have been plying genesis and brand X grooves since 1976. Phil's early work formed my basic understanding of the drums. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for the most enjoyable Sweetwater video. 5 MORE! 10 MORE! 50 MORE! Don't forget Bill Brurford and also John Weathers from Gentle Giant. You've created a monster!

I love how much you love phil collins Nick.

I mean, a half an hour video just talking about Phil Collins drumming, what's to dislike in here?? I really don't get these people

So good. IMO Phil is an underrated master. All these youngsters today only knowing Phil from Disney soundtracks...educate ‘em Nick!!

You should have get an interview with Phil Collins. That would be great.

Honorable mention: Easy Lover. Sounds simple, but the way the bass drum follows the riff is 🔥

I had been playing drums about three years when a friend of mine turned me on to some early Genesis. "Get em' out by friday" was the first song i ever heard. I said "who is playing the drums?" my friend says "Phil Collins." i say "the singer?" he laughs and says "yes". He became one of my all time favorites....... i like him because he does everything i would never dare try.

Phil Collins, underrated, in an interview he stated he wasn't very a good drummer at first, then he got better, inspiration for us all.

Dance On A Volcano, Dancing With The Moonlit Knight, and The lamb Lies Down... oh.. and so many more...And we haven't even talked about his Brand X tenure...

Also worth checking out: Nuclear Burn (Brand X) and Ace of Wands (Steve Hackett).

Nick out here playing so good making the rest of us feel bad.

Without Phil I would not be a fulltime musician today. Phil is one of the most underrated drummer of all times.

Great work Nick! You've played in CALLING ALL STATION record, so you really know this band..

Another great one is the middle part of Robbery, Assault and Battery. And probably about 20 other tunes...

Timestamps: 1. Watcher of the Sky 01:00 2. The Cinema Show 04:00 3. Down and Out 08:41 4. I Don’t Care Anymore 15:36 5. Take Me Home 21:47

WHOA Nick...EXTREMELY articulate communication my man! You sound like a professional commentator who plays drums great. Love this...not a wasted word or note...impressed.

Colony of Slippermen from The Lamb is awesome as well

Great analysis of Phil's drumming. He has always been a big influence and probably my favorite rock drummer.

Nick, just great! Those of us in our 50’s lived these songs for many years and it means a lot hearing you demonstrate them. Bruford and Peart next?

Who better than Nick D to show you these five classic Phil Collins drum grooves! Like if you, uh, Like the video, Comment with your favorite Phil Collins drum groove, and Subscribe for more great videos like this one!

Excellent groove selection! "Take Me Home" is my all-time favorite melodic groove, particularly from the Serious Hits... Live performance. It lends itself to so many variations of sub fills

Phil consistently KILLS IT. Love his musicality. Genesis genius. (plus he makes it sound so EASY)

Your rendition of "I don't care anymore" is a good way to play it. The studio version was overdubbed, so they used a variety of arrangements in concert. I really like Chester Thompson's way of using the snare on the last few notes. Thanks.

The drums of the I Don't Care Anymore groove sound just like the original record ! Good job (playing and tuning)

Fantastic Nick! Phil has always been my favorite and most influential drummer.

I love that you did this Nick. Phil was amazing on drums. I hope younger drummers know that, but so many others just think he is an adult contemporary singer.

Keep up videos like this, Nick! I could watch lessons like this all day!

I guess the strength in Phil's playing is that he is always very relax in his performances. Even with busy parts, you still feel there is time and space. The rolls in Down and Out are the perfect example of that. It never feels rushed, there is always time and space, and most drummers cannot pull it off with that kind of relaxation. The I don't care anymore groove btw has more kicks. Phil plays them between the toms like he does on In the air tonight. And there is a version on RU-vid of Take me home from the 1990 tour with the camera angle mostly on Chester. That guy is in total demand of this huge kit (some Sonor signature set from late 80ies with every piece in the catalog on it). It's not the notes (the groove itself is not difficult), it's the attitude to play it with which makes or breaks it. And I find that true for most of Phil's work. Genesis and his solo bands have this kind of attitude which they play the music with that brings everything together and makes it quantum tight. On the albums maybe not so much but live…

Unquiet slumbers for sleepers, Dance on a Volcano, Wot Gorilla, more great grooves.

