Simon Phillips drum lesson: the importance of dynamics 

This guy is so smart even when losing his stick in 04:47 . What a great person, humble and kind. So much to learn from him and his drumming.

When the stick flew ot of his hand he grabbed it out of the air and did not miss a beat, mindblowing talent, yet such a humble man.

I had the pleasure of seeing him play with Toto in '93. My jaw dropped.

His voice is so calming

phenomenal drumming! you really got it ! i'm restarting my drums up again at age 64 , I Started playing as a teen but got married and my drums had to go. then later on the wife had to go cause i wanted to play again lol so now 40 years later I'm back with a great wife and a new set lol

Fumbled a stick AND kept his timing down to a T!!! I followed this man for decades and still amazes me..

could listen to this man all night long

Simon is the perfect drummer!!very technical but at the same time very musical..The greatest of all time!!

To me, drummers and bass players are the coolest dudes of the band and you sir, are the perfect example of it!

I was once shown by a conservatorium trained jazz drummer the delicate side of drumming and the joy of controlled dynamics. I was stunned by the level of sound control he had and how he could emphasise or dramatise a section in a song. Thanks for the reminder and thanks for posting these great videos.

3:46 lulz! he said doo doo. ;) I love videos like these. So many people are just teaching oodles of drum licks and chops here on youtube, which is great, but I think a lot of them forget to teach foundational concepts of drumming that make the chops and licks musical and enjoyable to hear. Great drumming wisdom from Simon Phillips!

Brilliant brilliant.just a great drummer and great hair too.

In utter awe.. just started learning the drums at the age of 48. Subscribed within 4 seconds. I look forward to learning and being inspired by you, Simon. Brought to tears (happy tears) by this demonstration alone.

ive been drumming for lotsa years Simon and i learn new thing every time i listen to you, big thank you from another drummer (78 now) ur my favorite ! thank you for sharing with us some of your tricks and expertise.

The master. Thanks for posting, really love the delivery style. Top class

Skill AND the ability to eloquently explain it: wow, what a professional, what an artist! Thanks for all the insights!

Genius, what a man. His sound and dynamics are number 1.

This moment when he starts the straight ahead swing groove is so incredible smooth.

Glad I found this video by accident. I have headphones on and that sounded beautiful

Simon Phillips and Zildjian...The sound of excellence!!!:)

Phenomenal... Just phenomenal... Simon's way of groove is simply the best in the world.

he should narrate bed time story's..I agree..what a nice voice and personality

He is the ASMR voice of drumming

I continue to learn so much from Simon. Becoming probably my favourite drummer - even just in terms of articulating so much of what I want to do, or have been "intuitive" about ...

Very important lesson, thanks for the upload!

Best drummer I have ever played with and that is since 1975!

A master. I remember Terry Bozzio replacing him on the UK album and his playing on the Judas Priest album where his face wa not shown, and Phil Collins telling Drummers magazine that Simom Phillips was the best drummer ever.

I played with Simon in 1975. He session drummer on my single Sing Zing.

He's a great drummer and teacher!

Always look on the bright side of life

Fabulous clip, as always. Always learning from Simon Phillips.

One of the greatest drummers ...

One of the greatest drummers of all time!!!

My back got better by listening to his voice

Saw him with Toto twice. A phenomenal musician.

FINALLY, drum lessons done right!

What a wonderful set of videos!

Excellent. Big Simón Phillips

Have Been a fan of Simon's ever since I heard the judas priest album sin after sin ,its thier best album hands down his playing turned that into a progressive rock album it blew me away ,

The most badass beginning ever ahaha!

So many ideas for jazz playing going on in this demo, just in the last minute! I'll steal them all if that's ok - well, try to!

Great video! Dynamics is what it's all about. Drums sound great!!! David Curtis Drumming

Forget the dynamics! I love his hair!

This guy would be amazing drumming teacher.

I love the way he plays drum, the way he talk. I love him.

Simon is such a musical drummer

I enjoyed watching/listening to this master of his instrument...even though I've never played drums..ty

I can't play drum, but listening to Simon Phillips is a inspiration to play.

One of my all time favorite drummers

I can watch him playing all day.

Brilliant, especially through head phones

Awesome Simon. You're a great world player

A drummer that inspires me to stick with learning drums and build on what l already know.

Simon could make an hour long video about onions and I would still be captivated.

本当に良い意味で他人に教えようと演奏されてますね^ - ^ 尊敬^ - ^

right on track sir. .

