AC/DC lead guitarist Angus Young is well known for his
brilliant use of guitar technique's. His vibrato technique
alone, stands out among many others. Angus's lead guitar
scales however, rely on the most basic of scale's
that include Pentatonic Major and Minor, and Blues.
See Scales...

Tablature Symbol's Used

This lesson will teach a combination of the scales
most often used by Angus, along with the lead guitar
solo to AC/DC's classic hit "Highway To Hell" which
is an excellent demonstration of these basic scale's
used and played in combination.


Symbols below shown above the letter name of the note
"A" indicate octaves of that note. 1=first octave,
2=2nd octave and so on...

Part 1 * Pentatonic Major (Box Scale)

  #1
  A Pentatonic Major (A,B,C#,E,F#)
  Tonic             1                  2
   A                A                  A
e :-------------------------------2----5------------|
B :------------------------2---5--------------------|
G :-----------------2---4---------------------------|
D :----------2---4----------------------------------|
A :---2---4-----------------------------------------|
E :-5-----------------------------------------------|

   Angus Young Style Major Scale String Bend

   When played in the key of A Pentatonic major, the
   2nd interval (which is the note B) is the most
   common note played as a string bend. Symbol "F"
   indicates a "Full" (or wholestep) string bend.
   When making a full or wholestep bend at the 4th
   fret as shown below, will make the note B sound
   like the note C# (located 2 frets higher).

   This guitar technique is best played by using the
   frethand ring finger to make the string bend and
   the pinky finger to "barre" (or hold down) both
   the small e and B string's. 

e :--5----------------------------------------------|
B :--5----------------------------------------------|
G :-f4----------------------------------------------|
D :-------------------------------------------------|
A :-------------------------------------------------|
E :-------------------------------------------------|

Although there are other positions like the Pentatonic
Minor "Ascending Run", Angus is most famous for playing
"Box" type scale's. Here are some alternate position's
to play "A Pentatonic Major".

 
#2
                        extended octave

   Tonic           1                     2  
   A               A                     A
e :-----------------------------------14-17---------|
B :---------------10------12--14--17----------------|
G :----------9-11-----------------------------------|
D :----9--11----------------------------------------|
A :-12----------------------------------------------|
E :-------------------------------------------------|



#3
   Which also leads to the box scale in the octave 
   position as taught below.

   Tonic            1               2
    A               A               A
e :------------------------------14-17--------------|
B :-----------------------14-17---------------------|
G :-----------------14-16---------------------------|
D :----------14-16----------------------------------|
A :----14-16----------------------------------------|
E :-17----------------------------------------------|


Part 2 * Pentatonic Minor

A Pentatonic Minor Box Scale (A,C,D,E,G)
    Tonic        1            2
    A            A            A
e :---------------------------5--8------------------|
B :---------------------5--8------------------------|
G :----------------5--7-----------------------------|
D :-----------5--7----------------------------------|
A :------5--7---------------------------------------|
E :-5--8--------------------------------------------|

Also common is the ascending run, used in combination with
the box scale. See sample guitar lick below. These scale's
and ascending runs along with example's of their combination's
are taught in You Can Play Guitar DVD Lessons

    f             s
e :-------5-----------------------------------------|
B :----5-----5---8-10-------------------------------|
G :-7-----------------------------------------------|
D :-------------------------------------------------|
A :-------------------------------------------------|
E :-------------------------------------------------|

Part 3
Before beginning the guitar solo to "Highway To Hell",
another good example that demonstrates the combination
of A major and minor pentatonic is the intro to the guitar
solo from the AC/DC song "Rocker".

    f.v     p   p   p   p    f.v  f.rel.p
e :-------------------------------------------------|
B :-8---0-10-0-8-0-7-0-5-0---13---12---10----12-----|
G :---------------------------------------11--------|
D :-------------------------------------------------|
A :-------------------------------------------------|
E :-------------------------------------------------|


                 v       f.hold    
e :-----------------------------12----12------------|
B :----10--------10------12---------fv12------------|
G :-11-------11-------------------------------------|
D :-------------------------------------------------|
A :-------------------------------------------------|
E :-------------------------------------------------|

