{"id":35948,"date":"2022-07-01T08:09:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-01T15:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/?p=35948"},"modified":"2022-08-22T08:51:13","modified_gmt":"2022-08-22T15:51:13","slug":"simon-phillips-rock-drumming-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/simon-phillips-rock-drumming-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Proven Rock Drumming Tips From Simon Phillips"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/f187SeQAJjk\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Simon Phillips is one of the most diverse rock drummers of the last 50 years, laying down rhythms with Toto, Judas Priest, Jeff Beck and many others. He&#8217;s also a pro engineer, so he knows what a drummer should do in the studio to sound their best.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t miss these three quick tips for rock drummers from the man himself:<\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>1. Don&#8217;t be afraid to play simply<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Drummers have a tendency to overplay, including adding fills when they aren&#8217;t necessary. In &#8220;The Pump&#8221; by Jeff Beck, Simon only plays two or three fills the entire track. Drums sound best when they support the song &#8211; not the other way around. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;A groove can actually sound bigger if you play less on the kick and let the snare speak.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>2. Touch and consistency are more important than you think<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>As a rock drummer, it&#8217;s easy to fall into the mindset of &#8220;I need to be a heavy hitter&#8221; and just going through the action of playing. But to become a really great player, you can&#8217;t forget about groove, touch, and consistency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simon emphasizes the latter. Make every backbeat the same. Get that snare dead on every time. If you want the studio engineers to love you, give them consistency!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/master-your-snare-sound\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here for tips from Alice Cooper&#8217;s Glen Sobel on mastering that perfect rock snare sound<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>3. Don&#8217;t forget about dynamics<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe you don&#8217;t notice them as much as you would in styles like jazz or latin, but there <em>are<\/em> dynamics in rock! A common misconception is that rock should be played at one level. But playing too hard and strong throughout the entire song can mean feel goes out the window. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the singer is singing, reduce your volume. Be mindful on the hi-hats: tighter in the verse, a bit more open in the pre-chorus, and move to the ride in the chorus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simon isn&#8217;t the only one who advises rock drummers to keep volume and feel in mind. Todd Sucherman is also a big advocate for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/rock-drumming-myths\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dynamics in rock drumming<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/9-drum-recording-myths-busted\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read: 9 Drum Recording Myths, Busted<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Want more from Simon Phillips? Check out his course for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Drumeo members<\/a>, &#8220;Elevate Your Drum Sound&#8221;!<\/p>\n\n\n<p><iframe class=\"email-form-include-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/weeklyemail\" frameborder=\"none\"><\/iframe><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Follow these 3 important pro tips to become a better rock drummer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":35949,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4029,4018],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-practice-tips","category-technique"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35948"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35996,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35948\/revisions\/35996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}