That section of the The Cinema Show really sounds like John Bonham's drum part in The Crunge from the same year when isolated. Two amazing drummers it's crazy how good they were.

If you watch Phil playing live, you'll see he's staring into the abyss, his legs and arms are moving effortlessly. It's like watching Clapton or Hendrix, the instruments flow thru them

As a lifelong Phil fan, thank you for breaking this down to a musician who is not a drummer but completely understood everything you were teaching. I hope you would break down more of his work.

The live versions of Cinema Show, as well as Supper's Ready and the Apocalypse in 9/8 are just A M A Z I N G. Agree with Kenneth, about 20 other tunes :-). Check out the drum sound in "Through These Walls" from the '82 album, juste awesome. Great job Nick, enjoyed a lot watching it. Phil has always been my favourite drummer, he made me start at the age of 15, I remained amateur though.. All the best and keep it up!!

Thanks Nick...I love Phil Drums Grooves. He is my favorite drummer in the world. I grew up listening to him.

Brilliant breakdown of Phil's work Nick

was wondering nearly 35 years about that rhythm of Down And Out and counted it out as somewhat 5ish but your explanation about it made it clear for me. Thank you very much and carry on!!!

A master of different unique rhythm accents, the drum machine patterns for Man On The Corner, In The Air Tonight, Take Me Home and dozens more indicate he never was interested in recording beats anyone ever used before, they are freakishly unique.

Wot gorilla? From Wind and Wuthering album of Genesis Amazing drum groove!!!

Nick, you are such a great teacher. Thanks for explaining things the way you do. It's nice to understand your thought behind how you understand the beats. All the best.

Down and out's groove is simply fantastic, and explained in every detail. And yes, Nick, for your sympathy and ease of communication you could easily have a second career as a television presenter 🙂

Phil per me è stato il più creativo di tutti i batteristi stile assolutamente inconfondibile

Most enjoyable Drum vid I've watched all the way through in a While!... Thanks Sweetwater & Thanks Nick!!!!

The second he started talking about what brand of drums and cymbals Collins used, I was reminded I’m watching a Sweetwater video.

I've always loved his emphasis on the toms. One of my favorites growing up. Sadly, never got to see him live.

Thanks so much for that Nick..it's so cool to see a phenomenal musician such as yourself (your body of work in Spock's Beard alone continually blows me away) to demonstrate some of the technical aspects of one of your mentors and heroes..Prog rock LIVES!!

Recently I discovered he played with Brian Eno!!! Amazing drumming!!!

Excellent video form a freakin' drum legend. I encourage everyone to check out Nick's work in Spock's Beard and Big Big Train. This guy is a master. Sweetwater has a legit progressive rock legend in their stable. Oh yeah, and who in the heck would give this very helpful video a thumbs down??? Jeez....

phil collins is the best,i dont know why it took me forever to really apreciate his stuff other than his tarzan soundtrack.

It has been too long since I've listened to early Genesis. So good!

The teacher is obviously loving playing the grooves....Collins...what a legend

Great video. The signature sound of Phil Collins was unmistakable in the eighties. As a guest or session musician, you could recognise him in a.o. 'I know there's something going on' by Frida and of course 'Do they know it's Christmas' By band Aid.

This was so Good!!!! Thanks

Phil Collins will always be one of the most influential and of course musical drummers of all time. He was the rhythm of the 80's and bands all over the world have been influenced by his grooves, musicality, and of course his excitement and love for music. I saw Phil Collins live and it remains the best concert I've ever attended in my life and I saw David Bowie live (which was just phenomenal).

Is he not gonna mention the fact that he once played drums on a Genesis album after Phil left the band?

Phil Collins, simply one of my all time Favourite Drummers. Live well Phil , and God Bless .

Nick is an outstanding drummer in his own right......and a fantastic teacher. Really impressed with his ability to make “next level” drumming very digestible.

Love this, and I love Phil's drumming

One of my greatest inspirations,gday from Melbourne,Australia.

Everything about this video is great......Nicks playing is exceptional!

Wow. I’m not a drummer but this is amazing to watch and learn!! Amazing.

Love your playing and how you break it down. And Phil was the man!