  2x...........................
    f.rel.p     
e :-------------------------------------------------|
B :-12------10-------12------10---------------------|
G :-------------11-------x--------------------------|
D :-------------------------------------------------|
A :-------------------------------------------------|
E :-------------------------------------------------|


   4x......
           v
e :-------------------------------------------------|
B :-------10----------------------------------------|
G :-11----------------------------------------------|
D :-------------------------------------------------|
A :-------------------------------------------------|
E :-------------------------------------------------|


 
Highway to Hell Guitar Chords Intro

e :-------------------------------------------------|
B :----------3-3-3--3-3-3---3-3-3-3-----------------|
G :-2-2-2----2-2-0--2-2-0---2-2-0-2--2-2------------|
D :-2-2-2----0-0-0--0-0-0---0-0-0-0--2-2------------|
A :-0-0-0----0-0-2--0-0-2---0-0-2-0--0-0------------|
E :----------2-2-3--2-2-3---2-2-3-2-----------------|


Chorus

e :-------------3-3---------------------------------|
B :---------3---3-3--x---3--3-----------------------|
G :-2-2-x---2---2-2--x---0--2-----------------------|
D :-2-2-x---0---0-0--x---0--0-----------------------|
A :-0-0-x------------x---2--0-----------------------|
E :----------------------3--2-----------------------|

Highway To Hell Lead Guitar Solo

Make note of Angus's "Highway To Hell Lead Guitar Solo
Chuck Berry guitar style strings bends on staff 1, 
which continues on tablature staff 2 adding "double stops" 
(playing 2 strings together at once) and crosssing over 
from A Minor Pentatonic to A Major Pentatonic and his 
use of A minor arpeggio on tablature staff 4 (solo ending...)

This guitar solo has been tabulated according to
different live version's and has been simplified for
easy learning.

    f      f        f      f       f 
e :-------------------5-5----5-5------5-------------|
B :---5-5-----5-5-----5-5----5-5------5-------------|
G :-7------7--------7------7-------7----------------|
D :-------------------------------------------------|
A :-------------------------------------------------|
E :-------------------------------------------------|

    b.rel.v                b.rel        b
e :-------------------------------------------------|
B :-7--------5---7--5-------------------------------|
G :-7--------5---7--5-------------------------------|
D :------------7-------7---4--------2---------------|
A :-------------------------------------3---0-------|
E :-------------------------------------------------|


       f.hold                        f
e :-------------5------5----------5------5----------|
B :--------------------5-------------------5--------|
G :-2--4-------------gb4--2----------4--------------|
D :--------------------------4-2--------------------|
A :-------------------------------------------------|
E :-------------------------------------------------|

             (solo ending...)    
                  s           s.v
e :---5----------3-5---------3-5--------------------|
B :---5--------------5------------------------------|
G :-gb4---2------------5----------------------------|
D :----------------------7--------------------------|
A :-------------------------------------------------|
E :-------------------------------------------------|


Ending Guitar Lick
This demonstrates one of Angus's rare guitar pick taps.
To perform this technique, begin by turning the guitar
pick twoard the guitar fretboard (thumb and index finger
held inward also facing the guitar neck). As you fret
the note with the index finger of yout frethand at
the 12th fret, begin "tapping" the side of the guitar
pick so that it will produce the sound of the note
at the 15th fret. This is done is a continiuos motion
as you continue to "pull-off" from the pick tapped
note at the 15th fret, played similar to playing a
"trill".

  Guitar Pick Tap
    "trill"
    t    p 
e :-15------12--------------------------------------|
B :-------------------------------------------------|
G :-------------------------------------------------|
D :-------------------------------------------------|
A :-------------------------------------------------|
E :-------------------------------------------------|




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