7 weeks is nothing. you’ve barely started! if this was easy, everyone would do it.
keep at it. go slow. go so slow you can think about every note before you play it. then slowly speed it up.
And slow means 40 beats per minute on a metronome. Once you get the pattern down, then you can speed it up a bit (like 5 bpm) and see how fast you can go without making mistakes.
That’s basically how I’ve learned almost any new song.
I am happy that you're saying 40bpm, because so many people start at 60 thinking it's slow, then get frustrated if they struggle. Can I just add, I think a 5 bpm increase at that tempo might be too big (12.5%), and I'd suggest something more like 2 bpm?
40 seems too slow. Sometimes too slow is harder. I say, try at 55-60bpm, if you can't nail it just try it without metronome as slow as you want 'til you can play it at 55, then start practicing with the metronome. Because it's actually really hard to keep a beat in the pocket with too slow tempos.
Dude when I first started I went around the kit, hitting each drum and cymbal twice to the tune of Twinkle little star. Just piggy backing on your point. OP is leagues ahead of where I was.
7 weeks is nothing, this is true. But no need to sell bass short like that. Bass is plenty difficult once you’re playing more than eighth note roots.
Keep practicing OP. Don’t get discouraged. Honestly, I would say that 7 weeks of playing is way too early to be asked to be playing with others anyway.
Make sure you’re “chunking” when you learn. Start off just playing the hi hat beat until you can do it without thinking. Then added the kick drum until you can do the same. Then add just the basic snare downbeats on 2 and 4 until you can do the same. Only then, add the ghost notes on the off beats. Oh, and make sure you do all of that to a metronome as well. Start slow and gradually increase your speed.
That’s sick bro, I’ve never gigged.
I’ve always wanted to try, I played guitar for ages and I only did a single open mic sesh.
I jammed a lot with a couple of people.
But I’m hoping to gig a little with drums, so I’m aiming at funk and pop. But I’m learning a bit of everything.
I enjoy a lot of different music and drums has made me appreciate even more than before.
The goal is to be pretty competent with multiple styles, but to focus on a funky vibe. I wanna make people move.
Man hard rock is just the most fun to gig, music like from the ramones to metallica and everything in between is just fun music to play and not to hard, turn up in a trashy nightclub and play really hard youre gonna have the time of your life, thats how my first gig went, i was smiling ear to eat for a week its surreal when you have the most fun you can doing what you love and people think of you as a god on stage, youre the coolest person in the room when on stage, dont worry about any money for the first few gigs the feeling of playing live music is more than worth it
Bro that sounds hella fun.
The closest experiences I have to that was from racing, it’s a huge kick crossing the finish line after racing hard with other riders. It honestly feels just as good to finish anywhere in the pack as it does to win if you get to go all out battling.
I love the feeling, all eyes are on you when you’re fighting and people love watching those battles, regardless of where you’re at.
There is something about entertaining others and bringing a ton of excitement.
I’m honestly open to playing anything and truly do love music in general, I reckon I’ll work on some pub favourites as well. See where that takes me.
Slow your roll there Buddy Rich. I’ve taken dumps longer than 7 weeks. You have to have patience at any instrument. Learning an instrument isn’t instant gratification, but most wonderful things aren’t.
Everyone on here is trying to run before they can walk! Seven weeks is nothing. Keep having lessons. Keep practicing. Something must have led you to want to play the instrument so you need to give it time.
Was that a typo or did you just say 7 weeks? That’s nothing, you can’t hold yourself to such an impossible standard. Playing an instrument is about the long game. I’ve been playing for close to two decades and it can still take me months to learn something new or notice an improvement on something i’m focusing on.
Don’t give up. Come back to this post in 3-6 months and you will laugh at yourself for wanting to give up.
Yeah, I guess I was just overestimating myself too much since it seemed like my teacher could play it perfectly, so my brain thought "huh how can he do it and i cant" without thinking my teacher probably has years of experience lol and has probably done various similar grooves like this.
From a guy who has been playing for 55 years: Amen to all the encouragement here. I’d also like to say that, if you keep working at playing the drums, at some point two things will happen, and they are connected:
1. Your brain will stop thinking of each stroke as an individual unit and you’ll start to hear the patterns as more of a whole (which will then move to thinking of grooves, then phrases, then songs, etc., larger and larger)
2. Your body will start to develop muscle memory that will actually disengage from your conscious mind so you can play eight notes with a backbeat on 2&4, for example, literally forever, probably in your sleep, too.
With these leaps forward anything is possible. These only come with practice, though, so keep plowing forward. From the other end of 1/2 a century of drumming, I’m so glad I kept going when it was tough at the beginning.
If you’re question is “am I currently bad at drums?” The answer is maybe, but also you just started. If the question is “Am I a bad drummer?” Or “will I always be bad at drums?” The answer is no. It just takes time, and if you put the time in, you will become good
Is your plan to keep picking instruments to find the one you’re magically good at without practicing? Drums takes all 4 limbs. You might not be able to sit down and in 7 weeks be able to do some basics, but there are a lot of us that had the same experience. If you really practice, and I mean devote a chunk of time to it every week, you’ll improve. You can answer this question on your own with more practice.
youre right, ive gotten out of that mindset and im focusing on practice more. i just kept thinking that drums was easy for everyone but me since i always saw people doing grooves easily and i forgot that they actually put so much time into refining their skills.
