am i retarded?

vol14

Junior Member
hello there, so i think im a decent drummer i practice alot every day and ive benn playing drums for about 3 years now, but there seems like there is just some things i cant get, no matter how much i practice it, i dont know if its just me or if this happends to every one. the best exempel i can give you is this triplet lick ive been trying to master its a really basic pattern that goes like this: RBL RBL. and so one. so iven been practicing this one lick for about 2 months now every day for 20 min with a metronom starting out slow and eventually speeding up. but i stiil cant play it on command or with perfect controll, so is this normal or am i kind of retarded, i know this might be hard to answers sence not all off you have been traying out this lick, but if have or havant try to answer if you would get this pattern down faster then me and how, and what should i do tr make my practice more effective. thank you
 
A metronome will smooth you out. You aren't dividing up the spaces perfektly. :)
 
It's very difficult to diagnose any sort of learning disability over the internet.

However, what we have here is simply a case of where your brain and your muscles aren't quite on the same page. Take a break from it and come back. Larry's suggestion to use a metronome is excellent, start at slow speeds, master it, get it very nice and even, then raise the tempo a bit.

All of us have weaknesses in playing that we struggle to overcome. I have been working on a ska beat for about a year now, with four on the floor and hi-hats on the "and" of every beat, at about 160 bpm, that for the life of me I can't seem to get to sound good... yet. But as I just recommended, I start slow and build up. I can do it consistently at 140 bpm, so I'm progressing, It's slow, and frustrating, but this isn't an overnight skill, and anyone who says it is, is lying.
 
I know how you feel... I can't get the rllR lrrL paradiddle perm. down to save my life... After like 1-2 years.
 
Some things I just can't get, so I move on and revisit them later, usually they're much easier, and something else I work on will make them alot easier. I know it sounds like a bit of a cop out but if it's pushing you over the edge and you're putting yourself down then there are billion other licks you can master instead.

It's not an easy lick to play, for what it's worth.
 
It's all about muscle memory. The more you do it the more it will come naturally. However we're all different. There are some things that others can do quite naturally that are very difficult for me to do, and then there are other things that I stumble upon almost by accident that I can do very naturally that is hard for others. You're not retarded. Just human lol.
 
There is some really good advice here for you. My question is how much mileage will you actually get from this lick on a gig?
I would focus most of your practice time on groove and feel. I mean its good that your practicing licks and such but don't spend that much time on them. Nobody will really notice, but if you can groove everyone will notice.
 
...some things i cant get, no matter how much i practice...

Chances are that you can get it, you just need to practice more.

Some things will come relatively easily, and some things will take years. It's different for everybody. But there are no shortcuts: hours and days and weeks and months and years of practicing really is the only way to get good.

Keep working at it, and one day you'll wonder why you ever thought it was hard.

Also, I recommend ending every practice session with a few minutes of just messing around having fun doing whatever you want. The idea is to leave the kit with a good feeling about drumming, so you'll want to come back to it sooner.
 
how much mileage will you actually get from this lick on a gig?

Probably lots. He’s just talking about the basic hand-hand-foot triplet, but the foot is in the middle, which I admit is a bit unusual (compared to putting the foot at the end or the beginning). That sticking works pretty well for Billy Ward.
 
You can try moving it around a bit to get the feeling. For instance take your

rbl

and permutate it to

blr

and

lrb

The same order, with a different start, can get the body feeling it.

And perhaps you should reconsider using the word "retard" as a derogatory term.
 
There is nothing wrong with you. It's because the motion that you are using while playing slowly is not the same that is used at speed. Very often the motions become exaggerated when we practice at slow tempos. The motion must decrease in size and you must recruit different muscle groups as you speed up.

This was big with Mangini. He told me repeatedly to " practice slow the way you play fast"

Good luck
 
I've been playing drums for ten years.
There's a local drummer here who's just been playing since highschool.
He can do the fills, the fast double bass, and all that bull snot that kids today think is good drumming.

But when he's playing live, he's all over the place. He's not a time keeper, he's a show off.

Practice to your metronome, and focus on being Charlie Watts instead of Chris Adler.

I've given up on ever being a flashy pretentious drummer. I still work toward it, but I don't expect it to happen. But that's fine, because when a band wants a TIME KEEPER, I always get the job. And that's fact.

So if you can't do certain things, chill out. If it won't come to you in time, and if not, you don't really need it.

Our job is to keep time. If you can't do that, you're not skilled. No matter what anyone else tells you.
 
It's all about muscle memory. The more you do it the more it will come naturally. However we're all different. There are some things that others can do quite naturally that are very difficult for me to do, and then there are other things that I stumble upon almost by accident that I can do very naturally that is hard for others. You're not retarded. Just human lol.


I agree with most of the posts in this thread, but this one ^^^^ pretty well states what I first thought when reading the opening post.

Some things come easy, some things not. But they all require muscle memory and burning those pathways in the brain.
 
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