Radiohead: Creep - My first song

I've decided to try and learn Creep as my first song. I plan to try and learn some of my favorite songs from the Rock Band game.
I searched for sheet music for the song but wasn't able to find any. I did find a note chart for the Rock Band game. That note chart shows the pads that are hit and the pedal, to play the song in the game. This is helpful, but needs to be translated to a real drum kit. In Rock Band you have four pads, in my kit I have 5 drums, a bass drum, 3 cymbals and hi hat each of which can be played in a variety of ways.


I printed out the note chart I found and listened to the song several times following along with the chart. I commented on the chart where different pads translated to different pieces on the kit. And I identified the basic rhythm of the song. The song has four beats per measure but those beats are split in half and even quarters in some places. The basic rhythm is 1 and 2 and a 3 and four and.

I've been practicing this song a little each night. Last night I was exhausted and didn't spend too much time on it but I am having a lot of difficulty being consistent with the bass pedal. Consistently getting the quick two beats has been tough. I think it would be easier if the spring was stronger, the beater doesnt' come back fast enough for me. But Steve Smith in his video says he has his set very light. I'm going to try my other pedal and then maybe tighten the spring and see if that helps. I learned a while ago in Rock Band that you had to develop you leg muscles and those quick beats have always been a problem for me.

I've also learned a lot working on this song. It's not an overly difficult song, and I didn't want to pick one that was too tough for my first song. But it does have a lot of different parts that make it a great learning experience for me. I certainly found that playing a long with a song with a drum track is a lot different than playing a long with one without. While I've learned the basic beats of the songs I'm terrible in the transitions. I still need work on the main groove. I need to incorporate the open hi-hat and cymbal crashes yet. There is still much to learn and practice. And while there is no deadline and I've found that some things just come with time, I'm anxious to get my first song under my belt. But there is still a lot of practice ahead of me to be smooth.