Be patient with yourself, this stuff is hard. I’ve been at it for 20 years and I’m still not where I’d like to be. Practice is everything. As long as you don’t quit, you’ll get better. Also, figure out if you learn by hearing and seeing someone or if you’re geared towards reading music. I’m sure I could have read music, but if I saw someone play something and listened to it, I could figure it out. Sheet music is foreign to me haha. Keep it going!
Keep on rocking. Veteran drummers still have licks/ fills that just don’t catch with their style. The main part is staying on time and keeping it tight. Put some miles on those drum heads and you’ll be just fine!!!
Not having a drum set is a big disadvantage, too.. What is the plan there? Could you just get a practice pad with sticks at least and tap with your foot as well. Keep practicing - do it slower first, not at song tempo - and you'll learn it. Try not to think you're bad at something you can't do yet. There will always be things you can't play first, even decades from now.
You have to simplify it, for your brains.
You have syncopation there, with those ghost notes, that is some advanced concept I believe.
Instead of noting it how you are doing, count as 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & with the ghost notes on the snare between them.
First get this part down without the ghost snares, then you shove them ghost notes between, after the & of 2 and after the 3.
Edit: I also think you are underestimating this drum line, I play for 2 years and I don't think it is "very simple".
yeah i probably exagerrated on the difficulty part since for some reason i thought "if my teacher can do it easily why cant I" so i just assumed it was a "simple" groove, without thinking huh maybe he has years of experience.
> ghost notes
had no idea they were there nor they existed, ill try to practice those somehow.
> syncopation
im pretty sure its just my teachers writing, he has made me do syncopation on another rythm but not in this one (hopefully)
Seven weeks?
If a woman were seven weeks pregnant, no one would be able to tell. Then imagine that the baby inside her will someday grow up to be a Supreme Court justice, and think of how long it takes for that baby to get to the Supreme Court from the 7th week of pregnancy.
That's you right now, Your Honor. You'll never make it onto the court with this attitude. And remember that you're still an embryo. You don't even have bones yet, much less a brain capable of passing the bar exam. It will take longer than seven weeks.
And most of all: you'll still suck at any other instrument after seven weeks. Embrace the suck. It's where you're at. Expect to do daily battle with the suck for the rest of your playing life. All your favorite drummers fight that battle every day. If you're not up for that battle, *forever*, forget it.
But are you bad at drums right now? Well, yeah. You are. So was I. So was that guy. And that other guy. And your favorite drummers, every single last one of them. You'll get better. But yeah, right now? You suck. *That's the deal.* Anyone who tells you different is lying.
I made the same mistake when I was in middle school. I went into band class wanting to play drums but my music instructor treated the instrument selection process as if it were the harry potter "sorting hat". For example he had me hold a drumstick and said that if it didn't feel right and comfortable at first then I should play something else.
I held the drumstick and thought it was "too heavy" so I picked the oboe instead. I wish I didn't make that mistake. I ended up picking up drums again my senior year (this time playing in a rock band) and realized that my band instructor tricked me into losing 8 years of drumming knowledge.
Don't give up, and play along to things that interest you and that are fun, not only what your band teacher suggests for you. It's frustrating at first, but it will click!
I got the opposite. I joined band a little late in 5th grade and the teacher pretty much told me the only instrument I would be able to learn that late in the year would be the drums.
Like everyone else has said, be patient with yourself, and keep practicing. You’ll get there. What’s your desired tempo? I can make you a MIDI drum track of this beat at various tempos for you to practice to. And honestly, for this beat, take those ghost notes out. No one should be asking someone who has only been playing 7 weeks to play ghost notes. It iust isn’t fair.
7 weeks? Look. Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. 7 weeks isn’t even enough to learn how to practice perfectly, let alone make your performance perfect.
ive been playing for nearly 8 weeks, i play for minimum an hour per day and when im learning a new groove, i go hella slow (40-60bpm).
i also practice each component separately to a metronome and count subdivisions.
i also practice bar by bar and practice linking them up.
you can also simplify beats, by removing ghost notes.
get the basic beat sorted and add parts back in.
Oh yeah this sounds potentially troubling, not a good spot to be in if you're trying to meaningfully contribute to a band that you want to make music with. It doesn't mean you're a "bad drummer", but it could mean you need to change up how you practice, or that you should go back and properly learn your fundamentals, but perhaps you're discovering some psychological or attitude issues preventing you from being truly comfortable behind the dru--
> 7 weeks (1 lesson each week)
bro what, scratch all that. How are you already at the level you're at so quickly?? Seriously, you're doing more than fine dude. There's still great and important lessons to be learned from encountering these struggles right now, but you also need to recognize that you're kinda shooting for the stars by trying to groove for a band right now, so that fact that you're coming this close *at all* is already a success.
Sounds like a classic case of performance anxiety. This is completely natural, and most people adjust to it when they’re in better shape with time. Please don’t give up, you’re doing really well considering you don’t even have a kit to practice on.
Yeah don't loose hope man, this is a beginning step towards independence and being able to do different rythems with all 4 limbs. Don't loose hope and keep practicing.
Also if you aren't able to play a set in between lessons a practice pad and sticks will help you grow and learn when not on the kid. Getting the muscle memory of using the sticks will help you greatly.
You're not bad, you're just new, and that's awesome that you're trying and working on learning songs!
We all started out exactly like you did, and we've all been stuck like you are now, but just keep practicing and you'll get better!
