No exaggeration there: what Simon does, whether it is his drumming or producing, it takes years of practice and decades of experience to get the right sound. Not an impossible goal to reach, according to Simon. As with all things that you want to be good at, it just takes time. Time that takes hours a day, but also great devotion on your part to reach that goal. Simon did just that with practicing, playing, and letting the music come first. He missed out on most of the normal childhood stuff, like a ski trip in school, when he was young. But hey, that's what happens when you decide to be a professional drummer from birth.

The Warm-up lessons - snare only
Some name dropping of the artists he played with is below, and not what this article is really about. In three main topics, Simon showed what the basic rudiments gave him on inspiration, starting with the single stroke. Beautiful! Here is what you find and learn in the videos:

The Simon Phillips Warm-ups - Part I
Simon Phillips 'warms up' with these exercises. They are basically the rudiments we all know, but in the two other videos he shows how you can improve your level substantially when playing around with them on a more musical level.

The patterns + variations he plays are:

• single 16th notes
  
• double strokes
  
• triple strokes
  
• four strokes
  
• Simon's tip: make the two hands sound like they are the same, with the same attack and volume. There should be no difference in the sound of hands.

The exercises focus on being aware of the transitions you make as a drummer. For instance, transitions between chorus and verses, verses to bridges; all the fills and changes drummers make when playing songs.

The Simon Phillips Warm-ups - Part II
Simon Phillips plays several rudiments on the snare. A few quick lessons on how to create your own variations with these basic rudiments:

• Ratamacue
  
• Triplets with flams
  
• Paradiddles
  
• Ratamacue in three ways
  
• and finally: swapping them all to make your mind work better with these patterns

Simon also plays around with triples. Notice how one hand plays three, quite a bit over the other three in triplet ways.

Next, he demos how he studies and does warm-ups with Paradiddles: from single, double to triplet paradiddles. You get them all in Simon's personal variations.

The Simon Phillips Warm-ups - Part III
This video takes all the exercises from the first two videos a few steps further. It is about what you can do with the rudimental exercises learned in video I and II.

Simon Phillips demonstrates this with the example of playing the three paradiddles in 9/4. You play the single, double and triple paradiddle in two against three when you subdivide the 9/4 that makes into 6. Simon even demonstrates this on the drums.

Have fun with this -Snare Intermission- during Simon Phillips' clinic. Soon we will publish some songs and several videos of his drum solos during the evening.

Simon Phillips' endorsements
Tama drums

• Tama "Monarch" Signature Snare Drum
  
• Tama 12" Signature Wooden Snare Drum
  
• 2 Iron Cobra Kick Pedals
  
• Iron Cobra Hi-hat Stand
  
• Tama Drum Rack System
  
• Tama Starclassic Tom 7 x 10"
  
• Tama Starclassic Tom 9 x 12"
  
• Tama Starclassic Tom 10 x 13"
  
• Tama Starclassic Tom 11 x 14"
  
• Tama Starclassic Tom 12 x 15"
  
• Tama Starclassic Tom 13 x 16"
  
• Tama Starclassic Gong Drum 20"
  
• 4 Tama Octobans, Low Set
  
• Tama Drum Throne
  
• 2 Tama Starclassic Bass drum 16 x 24" with 2 Beta 52 microphones
  
• Plywood Custom Drum Plinth

Zildjian Cymbals

• Zildjian A 24" Swish Knocker
  
• Zildjian A 22" Oriental China
  
• Zildjian A Custom 22" Ride
  
• Zildjian A Custom 12" Splash
  
• Zildjian Proto Type Sound Lab 19"
  
• Zildjian Proto Type Sound Lab 18"
  
• Zildjian Proto Type Sound Lab 17"
  
• Zildjian Proto Type Sound Lab 14"
  
• Zildjian 10" Hi-hat

• ProMark drum sticks

Simon Phillips selected references

• Al DiMeola
  
• Brian Eno
  
• Camel
  
• Hiromi Uehara
  
• Jeff Beck
  
• Joe Satriani
  
• Judas Priest
  
• Los Lobotomys
  
• Roxy Music
  
• Stanley Clarke
  
• The Corrs
  
• The Who
  
• Toto
  
• Wall Street Crash
  
• Whitesnake