Chords for Highway to Hell Bass Guitar Lesson - AC/DC Bass Lessons
Tempo:
97.15 bpm
Chords used:
A
F#
E
G
D#
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
In this lesson we're going to look at a very straight ahead rock tune, ACDC's Highway to Hell.
This is a very simple bass line.
It's a very simple song, period.
But a lot of people like playing this song.
It's a great tune to rock out to.
Very straight ahead.
It's in A.
Basically, you're thinking [F#] like [A] A major, [D#] dominant scale.
Although there's not that much riff going on.
But the stuff that is going on would be using mixolydian in A.
So [C#]
[A] [F#] [A]
that puts us in the key of D, [B] [E] harmonically speaking.
[B] But [E] the song is centered around A.
Okay, so basically during the verse you don't play anything.
So that's real easy.
Just before we get to the chorus, there's a build up one bar of eighth notes on the low E.
That's it.
Just one bar.
So they're all eighth notes.
Eight of them.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
And then [A] we go to quarter notes in the chorus on A.
[F#m] But then in the second bar you have two notes that correspond with the chord changes in the guitar.
You play a G [G] up high and an F sharp.
[F#] [A]
So it's one whole bar.
Two, three, four.
One, [G] two, three, [F#] four.
On beats three and four, that second [E] bar, you hit the G and the F sharp.
[A]
And you repeat that.
Except the second time [G] around, instead of G to F sharp, you go [A] G to A.
So, first [F#] time.
[A] Now second time goes like this.
[E] And now the third time he starts getting a little bit more riffy, I guess.
[A] [E]
[F#] We do that riff.
It's all eighth [A] notes.
We play the A here.
[E] Open E, F sharp.
Open E, [G] G, [F#] F sharp.
[A]
That's the second time.
[B] [F#] [A]
[D] At the end of the chorus, we have that [A] anticipated D.
Now on your chart, since we've been talking about reading basic rhythms, at least in this volume,
you can see that in the second to last bar of the chorus,
we have three quarter notes, and then an eighth note on A, and another eighth note on D.
But that eighth note on D has a tie, a little curved line that connects it to the next bar,
where there's also a D.
That means those notes are combined together and act as one.
So it's just longer.
So we've got one, two, three, [D] four, and one, two, three, four.
You don't re-articulate the note.
They're connected together.
It's called tied together.
So that's helping you read a little bit more rhythms on the page.
So the next bar, we just play straight eighth notes on D,
and then another four after that in the next bar,
and then there's a little riff that gets us into the actual solo section itself,
which is over the chorus changes.
So we've got the first section of the build-up here before the solo.
With that tied eighth note.
[A] Once you're into the solo, it's like the chorus.
But then we've got this riff.
[E] [F#] [A] We're still getting to the same G and F sharp note again,
but we've put this little pentatonic riff in between [E] with a little [A] slide
[G] [F#] like that.
[G#] And then [A] back to the A again.
[F] And I play it a lot of times on the fifth fret, or you can play it [D#] open.
[A] Really, it's up to you.
On the chart, we have it written as open.
[F#] [A]
Then we do the same thing,
[G] [F#] but down low like that.
[E] So it's with a pickup on the open E, [G] but we're still playing the G and the [F#] F sharp.
[E] The G and the F sharp really tie in with the guitar chords that are going on there.
[G] [A]
[G] [Am] The last one, we do the high octave.
[A] [F#] And then it goes to the chorus, and the chorus rocks out.
That's the rest of the song.
And you can take all those little variations on those riffs and play around with them,
and you can use pentatonic.
If you're into jamming on the songs and maybe deviating a little bit from what the record does,
there's a lot of room to play with the pentatonic [A] stuff.
[G] [A] [E] So that gives you [D#] something to mess around with.
[G] The chart on this is a really good one to [F#]
learn some of your basic note rhythms
and try to actually read [D#] those rhythms off the page.
We've got other lessons in this volume that are describing the basic note lengths
and how they're counted out and things.
So this is a good one on this chart to learn.
This is a very simple bass line.
It's a very simple song, period.
But a lot of people like playing this song.
It's a great tune to rock out to.
Very straight ahead.
It's in A.
Basically, you're thinking [F#] like [A] A major, [D#] dominant scale.
Although there's not that much riff going on.
But the stuff that is going on would be using mixolydian in A.
So [C#]
[A] [F#] [A]
that puts us in the key of D, [B] [E] harmonically speaking.
[B] But [E] the song is centered around A.
Okay, so basically during the verse you don't play anything.
So that's real easy.
Just before we get to the chorus, there's a build up one bar of eighth notes on the low E.
That's it.
Just one bar.
So they're all eighth notes.