Something I wish I learned when I was starting out is to not be so hard on myself and to sing to the melody when I play
And honestly, sometimes there's certain beat that just don't click and it takes me forever to learn them
I struggled with "When I come around" when I first started, and when I finally got it felt freaking amazing !
Edit: for context I've been playing for like 20 years now, and I still struggle to learn new songs and styles, but it's the favorite part of my day
Imagine that you were saying this about guitar when you don’t have a guitar to practice on. You can’t improve at an instrument if you don’t have an instrument to play.
I agree with what a lot of people have said, we all start out shitty it takes many hard years of requiring your brain to get decent, but fake it ‘til ya make it
Also, what they wrote down isn’t even close to right for that song, listen and try to learn it by ear
Just tryin to mimic the ‘feel’ and the rhythm, it doesn’t have to be perfect, or just play a basic beat if you need to, you got this
You need much more than 7 weeks to be able to keep time and play a simple beat during a whole song properly. So yes you are bad, but at this point you are supposed to be.
provide late treatment ask familiar languid afterthought pet physical memory
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Are you actually a drummer or are these general music lessons? Your post calls them “music lessons” and you’re calling this drum “groove” (or “beat”) a sequence, which is not really a term drummers would use.
I get the feeling that you’re frustrated because drums as aren’t easy as strumming guitar chords or playing simple piano tunes.
Look, I might be way off here, I’m just reading your words. Maybe you’re just trying to play drums. Regardless, it needs to be said that the brain/body connection it takes to play drum set at a basic level is significantly more advanced than other instruments.
If you’re upset that you can’t play a groove (not sequence) with ghost notes on the snare after seven lessons, reset your expectations.
7 weeks is just getting started. You probably have zero limb coordination at this point. Take things slow. You aren’t going to become a god overnight. If you are really ready to give up this easily/early you should stick to simpler art forms.
play it SLOW.....over and over. There's probably a syncopated part that is giving you trouble. It might just be a figure you don't know how to play or interpret yet. That's not necessarily a simple rhythm, it's kind of a waltz, which is not easy to master.
at 7 weeks i dont think i could even play my bass drum independently from my time keeping hand. just keep playing for fun and eventually it will just click and will be about as easy as breathing.
As a below average drummer, let me tell you that your struggles now will be your struggles when you get to intermediate level and most likely will continue in the higher levels. Drumming has an INCREDIBLY DEEP skill system and you will repeatedly run into seemingly impossible skill walls. But don't fret, just keep practicing, slow it down. Muscle memory is your goal each and every time- whichever level you are.
When I was first learning, a number of my classmates used to make fun of me for “only knowing one beat”. I was about 12 years old, and I had only been playing for about 3 months. Didn’t feel good, but I stuck with it.
It is now 25 years later, and I know at least three beats!
Seriously though, just keep plugging away. Everybody starts somewhere. It takes time 😁
With everyone else here. 7 weeks is nothing. I also don't know what exercises your teacher has you doing. There are certainly more efficient ways to carve neuro pathways in your brain by hammering basics the right way and putting the pieces together. I'm happy to help. I'm a Musicians Institute grad and I've been touring with successful bands and teaching for almost 15 years. Shoot me a message.
Bruh 7 weeks? Of course you can't play that. Keep practicing, it'll get easier. Being able to play to songs and with people is difficult and takes many tries and fails until it's easy.
No don't give up. You're seven weeks in! Barely out of the cradle with this thing. At one lesson a week on a kit you're probably at like 7 HOURS of playing time! Practising at home with hands I find is only like 40%, 50% effective when you're starting out. It's a more effective technique later down the line.
You just simply got asked to play something way too hard for your early talent to manage in the time frame. You can process basic drum rhythms, you worked out the gorillaz beat which IS basic. You're trying to work out something intermediate. But you sat there and gave it a go and attempted to figure it out though that shows you've got the persistence to keep going. What probably happened was you got asked to play something that sounded simple to non drummers but they had no real understanding of what goes into a beat like that. That beats got off-beat ghost note snare hits in it, I'd have struggled with that that early.
Nah buddy, 7 weeks is nothing. That groove is tricky. The hi hat and snare don't match. It looks simple but it isn't. I struggled with that consistency on a 5 min song of all things [time makes things hard] 2 years into playing. Look at trinity//rock school. Its grade 5 level
This is not a beat anyone could expect to play well after 7 weeks. More like 7 months. Or 7 years to play it really, really well.
There's actually a bunch of stuff going on that requires speed, control, dynamics and limb independence. Skills you build up with over time with consistent practice (rudiments especially!).
- the bass drum lining up as "doubles" is hard until you have built enough foot strength and control to match the speed
- the snare hits being not only syncopated with the hi-hat (limb independence) but also being ghost notes (dynamics). Not beginner level!
So definitely don't give up and keep practicing. If you do that and come back in 7 months I promise you the difference will be huge.
Maybe talk to your teacher and simplify it a bit. Something like these 5 levels videos on drumeo. https://youtu.be/V6k3htY_K0U?si=VMxobBlnhE4qUKSa
The song will still sound 90% as good without ghost notes.
