As Hedon says, it's about being predisposed to a certain kind of learning. A good musician is a good musician regardless of their primary instrument.
not true. i tried to learn guitar for years and was terrible at it. it took me forever to learn simple things that others picked up pretty quickly.
rewind several years back to basic training when i picked up a bass drum for the first time in my life and attempted to play along with the others who were mostly ex band geeks. i wasnt too good as i recall, due to need of practice--yet within a week i realized i had completely memorized the somewhat complicated SNARE drum part and could play it back in my head or drum it out on a hard surface verbatim, simply from hearing others play it. i have a good feel for rhythm and beats it seems.
after my guitar got stolen i bought a drum set, and literally within minutes was turning out pretty damn impressive beats, though i had no "technical proficiency" or "technique" whatsoever. it's all in simply feeling the groove.
It's not uncommon for people with a lot of talent to practice long hours because what they play is satisfying - they are receiving encouraging aural feedback.
EXACTLY. guitar was very frustrating for me and because of that i did not practice as hard as i needed to in order to really learn it. yet with drumming coming so natural its nothing to just jump on the set and start playing, and keep playing, and i just get a lot more enjoyment out of it, especially since i can tell that i am improving each time.
everyone is right when they say that natural talent is only part of it though. although im a "natural" it means nothing without practice and experience. i made Cs in school while others who werent as smart as me made straight As, cause they worked their asses off and i didnt. likewise im sure theres plenty of so-so drummers out there who have more years of playing and could out drum me no prob.
my main problem is its extremely difficult for me to read music off paper and then turn that into sounds in my head. like rudiments, i spent forever trying to learn some of them, only to realize that the final sound i was aiming for was one that i could already play perfectly to begin with. once i heard what it was supposed to sound like, i could just play it, or pick it up very quickly. i learn way faster if i put on a song and just play along with it. i envy those who can read a tab or sheet music and immediately translate that into sounds though because it can be really difficult to follow along with a fast or complicated drum beat with all the other distracting noise (singing, guitar, etc) drowning out the beat.
it's definitely not as simple as an all encompassing "being good at music". percussion is a different thing than stringed or other instruments and there a lot of different factors at work that contribute to one's talent or lack thereof.