Have AC/DC ever actually done a bad song? This was amongst the questions I set out to answeer this month... and while many detractors would simply say they've been making the same album since 1976, I would counter with the idea that if they got it right first time, why mess?
Since their inception in 1973, AC/DC have come to define rock and roll - “Whole Lotta Rosie”, “Highway To Hell”, “You Shook Me All Night Long”... the list of anthems is endless. And frankly, I defy anyone not to find the absolute and utter joy in a good AC/DC track cranked up high! But their path hasn't been wothout it's share of tragedy – original singer Bon Scott died of alcohol poisoning in 1979 and rhythm guitarist Malcolm succumbet to dementia in 2017, the band replacing Bon with flat-cap toting Geordie Brian Johnson and Stevie Young, Malcolm's nephew, stepping in to replace him. Their last album, “Power Up” was released in 2020, marking 45 years of pounding rock & roll antherms – quite the feat, never mind the fact that it debuted at No. 1 in the US!
Throughout all of this, their most recognisable image has always been the diminutive Gibson SG-wielding, school uniform-wearing figure of Angus Young, responsible for the searing blues-based solos that are a hallmark of AC/DC's sound. I've been a fan ever since as a nipper I first heard “Thunderstruck” as a nipper and even though I wasn't entirely sure what it was I was hearing, I knew it sounded like FUN! So, before we tackle his licks, a quick potted history (as is customary).
Born 31 March 1955 as one of seven siblings in the Cranhill district of Glasgow, the young (sorry) Angus began playing the guitar at age 5 or 6 nder the tutelage of his brother Alexander and when the family moved to Australia in 1963 after suffering through what was at that point the worst winter on record, he kept with it, practicing solidly through his teenage years even as he dropped out of school and worked a variety of jobs including apprenticeships as a butcher and typesetter. Initially he began on a banjo, restrung with six strings (although details on how this was done are beyond my Google Fu), before graduating to a cheap acoustic that his mum got him. His signature Gibson SG career began with a second hand model bought in 1967, and Angus has often stated that being a shortish chap made the SG a good fit – certainly the excellent top fret access the SG affords has stood him in good stead, as we'll see further on!
Aged 18 he founded AC/DC with his brother Malcolm founded after both having played in a variety of bands – taking their name from the letters on their sister Margaret's sewing machine - and recorded their first single “Can I Sit Next To You Girl” for Albert Productions with their first singer Dave Evans. Meanwhile Angus was working on his stage outfit, working through gorilla costumes, Spiderman and even his own superhero “Super-Ang” - and there are some amazing what-if moments there – before finally settling on the schoolboy look at Margaret's suggestion. She would actually concoct his first uniform before it fell apart from overuse and he reverted to his Ashfield Boy's School uniform, and (hilariously) they fed the public the notion that Angus had been born in 1959 not 1955 and was therefore 14...
The band quickly established themselves as a popular blues and hard rock act before recording 1975's High Voltage album – which was where I got started transcribing Angus's solos. The idea being, of course, that I can go back and do some more another time! No reason SRV, Jimi, EC and the Kings should be the only ones to get multiple blog posts, right? And this was a LOT of fun!
So, to business – we begin with something my teenage self would have chewed his own arm off to learn (but never thought to try and work out), something I term the Angus Young Lick. I've tabbed it in E, but this is a pattern that I noticed cropping up – with variations – across pretty much any solo where Angus wanted to put pedal to metal and do something widdly. This is based around the 3 Magic Notes, and you can see a repeating 4 note cell extrapolated across the strings. Play this slowly to begin with and across all keys, as the accuracy builds you'll be able to crank to Angus-level speed before you know it!
And of course it wouldn't be my blog if I didn't get all OCD and figure out a way to play it backwards, right? So there you are, that one's on the house.
The next example is taken from “Can I Sit Next To You Girl” which as best I can figure is in A but detuned a full tone – however it modulates to E for the end solo and here we see a variation on the Angus Young Lick as he blasts through E minor pentatonic in first position at the 12th fret – notice that as well as the signature pull-off pattern, there's a bend in there as well as the classic perfect 4th finger roll on the 14th fret D & G strings – this is a nod to Angus's roots in blues players like Freddie King.
As well as being able to burn through the minor pentatonic like a man possessed, Angus is also a master of string bending, as this next excerpt taken from the outro solo to “Back In Black”. Here you'll find a harmony bend and then a whole tone bend first milked with absolutely stinging vibrato, and then notice the way he alternates between the bent versus straight note before closing with another classic E minor pentatonic blues lick featuring perfect 4th rolls this time on the first finger and bending the minor 3rd (G) a quarter tone sharp so it nestles in between major and minor. You don't tend to associate AC/DC with subtlety, but there's plenty to be found in Angus' playing!
It's not all minor pentatonic though – in this final example, taken from “The Jack”, Angus pulls out a glorious run that mixes minor and major pentatonics with some chromaticism in there too, just to keep you on your toes! Note the major 3rd and 2nd in there, along with a nifty 12th fret whole tone bend performed with the index finger before rolling back to cover the 12th fret E and B – subtly counter-intuitive and Angus makes it flow beautifully. It's a very neat trick to get under the fingers.
So that wraps up this month – it's been a blast going through the early AC/DC stuff and I'm very much looking forward to revisiting Angus & co again soon. Brace tourself for next month though, as Zakk Wylde is up next! See you then and keep yourself subscribed to the YouTube channel (now over 500 subscribers!) for the demo video.