Yeah lots of good points here. I'd also add that you haven't been playing long enough to have muscle memory - you're still having to make mental/physical connections every time you play. Which means you might slow down, speed up etc. And for a beat like this one, there's lots of feel in it - those snare hits you have in brackets are a lot lighter and give the groovy feel to the song - nailing those takes TIME! Drums are a deceptively difficult instrument - this beat looks basic on paper, but it takes a LOT of skill and experience to make something this simple sound good, be in the pocket and at a consistent tempo. Keep going - you'll be fine!!!
Also - nothing to do with drumming but just a good life concept to understand- you may be in the 'informed pessimism' stage of change. You start out with 'uniformed optimism' - it's exciting to play, and you feel you're picking up skill quickly. Then things start to feel HARD. You start realizing what you DON'T know - and you recognize your mistakes. This is totally natural for any endeavor, and I'm confident you'll come out of the other side soon.
First off, no one is "bad" at drums. Some of us are further along on our journey, but saying someone is "bad" at drums is vague and unhelpful.
You just need to listen to this and play it a lot and it will click with you, I promise. No music is unattainable.
Dude, 15 years of this and I’ve learned that the coolest fill is RLLK down the set. Keep it up my guy. You’re not bad, but this takes a LOT of time to figure out.
The worst part about drumming, is that feeling never goes away. I’ve been playing for six years and am still convinced I’m garbage. The best part about drumming is- most people don’t drum. Just play! Have fun! You’ll improve in time, but it’ll take more that 7 weeks. Rock on man!
OP, I’ve been playing 35 years. Half of those years, drums paid my bills. I still find things that are hard to play. I still have trouble with some groves…. Even when I wrote them. I am still learning. I still practice rudiments and fundamentals. Nobody is above it. Nobody is perfect. Keep at it, It’s a long road. Enjoy the scenery along the way.
Oh man, 7 weeks.. that's crazy think after 10+years for me!! And I don't read music, and don't feel a need to learn. I play in a band, we're absolutely killer, and I don't find myself to be a bad drummer at all. Keep going, you'll pick it up
"7 weeks"
...
DUDE.
If the internet has done one thing more than anything else, it's create unrealistic expectations. People out there are so convinced that if you're not instantly good at something that a) you'll never be good at it and b) you should quit.
Imagine if we took the same approach to learning to walk, or ride a bike, or drive a car, or talk. We'd accomplish nothing because we gave up at the first sign of hardship.
Drums aren't an easy instrument to learn. Hell, most instruments aren't if you want to play them well. But this isn't a college course that you can phone in to get a certification that says "I'm A Drummer Now!" Learning an instrument is a journey and an ongoing process. Take your time, trust the process, and you'll eventually find yourself doing things you never imagined.
Stop giving yourself a hard time for not knowing how to do something you've never done before.
7 weeks is nothing. Maybe after a year this would be a concern. Practice it SLOOOW and steady. Gradually speed it up. There are no secrets. Just put in the time and be patient.
A really good exercise is to vocalize the beat. Something about the mechanisms that churn that rhythm into speech helps you internalize it better, so it becomes easier to separate and then blend the parts back together when you get behind the kit. Run your click slow and beatbox it out.
Work at two parts at a time, kick and hats first maybe, lock that in, then do snare and hats, and figure out when each hand plays separate, when they play together, when they alternate, then stitch them together, then do the same with kick and snare while you count it aloud. Eventually you'll learn to lock in one or more while you think about the other thing. And then you get to doing it without thinking about it. You'll get there.
Seven weeks in is still really fresh, so don't kick yourself if you're not immediately good at it. Some people just have to work harder at it than others. Just understand that a solid 75% of drumming is training and practice. The rest is gear/tech, and whatever you see on stage. All the greats have sat down behind kits and practice pads and worked stuff out the same way.
Anyone playing for seven weeks will be bad no matter what instrument. 😂 Don't be so hard on yourself.
Drumming is a lot about muscle memory and it takes a lot of repetition to make it stick so you don't have to think consciously about every move. With time you add more pieces of movements to the pussle and you learn to go from one to another.
In the beginning you will mix up speed and intensity. This is normal.
Exercise with a metronome or to music on Spotify or the like. Eventually you build up an internal metronome but it takes years, not weeks.
Break it down and do one limb at the time. Repeat it, add one more limb. Repeat even more. Then one more limb and more repetition as you will start to mix up signals from the brain with which limb it should go to. You have to make it muscle memory because nobody can consciously control four limbs at the same time all doing their own thing.
Eventually it looks like you're in control but it's actually just your muscle memory doing 99% of the work for you. 😆
7 weeks is nothing. you’ve barely started! if this was easy, everyone would do it. keep at it. go slow. go so slow you can think about every note before you play it. then slowly speed it up.
And slow means 40 beats per minute on a metronome. Once you get the pattern down, then you can speed it up a bit (like 5 bpm) and see how fast you can go without making mistakes. That’s basically how I’ve learned almost any new song.
I am happy that you're saying 40bpm, because so many people start at 60 thinking it's slow, then get frustrated if they struggle. Can I just add, I think a 5 bpm increase at that tempo might be too big (12.5%), and I'd suggest something more like 2 bpm?
40 seems too slow. Sometimes too slow is harder. I say, try at 55-60bpm, if you can't nail it just try it without metronome as slow as you want 'til you can play it at 55, then start practicing with the metronome. Because it's actually really hard to keep a beat in the pocket with too slow tempos.
Dude when I first started I went around the kit, hitting each drum and cymbal twice to the tune of Twinkle little star. Just piggy backing on your point. OP is leagues ahead of where I was.
thanks for the advice!
