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C DC

Four-To-The-Floor Metal

AC/DC are one of the greatest rock/metal bands of ali

time. Formed in Sydney, Australia, in 1973 by brothers

Angus Young lead guitar) and Malcolm Young rhythm

quitar). the early incarnation of the band released Can

I Sit Next To You G,r:: in ~:;7~0Ul ::> j.Jl it lall::: iildl y8dl

when the Young brothers relocated to Melbourne. There

they met up with Bon Scott vocais), Philip Rudd drums)

and M ark Evans bass). The early albums TNT 1975)

and High Voltage 1976) showcased their blend of heavy

blues riffs set against a grinding, straight-ahead rhythm

section. By this time, the band was a hot live act. with

Angus wearing a school uniform on stage.

By 1976, the band had moved to England, where

initial ly they had a struggle on their hands. High Voltage

was released in the UK in that year, as was the new

aibum Dittv Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, but both did little

business due to the burgeoning popularity of the punk

scene. However, the turning point for the band came

at their now-Iegendary performance at Londons

Hammersmith Odeon. Following on from this. lhe latter

part of the 70s saw success after success for the band,

with the release of such albums as Let There Be Rock,

Powerage and If You Want Blood, You Got ti.

In 1979, they released the classic album Highway

To HeI , but in 1980 Bon Scott died due to an excessive

intake of alcohol. The band found a replacement,

English singer Brian Johnson, and went on from

strength to strength, becoming one of the biggest

stadium rock bands in the world. Later that vear. they

released the epic Back In Black, the title track

consisting of another ali-time classic guitar riff, and

the album sold millions in both the UK and the US.

The following year saw the release of For Those About

To Rock We Saiu te You), and in the same year they

played to 70,000 people at the massive Monsters Of

Rock Festival at Castle Donington.

Throughout the 1980s, the band

releasec

mOI e

massive-selling alburns. including Flick Of The Switch,

Fly On The Wa/l and Who fVlade Who, but they also

went through more line-up changes.

During the 90s, and to this day, AC/OC have

continued to release great-sounding, classic hard rock

albums. Their no-frills approach, combined with

Anquss dry, natural tone and aggressive guitar style,

have made them one of the biggest-selling and most

influential metal bands in the world.

Suggested Listen ing

Let There

Be

Rock

Highway To HeI

Back In Black

For Those About To Rock We Selute You)

Sound dvice

Angus is a classic rock guitarist who relies more on

feel and raw energy than technique. One of his early

influences was Chuck Berry, and this is evident in his

playing and also in his live performances. Angus uses

a lot of pentatonic and blues-scale ideas, mixed with

tast. aggressive vibrato, and he also likes to move

around the neck of the guitar a tot. playing fast-picked

pentatonic runs, so a good knowledge of the

fingerboard and scales is required in order to imitate

his unmistakable style. Oon t be too precious about

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Giants Of Metal

technique, either, as Anquss style is a little rough

around the edges, but this does add to the excitement

of his solos.

Meanwhile, Malcolm along with the bass player)

is the backbone of the band, holding down simple yet

incredibly tight riffs. His role in producinq the band s

sound is equally as important as his brothers.

Angus is as straightforward when it comes to

equipment as he is i n his approach to playing, and his

main choice of gear has remained constant throughout

his career. Guitar-wise, it has to be a Gibson SG,

plugged straight into a Marshall stack, with no pedais

in between. For the AC/OCtrack on the accompanying

CO, I used an Ernie Ball/Musicman Axis Sport running

into the desk via a Marshall JPl pre-amp. Try to

remember that a lot of Anquss crunch comes from

the power-amp stage of his set-up. and his sound is

not that saturated.

The gu:tar

sound here

15

also

prettv

dry, with a touch of room reverb.

Performance Notes

This track features a driving rhythm and moves

between the chords of 85 and 85/A against a

thumping B root. performed by the bass. Pay close

attention to the muted root notes between the

chords, and be sure to accent the chords in order to

arrive at the correct sound and feel. The end of the

verse builds on an E5chord, after the chords of O/F~

and G5. Very often, the band use inversions of chords

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so that the chord changes are smooth, due to the

close voice leadings.

The chorus is pretty straightforward, with more

chord changes played against a driving, solid bass

groove, including the chords of A5, O/A, 05 and G5/0,

while the middle-eight section is based around a

simple figure performed on the top three strings.

Here, the notes on the E and G strings move while

the open B string remains constant. This section

should be performed with the fingers instead of the

pick. and the volume of the guitar should also be

backed down slightly.

The solo is pretty much a pentatonic affair and uses

both B major and B minor pentatonic scales. It relies

on some classic blues-rock phrases, plus a couple of

hints towards Anquss early hero, Chuck Berry The

only problem areas that may occur are some of the

fast pentatonic sequences. Just remember to slow

these down until Vou have them under your fingers.

Try to inject plenty of feel and energy into this one and

it should ali fali into place.

Style Notes

Main scales used:

B minor pentatonic - B o E F~A B

B major pentatonic - B O O; F~G~B

Fast. aggressive vibrato

Fast pentatonic sequences

Ory, natural tone

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