Black Sabbath · 1970 · drums by Bill Ward
Iron Man
From Paranoid. Beginner · Straight · metal
Tempo
77BPM
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Feel
- Straight
- Tempo band
- Under 90
- Difficulty
- Beginner
"Work up to it" opens the tempo trainer at 47 and climbs to 77 in steps of four every eight bars. Members get the climb; everyone gets the click.
What the drums do
The slow riff with the drums doubling every note of it, then a lumbering backbeat, then the fast outro section where the tempo lifts. The main riff is one of the first things every drummer plays along to.
Beginner: A steady beat and a fill or two — first-gig material.
Bill Ward
- Read the Bill Ward feature →Who they are, how they play, and what to listen to next.
- Bill Ward's drum rig in the Rig Vault →The kit, snare, cymbals and hardware, era by era — look for the 1970 setup.
- Log the sessionNote the BPM you got it clean at, and next time starts from there.
More Bill Ward songs
Songs at about 77 BPM
Practise these together: one click, several songs.