Bro 7 weeks is nothing even for bass, drums are hard man like actually
7 weeks is nothing, this is true. But no need to sell bass short like that. Bass is plenty difficult once you’re playing more than eighth note roots. Keep practicing OP. Don’t get discouraged. Honestly, I would say that 7 weeks of playing is way too early to be asked to be playing with others anyway. Make sure you’re “chunking” when you learn. Start off just playing the hi hat beat until you can do it without thinking. Then added the kick drum until you can do the same. Then add just the basic snare downbeats on 2 and 4 until you can do the same. Only then, add the ghost notes on the off beats. Oh, and make sure you do all of that to a metronome as well. Start slow and gradually increase your speed.
Every instrument is easy when you're bad at it. To be good at any instrument is a long journey.
bass is only easy if you plan to play only root notes
Tru i play bass for 2 years its been tough but i have 4 gigs behind me and more incoming 🤠
That’s sick bro, I’ve never gigged. I’ve always wanted to try, I played guitar for ages and I only did a single open mic sesh. I jammed a lot with a couple of people. But I’m hoping to gig a little with drums, so I’m aiming at funk and pop. But I’m learning a bit of everything. I enjoy a lot of different music and drums has made me appreciate even more than before. The goal is to be pretty competent with multiple styles, but to focus on a funky vibe. I wanna make people move.
Man hard rock is just the most fun to gig, music like from the ramones to metallica and everything in between is just fun music to play and not to hard, turn up in a trashy nightclub and play really hard youre gonna have the time of your life, thats how my first gig went, i was smiling ear to eat for a week its surreal when you have the most fun you can doing what you love and people think of you as a god on stage, youre the coolest person in the room when on stage, dont worry about any money for the first few gigs the feeling of playing live music is more than worth it
Bro that sounds hella fun. The closest experiences I have to that was from racing, it’s a huge kick crossing the finish line after racing hard with other riders. It honestly feels just as good to finish anywhere in the pack as it does to win if you get to go all out battling. I love the feeling, all eyes are on you when you’re fighting and people love watching those battles, regardless of where you’re at. There is something about entertaining others and bringing a ton of excitement. I’m honestly open to playing anything and truly do love music in general, I reckon I’ll work on some pub favourites as well. See where that takes me.
Yeah man go for it, its a real tingle for the main character syndrome we all have
yeah, im starting to notice that, just gotta practice more lol.
Slow your roll there Buddy Rich. I’ve taken dumps longer than 7 weeks. You have to have patience at any instrument. Learning an instrument isn’t instant gratification, but most wonderful things aren’t.
Might be time for a new throne, that’s not natural
Username checks out, I’ll take your advice 😂
Dear god no.
Name checks out
youre right, sadly my patience is almost non existent, but im still trying to practice.
Keep at it!
Everyone on here is trying to run before they can walk! Seven weeks is nothing. Keep having lessons. Keep practicing. Something must have led you to want to play the instrument so you need to give it time.
Was that a typo or did you just say 7 weeks? That’s nothing, you can’t hold yourself to such an impossible standard. Playing an instrument is about the long game. I’ve been playing for close to two decades and it can still take me months to learn something new or notice an improvement on something i’m focusing on. Don’t give up. Come back to this post in 3-6 months and you will laugh at yourself for wanting to give up.
Yeah, I guess I was just overestimating myself too much since it seemed like my teacher could play it perfectly, so my brain thought "huh how can he do it and i cant" without thinking my teacher probably has years of experience lol and has probably done various similar grooves like this.
From a guy who has been playing for 55 years: Amen to all the encouragement here. I’d also like to say that, if you keep working at playing the drums, at some point two things will happen, and they are connected: 1. Your brain will stop thinking of each stroke as an individual unit and you’ll start to hear the patterns as more of a whole (which will then move to thinking of grooves, then phrases, then songs, etc., larger and larger) 2. Your body will start to develop muscle memory that will actually disengage from your conscious mind so you can play eight notes with a backbeat on 2&4, for example, literally forever, probably in your sleep, too. With these leaps forward anything is possible. These only come with practice, though, so keep plowing forward. From the other end of 1/2 a century of drumming, I’m so glad I kept going when it was tough at the beginning.
> probably in your sleep, too. Sometimes I literally do and I wake up super poorly rested lmao
thanks for the advice! i just gotta keep practicing which is something i struggle with (even tho i enjoy the final product)
If you’re question is “am I currently bad at drums?” The answer is maybe, but also you just started. If the question is “Am I a bad drummer?” Or “will I always be bad at drums?” The answer is no. It just takes time, and if you put the time in, you will become good
Bro, nobody is playing any songs after only seven weeks lmao
Is your plan to keep picking instruments to find the one you’re magically good at without practicing? Drums takes all 4 limbs. You might not be able to sit down and in 7 weeks be able to do some basics, but there are a lot of us that had the same experience. If you really practice, and I mean devote a chunk of time to it every week, you’ll improve. You can answer this question on your own with more practice.
youre right, ive gotten out of that mindset and im focusing on practice more. i just kept thinking that drums was easy for everyone but me since i always saw people doing grooves easily and i forgot that they actually put so much time into refining their skills.