Just subscribe! very well described, didn't know there was a difference in sound when it came to the type of sticks we used. Wow!

Holy Mary he's smooth!

Loved it.

My favorite.

I love this man. :)

I really like you Simon! Actually you are also the best teacher!!!!!

Dynamics and musicality are what sets Simon apart from a majority of other talented drummers.

always good info!

One of the best double stroke rolls on the planet

Fã de Simon por tocar n banda ToTo .e adoro suas técnicas na bateria. Fã Brasil

Quelle talent!

Great vid, had a little bit of everything in it, including some well timed comedy. Smooth as silk drummer, I'd give anything to be able to play like that.

Thanks!

Incredibly underrated performer.

Thank you Simon, from a guitar player!

Master ❤

Great and very useful videos!You're really an excellent performer!!! DoyenThe

those hi hats sound perfect

you are a maestro

4:45.great recovery from losing the stick like a ding dong...lol

Great,,

He can be calm and an animal at the same time!

Earned a sub.+like! Thank you! 🙂

I put my hand next to the practice pad, and I do singles, doubles, triples etc and I'll do strike the practice pad on whatever accent pattern I'm doing, but I tap my other hand's nails (pinky is the most delicate!!) on the ghosted notes. I must say, for me, this was the most effective way I learned dynamic control, in regard to ghosting, at least...

That double cymbal hit at 3:54...

Dynamics, many Rock metal drummers work with playing a tom to a crash cymbal their usually flat out so struggle with dynamics, playing 4 in a bar on crash you have nowhere to go so back to BASICS watch the Buddy Rich's, Bonno, Gadd tell a story with your drum break/solos not fall into the trap of hitting has hard as you can for as long as you can, great video Simon!

4:45 nice catch

Pro stick catch 👌

4:45 No one saw that! Carried on like a champ

Love his playing!! man what size are the toms?

素晴らしいアドリブコメント^ - ^ こういう言葉を^ - ^ 対応力凄すぎドラマー^ - ^ こういう方々に感謝はあるが腰低いんだよなぁ^ - ^

excellent. what kind of tom mics are those ?

True to his word, Mr Phillips has a paint tin in his Bass Drum(s) [4.24 amongst other points in Vid]

Simon thank you for insight into playing, I am 18 years older than you, still play modern church music. I have never quite understood how you hold the drum sticks.Would like to know the grip? regards.

Dream kit

im a self taught open handed player....im not very good but it just made sense to me.and i wondered why i just couldn't play when crossing my arms....im right handed.

Dynamics is everything....

Great lesson ... I do not hear dynamics at ALL from many Rock drummers and I seldom hear "space" (In Cuba percussion is all about WHERE in the drum you hit. Buddy Rich had a TREMENDOUS sense of space pointing out there were at least 5 circular spaces where you can pull 5 different sounds. Of course your hit accuracy has to be pristine. Buddy's example on this was doing a solo on a hi-hat , even using the pull rod as a sound source. In Cuban percussion , you have at most a Conga or Bongos (two drums) SO it is critical you learn spacing" and also , Finger tuning on the fly. This can make you pull 20 sounds out of any conga drums by just pressing (finger tune) a particular spot on the head. Again Buddy Rich used this technique often , so there was no need for 20 drums. Dynamics and spacing made him have a 5 piece set and pull interminable sounds. Buddy's cymbals were also a complete set of different sound. His bottom to top crashes gave you 3 sounds in ONE motion. I guess that art has been lost in R&R drumming . You mentioned the MARCH grip (I'd like to know who thought of that as traditional) but the angle of the marching drum with a march grip also gave you a lot of different sounds using dynamics and spacing. As a note you are a couple years older than me and your work with the Who was such an inspiration. I LOVED Moon but there was nothing to emulate there anymore , I just LOVED HIM as a character ,. When you came along it was a shot in the ass and YOU sir.. (what age were you then 30?) gave me a total different focus that made me fall in love with my drums again. THANK YOU!

Nice to see even a god drops his stick sometimes.

" these sticks are quieter " *plays softly* " these sticks are loud " *plays harder*

Anyone have an idea of which one of his snares he would be using?

What kind of hi hats are those? The "Zildjian" faces toward the middle rather than outward. His website says he plays Armand Zildjian, but I've never found any Armand's stamped like that.

that groove he teases at the end is fucking wicked nasty

4:45 Nice to see that even pro drummers can last their stick sometimes. 😄👍 Great playing anyway.