YOU can literally play anything on drums. Here's how.

I mean it, and not in a "you can do it because I believe in you" sort of way. I mean it in a literal, technical sense, but we'll get to that. In this video I'll explain what I mean when I make the claim that you can play anything on the drums set (right now!), and why it may sound meaningless, but can actually be very meaningful if internalized correctly.

I'll also go over a thought experiment you might find fun/useful that I use with students in certain situations.

Subscribe if ya like and thanks for watching!

00:00 - Intro
00:19 - The claim
1:45 - Stick with me
2:47 - Don't do this
3:47 - The thought experiment
4:12 - what.
4:46 - The takeaway

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[raws]

This is 100% right, exactly how I got the rosanna shuffle. Slow it until it's impossible to get wrong and build it up slowly, glacially slowly if necessary

[JazzyJonas]

Not only is this objectively true, but once you get it, you'll be able to play it in your sleep.

[antonjamesolsson]

A trio of Coles, I like it! ;) Well articulated point man!

[DimitriFantini]

Well explained and yes everyone, this 100% works.

[slingerland]

Completely agree. It took me a couple of days to dial in Bossa nova, it’s simple but at the same time mind bending in contrast to a normal straight beat, doing this was just slow slow slow, until the brain was trained. Anybody can learn it but it takes time for the brain to allow the hands to set . Always learning something new .great video

[dksugi]

This is one of the best drum learning suggestion I’ve seen in a long time. Great concept and explanation!

[WildMonkDrumcovers]

Never heard something more true
Its not a question of can i play but can i play it slow enough to learn

[learnngwell]

This is precisely correct. I’m not a talented drummer. And yet, time and again, I’ve methodically learned patterns over long stretches (sometimes months!) which then gradually moved from impossible, to possible, and then to musical, even to the point where I stop and marvel, “holy cow, did I just play what I just heard? Me?!?”

[OFLHLGZ]

Makes sense. Speed will come with practice once you have learned the piece. I like this!

[MarinedrummerSGT]

Great idea, Steve Gadds rudiment book comes to mind, I'll try that.

[Birkguitars]

One subtle refinement might be playing at no tempo rather than playing at a slow one. So maybe 10 second gaps for some beats and 30 second gaps for others. But in principle yes the idea works. I am coming back to drums (again!) so my relevant experience comes from guitar but learning solos worked the same way. With a tab in front of me I could play all the right notes in the right order but it took varying amounts of practice to get up to speed. But I could get there. Its worth persisting. The rewards will come.

[DP-wihm]

There was a lot of wisdom in that lesson. Slow it Down.

[dancalabrese]

I believe Bruce Lee use to call a theory like this "slow down to go faster".

[learnngwell]

@raws944 Yup! For me it’s been countless different patterns, but John Bonham’s “Fool in the Rain” halftime shuffle and the chorus of Vinnie Colaiuta’s “Seven Days” stand out. They were certainly well beyond my abilities, and such extreme examples cannot take the place of all the “daily fundamentals” which Cole also advocates so well, but making these two “impossible” grooves possible was a milestone in my drumming where I realized _anything_ is possible given enough long, slow repetition.

[AstroZombie]

I agree I can but took me a long time to get here. I used to learn everything note for note but just too lazy now.

[QQ]

Well... trying to play 220BPM + double bass drum metal requires speeding up... not slowing down.

[yannis-sfp]

everyone can play without a pulse, put the metronome on 40bpm and they will be destroyed

[trunzbox]

Did you know that this applies to all aspects of life too?

[ksimprovements]

I understand what your saying but I have to disagree. And I didn't hear you play yet