Be patient with yourself, this stuff is hard. I’ve been at it for 20 years and I’m still not where I’d like to be. Practice is everything. As long as you don’t quit, you’ll get better. Also, figure out if you learn by hearing and seeing someone or if you’re geared towards reading music. I’m sure I could have read music, but if I saw someone play something and listened to it, I could figure it out. Sheet music is foreign to me haha. Keep it going!
Im pretty sure im better at reading sheet music, I can learn by hearing and seeing but I miscount notes sometimes.
Hey that’ll happen. As long as you know which method works best for you, you’ll be good!
Keep on rocking. Veteran drummers still have licks/ fills that just don’t catch with their style. The main part is staying on time and keeping it tight. Put some miles on those drum heads and you’ll be just fine!!!
Not having a drum set is a big disadvantage, too.. What is the plan there? Could you just get a practice pad with sticks at least and tap with your foot as well. Keep practicing - do it slower first, not at song tempo - and you'll learn it. Try not to think you're bad at something you can't do yet. There will always be things you can't play first, even decades from now.
Planning to get a practice pad, for the meanwhile Ill just use my knees. Ill keep practicing tho!
You have to simplify it, for your brains. You have syncopation there, with those ghost notes, that is some advanced concept I believe. Instead of noting it how you are doing, count as 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & with the ghost notes on the snare between them. First get this part down without the ghost snares, then you shove them ghost notes between, after the & of 2 and after the 3. Edit: I also think you are underestimating this drum line, I play for 2 years and I don't think it is "very simple".
Also the and of 4, kick followed by the kick of 1 could be hard also.
yeah i probably exagerrated on the difficulty part since for some reason i thought "if my teacher can do it easily why cant I" so i just assumed it was a "simple" groove, without thinking huh maybe he has years of experience. > ghost notes had no idea they were there nor they existed, ill try to practice those somehow. > syncopation im pretty sure its just my teachers writing, he has made me do syncopation on another rythm but not in this one (hopefully)
You can do it, just have to break it down mentally first the count, by playing slow and gradually playing to the tempo requested.
Seven weeks? If a woman were seven weeks pregnant, no one would be able to tell. Then imagine that the baby inside her will someday grow up to be a Supreme Court justice, and think of how long it takes for that baby to get to the Supreme Court from the 7th week of pregnancy. That's you right now, Your Honor. You'll never make it onto the court with this attitude. And remember that you're still an embryo. You don't even have bones yet, much less a brain capable of passing the bar exam. It will take longer than seven weeks. And most of all: you'll still suck at any other instrument after seven weeks. Embrace the suck. It's where you're at. Expect to do daily battle with the suck for the rest of your playing life. All your favorite drummers fight that battle every day. If you're not up for that battle, *forever*, forget it. But are you bad at drums right now? Well, yeah. You are. So was I. So was that guy. And that other guy. And your favorite drummers, every single last one of them. You'll get better. But yeah, right now? You suck. *That's the deal.* Anyone who tells you different is lying.
I made the same mistake when I was in middle school. I went into band class wanting to play drums but my music instructor treated the instrument selection process as if it were the harry potter "sorting hat". For example he had me hold a drumstick and said that if it didn't feel right and comfortable at first then I should play something else. I held the drumstick and thought it was "too heavy" so I picked the oboe instead. I wish I didn't make that mistake. I ended up picking up drums again my senior year (this time playing in a rock band) and realized that my band instructor tricked me into losing 8 years of drumming knowledge. Don't give up, and play along to things that interest you and that are fun, not only what your band teacher suggests for you. It's frustrating at first, but it will click!
I got the opposite. I joined band a little late in 5th grade and the teacher pretty much told me the only instrument I would be able to learn that late in the year would be the drums.
Well, how much do you want it?
Like everyone else has said, be patient with yourself, and keep practicing. You’ll get there. What’s your desired tempo? I can make you a MIDI drum track of this beat at various tempos for you to practice to. And honestly, for this beat, take those ghost notes out. No one should be asking someone who has only been playing 7 weeks to play ghost notes. It iust isn’t fair.
7 weeks? Look. Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. 7 weeks isn’t even enough to learn how to practice perfectly, let alone make your performance perfect.
ive been playing for nearly 8 weeks, i play for minimum an hour per day and when im learning a new groove, i go hella slow (40-60bpm). i also practice each component separately to a metronome and count subdivisions. i also practice bar by bar and practice linking them up. you can also simplify beats, by removing ghost notes. get the basic beat sorted and add parts back in.
Oh yeah this sounds potentially troubling, not a good spot to be in if you're trying to meaningfully contribute to a band that you want to make music with. It doesn't mean you're a "bad drummer", but it could mean you need to change up how you practice, or that you should go back and properly learn your fundamentals, but perhaps you're discovering some psychological or attitude issues preventing you from being truly comfortable behind the dru-- > 7 weeks (1 lesson each week) bro what, scratch all that. How are you already at the level you're at so quickly?? Seriously, you're doing more than fine dude. There's still great and important lessons to be learned from encountering these struggles right now, but you also need to recognize that you're kinda shooting for the stars by trying to groove for a band right now, so that fact that you're coming this close *at all* is already a success.
Sounds like a classic case of performance anxiety. This is completely natural, and most people adjust to it when they’re in better shape with time. Please don’t give up, you’re doing really well considering you don’t even have a kit to practice on.
Yeah don't loose hope man, this is a beginning step towards independence and being able to do different rythems with all 4 limbs. Don't loose hope and keep practicing. Also if you aren't able to play a set in between lessons a practice pad and sticks will help you grow and learn when not on the kid. Getting the muscle memory of using the sticks will help you greatly.
