It was only a matter of time before I uploaded a drum lesson for THAT DRUM SOLO from “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who. Keith Moon’s drumming during this 15 second break has to be on of drumming’s greatest moments. I still get goose bumps listening to it!
This drum lesson was inspired by my Greatest Drum Fills List, available for viewing by clicking here. This list was compiled in order to give drummers one almighty database of great drumming moments to search through. My hope is that this list will continue to grow into the web’s No.1 list of famous and popular drum fills.
I’m currently transcribing some of the best drum fills from the list with the aim of producing a new eBook and video accompaniment sometime in the next month or so, so watch this space for more news on that!
Anyway, lets now take a look at arguably Keith Moon’s greatest moment on the drums…
“Won’t Get Fooled Again” – Drum Solo (7:31 Album Version)
So here it is in all of it’s drumming glory and the first thing you might notice is that it’s not overly complicated. There are lots of toms being played but technically the drum solo doesn’t require any special skills to perform…which is cool! 🙂
For the first three lines of the drum solo, Keith comes in on beat 3 of each bar. Beats 1 and 2 are empty in order for the synth keyboard to stand out and for the tension to build.
Every time Keith Moon comes in on the drums his bass drum plays a steady pulse of eighth notes underneath. His hands play over the top of this bass drum pulse without the bass drum being affected.
Keith uses a rhythmic pattern throughout the drum solo that keeps getting repeated. Right from the first bar, Keith plays a three note pattern; two sixteenth notes played on the drums with his hands and one rested. This three note pattern moves across the beats of the bar in such a way that the hands come down with the bass drum and then start in between the bass drum the nest time in an alternating manner. The bass drum occasionally pokes through the gaps left by the hands creating a continuous flow of notes.
Bars 2, 5 and 6 also have a similar idea where one tom is played followed by two snare drum notes. It’s useful to spot these little themes when trying to memories the whole drum solo.
Important Note: The suggested sticking written underneath each bar are just the way I would play it and not a guarantee of the sticking Keith used (although, for the most part it is probably largely accurate). If you want to use a different sticking to get round the drums then of course you can try out your own way as well. Whatever works for you.
Notice how in bar 2 and 3 I suggest that a left hand lead might be more appropriate way to get round the drums. You can of course cross your arms over and play this part right handed if you prefer.
Keith throws in some crash cymbal stabs on the last line before pumping out a solid line of sixteenth notes just before Roger Daltry’s scream. A very powerful and exciting ending to one superb drum solo.
Please contact me through the Drums The Word Facebook page here if you have any questions. Happy drumming to you!
You can DOWNLOAD the FREE PDF drum notation by clicking HERE.