The 7/8 groove on Cinema Show is the best 7/8 groove ever. It's my go-to thing for 7/8. He re-defined that shit. OK, until Three of a Perfect Pair.

Phil is the reason why many drummers became drummers. His drumming is a part of the arrangement. His fills and grooves are endlessly quotable. His work live with Genesis from the late 70s through early 80s was insanely good - and Chester was the perfect choice to be his drumming buddy.

Great job breaking down these beats

Brand X "Nuclear Burn" (or any song from the disc, Phil Collins in his prime)

I am glad to have followed Collins from his first contribution to Genesis, my biggest influence. An underrated enormeus drummer most known by his solo career hits later. His creativity with Genesis specially from 1971 to 1980 was simply impressive.

It’s great to watch Phil at Live Aid playing drums w Clapton and many others. He can just jump in and jam w everyone. Incredible

Loved the down and out breakdown, that one always kinda baffled me

Phil Collins is definitely no slouch on drums. Excellent video, Nick!

This is a great Video, helps me alot, to feel better about my tries with Phil Collins Grooves like Don't loose my number, One more night, and inside out (Wich I try to learn for over 8 years) And having these instructions from the Drummer who played on Calling All stations and who replaced Phil in Genesis is a great joy to watch, thanks Sweetwater and NDV. (-: ( my main Problems with these Grooves are the Hihat Pattern in sixteenth notes, wich are the main reason, why I want to learn these exact songs. )

"It's hard but its fun!" It so much is.

Huge, Watcher of the Skies is amazing.

5 more please!!

Out of all of the drum tutorial stuff on RU-vid you've got one of the best feel and pocket dude. Beautifully done. Really solid and passionate playing

Bravo Nick! If anyones going to know, its him.

Nick, back in the day when Genesis came out with Seconds Out, they had Phil, Chester, and Bill Bruford all playing drums, listen to that CD and see if you can figure out when and who was playing drums. That was my favorite album that I used to practice to on the drums and when all three are playing I could copy that perfectly. I was taking drum lessons and my teacher asked me to pick out a piece from whatever music I wanted and I chose Cinema Show and blew him away, I would play it over and over until I got it right at home and drove my parents crazy

Fantatastic breakdown thankyou for this Phil’s playing in brand x is insane nice job bro

I am glad you chose the earlier years. These are the years people who are not into prog mostly don't know. I very much enjoy Big Big Train (actually, in the moment from Genesis, Yes and Big Train are the only songs I actively practice) and all the genesis influences made me smile the first time I listened to BBT albums right away -- not only, but mostly the drum parts, bc that's my instrument. The first Big Big Train I heard was "The First Rebreather", and I pretty much instantly bought English Electric Pt. 1 and 2. I never really had a real drum idol, but if I'd have to name one, it would definitely be Mr. D'Virgilio.

Collins is one of the best drummers period

Dear Nick, please do a follow up to this video. I'd love to hear your take on so many other great Collins-grooves, like Find A Way To My Heart, Wot Gorilla?, Apocalypse in 9/8, In That Quiet Earth or Dance On A Volcano.

Phil Collins in instrumental part in firth of fifth from Seconds out, fantastic drumming

Great stuff Nick. I can suggest a 6'th phil collins groove that is great to play, which is Doesn't anybody stay together anymore from the No jacket required album. another song where the toms are utalised. and your solo record sounds great, like your previous 2 works.

Phil Collins is criminally underrated as a drummer

1978 And then there were three what a fabulous album this is. Phil in Brand X track Nuclear Burn... Great session Nick .

If you want to see Phil play the 7/8 Cinema Show drumgroove live, then watch Genesis live The Mama Tour (1983'/ 1984'). It's played in the medley right after In The Cage. One of my favorite Phil grooves is the groove in the Genesis song Just A Job To Do.

Hi Nick this is Erik from Indianapolis and we exchanged emails earlier this year about my enjoyment of your drum work on the Roland Orzabal solo LP. Thoroughly enjoyable, and thanks for including watcher of the skies, rata-tat-tat 🥁 I also wanted to point out the genius of Phil’s drum track for ‘do they know it’s Christmas?’. The 3-triplet fill just before the ‘feed the world’ coda gets me every time!

Nice picks, Nick! I could watch you play and listen to Phil beats all day.