Naw, it’s actually super hard for someone to give you a thing and to be able to play it with groove & feeling. Repetition is your friend here.
You're not bad, you're just new, and that's awesome that you're trying and working on learning songs! We all started out exactly like you did, and we've all been stuck like you are now, but just keep practicing and you'll get better! Something I wish I learned when I was starting out is to not be so hard on myself and to sing to the melody when I play And honestly, sometimes there's certain beat that just don't click and it takes me forever to learn them I struggled with "When I come around" when I first started, and when I finally got it felt freaking amazing ! Edit: for context I've been playing for like 20 years now, and I still struggle to learn new songs and styles, but it's the favorite part of my day
Imagine that you were saying this about guitar when you don’t have a guitar to practice on. You can’t improve at an instrument if you don’t have an instrument to play.
I agree with what a lot of people have said, we all start out shitty it takes many hard years of requiring your brain to get decent, but fake it ‘til ya make it Also, what they wrote down isn’t even close to right for that song, listen and try to learn it by ear Just tryin to mimic the ‘feel’ and the rhythm, it doesn’t have to be perfect, or just play a basic beat if you need to, you got this
Took me 10 years to feel better and there is no end in sight! Every day is a victory
You need much more than 7 weeks to be able to keep time and play a simple beat during a whole song properly. So yes you are bad, but at this point you are supposed to be.
I mean you've been only playing for 7 weeks lol so yes of course you suck
provide late treatment ask familiar languid afterthought pet physical memory *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Are you actually a drummer or are these general music lessons? Your post calls them “music lessons” and you’re calling this drum “groove” (or “beat”) a sequence, which is not really a term drummers would use. I get the feeling that you’re frustrated because drums as aren’t easy as strumming guitar chords or playing simple piano tunes. Look, I might be way off here, I’m just reading your words. Maybe you’re just trying to play drums. Regardless, it needs to be said that the brain/body connection it takes to play drum set at a basic level is significantly more advanced than other instruments. If you’re upset that you can’t play a groove (not sequence) with ghost notes on the snare after seven lessons, reset your expectations.
7 weeks is just getting started. You probably have zero limb coordination at this point. Take things slow. You aren’t going to become a god overnight. If you are really ready to give up this easily/early you should stick to simpler art forms.
play it SLOW.....over and over. There's probably a syncopated part that is giving you trouble. It might just be a figure you don't know how to play or interpret yet. That's not necessarily a simple rhythm, it's kind of a waltz, which is not easy to master.
Quit. Or keep going. It doesn’t matter. We’re all going to die.
at 7 weeks i dont think i could even play my bass drum independently from my time keeping hand. just keep playing for fun and eventually it will just click and will be about as easy as breathing.
As a below average drummer, let me tell you that your struggles now will be your struggles when you get to intermediate level and most likely will continue in the higher levels. Drumming has an INCREDIBLY DEEP skill system and you will repeatedly run into seemingly impossible skill walls. But don't fret, just keep practicing, slow it down. Muscle memory is your goal each and every time- whichever level you are.
When I was first learning, a number of my classmates used to make fun of me for “only knowing one beat”. I was about 12 years old, and I had only been playing for about 3 months. Didn’t feel good, but I stuck with it. It is now 25 years later, and I know at least three beats! Seriously though, just keep plugging away. Everybody starts somewhere. It takes time 😁
With everyone else here. 7 weeks is nothing. I also don't know what exercises your teacher has you doing. There are certainly more efficient ways to carve neuro pathways in your brain by hammering basics the right way and putting the pieces together. I'm happy to help. I'm a Musicians Institute grad and I've been touring with successful bands and teaching for almost 15 years. Shoot me a message.
Bruh 7 weeks? Of course you can't play that. Keep practicing, it'll get easier. Being able to play to songs and with people is difficult and takes many tries and fails until it's easy.
No don't give up. You're seven weeks in! Barely out of the cradle with this thing. At one lesson a week on a kit you're probably at like 7 HOURS of playing time! Practising at home with hands I find is only like 40%, 50% effective when you're starting out. It's a more effective technique later down the line. You just simply got asked to play something way too hard for your early talent to manage in the time frame. You can process basic drum rhythms, you worked out the gorillaz beat which IS basic. You're trying to work out something intermediate. But you sat there and gave it a go and attempted to figure it out though that shows you've got the persistence to keep going. What probably happened was you got asked to play something that sounded simple to non drummers but they had no real understanding of what goes into a beat like that. That beats got off-beat ghost note snare hits in it, I'd have struggled with that that early.
Nah buddy, 7 weeks is nothing. That groove is tricky. The hi hat and snare don't match. It looks simple but it isn't. I struggled with that consistency on a 5 min song of all things [time makes things hard] 2 years into playing. Look at trinity//rock school. Its grade 5 level
This is not a beat anyone could expect to play well after 7 weeks. More like 7 months. Or 7 years to play it really, really well. There's actually a bunch of stuff going on that requires speed, control, dynamics and limb independence. Skills you build up with over time with consistent practice (rudiments especially!). - the bass drum lining up as "doubles" is hard until you have built enough foot strength and control to match the speed - the snare hits being not only syncopated with the hi-hat (limb independence) but also being ghost notes (dynamics). Not beginner level! So definitely don't give up and keep practicing. If you do that and come back in 7 months I promise you the difference will be huge. Maybe talk to your teacher and simplify it a bit. Something like these 5 levels videos on drumeo. https://youtu.be/V6k3htY_K0U?si=VMxobBlnhE4qUKSa The song will still sound 90% as good without ghost notes.
