Black Sabbath · 1970 · drums by Bill Ward
Paranoid
From Paranoid. Intermediate · Straight · metal
Tempo
163BPM
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Feel
- Straight
- Tempo band
- 150+
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
"Work up to it" opens the tempo trainer at 133 and climbs to 163 in steps of four every eight bars. Members get the climb; everyone gets the click.
What the drums do
Written in a lunch break and played like it: fast eighths on the hat with the snare on two and four, a crash to mark the riff, and tom fills that swing more than metal is supposed to. Ward was a jazz drummer, and it shows even here.
Intermediate: Needs independence, a feel, or fills you have to learn.
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.