Alex Cohen | Progressive drumming's advanced class

When Thomas Lang calls you “incredible” and Virgil Donati calls you “a revelation”, you are operating at a level where the usual adjectives stop being useful.

Alex Cohen has written two books on the outer limits of drumming technique, and Drumeo’s panel gave him the Louie Bellson Award for Double Bass in 2023 for, in their words, executing things most drummers would never even attempt.

Here is the advanced class.

Who is Alex Cohen?

Alex Cohen is an American drummer, author and educator working at the extreme technical end of progressive drumming.

He is a Yamaha artist, tours as a clinician — including with the Palace Drum Clinic circuit — and has built his reputation on a combination of playing and documentation: he does not only execute this material, he writes it down.

The books

• Ultimate Progressive Drumming
• Extreme Polyrhythm, Coordination and Speed Techniques, co-authored with the Brazilian drummer Ramon Montagner and published through Hudson Music.

Both have been endorsed by drummers spanning the entire spectrum of the instrument — from Derek Roddy, the death metal foot-technique authority, to John Riley, the author of The Art of Bop Drumming. Getting both of those names on the same book jacket is an achievement in itself.

What Alex Cohen actually does

Polyrhythm, at speed, with the feet involved. The basic idea of a polyrhythm — three against four, five against four — is not hard to grasp. Executing it with the hands in one grouping and the feet in another, at tempo, cleanly, is what separates this material from ordinary independence work.

Double bass as a melodic voice. His feet do not just keep up; they play patterns — accents, groupings, phrases. That is what the Bellson award is actually recognising.

Coordination as a discipline. His material is systematic rather than intuitive: exercises that build a specific capability, in order.

He documents it. The most useful thing about him. Extreme technique has historically been passed on by imitation; he has written it out.

Alex Cohen’s setup

• Drums — Yamaha, where he is a listed artist.
• A double pedal, obviously, and a setup arranged for four-limb coordination rather than for reach or looks.

The full current specification is not published in the detail we would want before printing it as fact. The Rig Vault takes suggested edits on every page.

Everything we can verify, with buy links, is on Alex Cohen’s Rig Vault page.

Want the sound without the rig?

None of this is a gear problem. It is a practice-room problem, and the route in is clear.

Start with three over four. Hands playing quarter notes, feet playing triplets, at 60bpm. Then swap. Then move to five over four. Do not increase the tempo until it is correct.

Then get the books. Genuinely — this is one of the rare cases where the written material is the fastest route, because the exercises are sequenced. Extreme Polyrhythm, Coordination and Speed Techniques is the one to start with.

And sort your pedals out. Low tension, beaters close to the head, and a technique — heel-toe or swivel — that does not rely on brute force. Our heel-toe lesson is the starting point, and our direct-drive pedal guide covers what the pedal itself contributes. The Gear Guru will spec the rest.

Where to start

• His clinic footage. The playing, uncut.
• Extreme Polyrhythm, Coordination and Speed Techniques. With Ramon Montagner.
• Ultimate Progressive Drumming. The earlier book.

Final thoughts

There is a small population of drummers operating at the genuine technical frontier of the instrument, and most of them are not especially good at explaining what they do.

Cohen is, and that is the real contribution. Playing a five-over-four polyrhythm with your feet at 200bpm is impressive. Writing an exercise sequence that gets somebody else there is more useful.

See Alex Cohen’s full rig in the Rig Vault, or read about Ramon Montagner — his co-author, and another Legacy award winner.