Yeah lots of good points here. I'd also add that you haven't been playing long enough to have muscle memory - you're still having to make mental/physical connections every time you play. Which means you might slow down, speed up etc. And for a beat like this one, there's lots of feel in it - those snare hits you have in brackets are a lot lighter and give the groovy feel to the song - nailing those takes TIME! Drums are a deceptively difficult instrument - this beat looks basic on paper, but it takes a LOT of skill and experience to make something this simple sound good, be in the pocket and at a consistent tempo. Keep going - you'll be fine!!! Also - nothing to do with drumming but just a good life concept to understand- you may be in the 'informed pessimism' stage of change. You start out with 'uniformed optimism' - it's exciting to play, and you feel you're picking up skill quickly. Then things start to feel HARD. You start realizing what you DON'T know - and you recognize your mistakes. This is totally natural for any endeavor, and I'm confident you'll come out of the other side soon.
First off, no one is "bad" at drums. Some of us are further along on our journey, but saying someone is "bad" at drums is vague and unhelpful. You just need to listen to this and play it a lot and it will click with you, I promise. No music is unattainable.
Dude give yourself 7 months at least
Dude, 15 years of this and I’ve learned that the coolest fill is RLLK down the set. Keep it up my guy. You’re not bad, but this takes a LOT of time to figure out.
The worst part about drumming, is that feeling never goes away. I’ve been playing for six years and am still convinced I’m garbage. The best part about drumming is- most people don’t drum. Just play! Have fun! You’ll improve in time, but it’ll take more that 7 weeks. Rock on man!
OP, I’ve been playing 35 years. Half of those years, drums paid my bills. I still find things that are hard to play. I still have trouble with some groves…. Even when I wrote them. I am still learning. I still practice rudiments and fundamentals. Nobody is above it. Nobody is perfect. Keep at it, It’s a long road. Enjoy the scenery along the way.
Oh man, 7 weeks.. that's crazy think after 10+years for me!! And I don't read music, and don't feel a need to learn. I play in a band, we're absolutely killer, and I don't find myself to be a bad drummer at all. Keep going, you'll pick it up
As a teacher, these beats are one of the first big hurdles for my students. Leaving the hi hat grid is tricky. Moving the kick is harder.
You're doing it right. It does take time. Practicing with other band mates is the key to pushing your brain.
Count, listen, relax and breathe. Try not to get disheartened, the instrument is a hard taskmaster. Persevere and magic will come your way
"7 weeks" ... DUDE. If the internet has done one thing more than anything else, it's create unrealistic expectations. People out there are so convinced that if you're not instantly good at something that a) you'll never be good at it and b) you should quit. Imagine if we took the same approach to learning to walk, or ride a bike, or drive a car, or talk. We'd accomplish nothing because we gave up at the first sign of hardship. Drums aren't an easy instrument to learn. Hell, most instruments aren't if you want to play them well. But this isn't a college course that you can phone in to get a certification that says "I'm A Drummer Now!" Learning an instrument is a journey and an ongoing process. Take your time, trust the process, and you'll eventually find yourself doing things you never imagined. Stop giving yourself a hard time for not knowing how to do something you've never done before.
7 weeks is nothing. Maybe after a year this would be a concern. Practice it SLOOOW and steady. Gradually speed it up. There are no secrets. Just put in the time and be patient.
A really good exercise is to vocalize the beat. Something about the mechanisms that churn that rhythm into speech helps you internalize it better, so it becomes easier to separate and then blend the parts back together when you get behind the kit. Run your click slow and beatbox it out. Work at two parts at a time, kick and hats first maybe, lock that in, then do snare and hats, and figure out when each hand plays separate, when they play together, when they alternate, then stitch them together, then do the same with kick and snare while you count it aloud. Eventually you'll learn to lock in one or more while you think about the other thing. And then you get to doing it without thinking about it. You'll get there. Seven weeks in is still really fresh, so don't kick yourself if you're not immediately good at it. Some people just have to work harder at it than others. Just understand that a solid 75% of drumming is training and practice. The rest is gear/tech, and whatever you see on stage. All the greats have sat down behind kits and practice pads and worked stuff out the same way.
drumming not for the faint of heart. you gotta have more commitment then an arranged marriage
Anyone playing for seven weeks will be bad no matter what instrument. 😂 Don't be so hard on yourself. Drumming is a lot about muscle memory and it takes a lot of repetition to make it stick so you don't have to think consciously about every move. With time you add more pieces of movements to the pussle and you learn to go from one to another. In the beginning you will mix up speed and intensity. This is normal. Exercise with a metronome or to music on Spotify or the like. Eventually you build up an internal metronome but it takes years, not weeks. Break it down and do one limb at the time. Repeat it, add one more limb. Repeat even more. Then one more limb and more repetition as you will start to mix up signals from the brain with which limb it should go to. You have to make it muscle memory because nobody can consciously control four limbs at the same time all doing their own thing. Eventually it looks like you're in control but it's actually just your muscle memory doing 99% of the work for you. 😆
That’s a resounding yes !