Eight of them.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
And then [A] we go to quarter notes in the chorus on A.
[F#m] But then in the second bar you have two notes that correspond with the chord changes in the guitar.
You play a G [G] up high and an F sharp.
[F#] [A]
So it's one whole bar.
Two, three, four.
One, [G] two, three, [F#] four.
On beats three and four, that second [E] bar, you hit the G and the F sharp.
[A]
And you repeat that.
Except the second time [G] around, instead of G to F sharp, you go [A] G to A.
So, first [F#] time.
[A] Now second time goes like this.
[E] And now the third time he starts getting a little bit more riffy, I guess.
[A] [E]
[F#] We do that riff.
It's all eighth [A] notes.
We play the A here.
[E] Open E, F sharp.
Open E, [G] G, [F#] F sharp.
[A]
That's the second time.
[B] [F#] [A]
[D] At the end of the chorus, we have that [A] anticipated D.
Now on your chart, since we've been talking about reading basic rhythms, at least in this volume,
you can see that in the second to last bar of the chorus,
we have three quarter notes, and then an eighth note on A, and another eighth note on D.
But that eighth note on D has a tie, a little curved line that connects it to the next bar,
where there's also a D.
That means those notes are combined together and act as one.
So it's just longer.
So we've got one, two, three, [D] four, and one, two, three, four.
You don't re-articulate the note.
They're connected together.
It's called tied together.
So that's helping you read a little bit more rhythms on the page.
So the next bar, we just play straight eighth notes on D,
and then another four after that in the next bar,
and then there's a little riff that gets us into the actual solo section itself,
which is over the chorus changes.
So we've got the first section of the build-up here before the solo.
With that tied eighth note.
[A] Once you're into the solo, it's like the chorus.
But then we've got this riff.
[E] [F#] [A] We're still getting to the same G and F sharp note again,
but we've put this little pentatonic riff in between [E] with a little [A] slide
[G] [F#] like that.
[G#] And then [A] back to the A again.
[F] And I play it a lot of times on the fifth fret, or you can play it [D#] open.
[A] Really, it's up to you.
On the chart, we have it written as open.
[F#] [A]
Then we do the same thing,
[G] [F#] but down low like that.
[E] So it's with a pickup on the open E, [G] but we're still playing the G and the [F#] F sharp.
[E] The G and the F sharp really tie in with the guitar chords that are going on there.
[G] [A]
[G] [Am] The last one, we do the high octave.
[A] [F#] And then it goes to the chorus, and the chorus rocks out.
That's the rest of the song.
And you can take all those little variations on those riffs and play around with them,
and you can use pentatonic.
If you're into jamming on the songs and maybe deviating a little bit from what the record does,
there's a lot of room to play with the pentatonic [A] stuff.
[G] [A] [E] So that gives you [D#] something to mess around with.
[G] The chart on this is a really good one to [F#]
learn some of your basic note rhythms
and try to actually read [D#] those rhythms off the page.
We've got other lessons in this volume that are describing the basic note lengths
and how they're counted out and things.
So this is a good one on this chart to learn.
Key:
A
F#
E
G
D#
A
F#
E
_ In this lesson we're going to look at a very straight ahead rock tune, ACDC's Highway to Hell.
This is a very simple bass line.
It's a very simple song, period.
But a lot of people like playing this song.
It's a great tune to rock out to.
Very straight ahead.
It's in A. _ _
Basically, _ you're thinking [F#] _ like [A] A major, _ [D#] _ dominant scale.
Although there's not that much riff going on.
But the stuff that is going on would be using mixolydian in A.
So _ [C#] _ _ _ _
[A] _ [F#] _ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
that puts us in the key of D, [B] _ [E] _ harmonically speaking.
_ [B] But [E] the song is centered around A.
Okay, so basically during the verse you don't play anything.
So that's real easy.
Just before we get to the chorus, there's a build up one bar of eighth notes on the low E. _ _ _ _
_ That's it.
Just one bar.
So they're all eighth notes.
Eight of them.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
And then [A] we go to quarter notes in the chorus on A. _ _ _ _ _
[F#m] But then in the second bar you have two notes that correspond with the chord changes in the guitar.
You play a G [G] up high and an F sharp.
[F#] _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ So it's one whole bar.
Two, three, four.
One, [G] two, three, [F#] four.
On beats three and four, that second [E] bar, you hit the G and the F sharp.
[A] _ _ _ _
And you repeat that.
_ Except the second time [G] around, instead of G to F sharp, you go [A] G to A. _
_ So, _ _ _ first [F#] time.
[A] _ Now second time goes like this. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [E] And now the third time he starts getting a little bit more riffy, I guess.
_ [A] _ _ [E] _ _
[F#] We do that riff.
It's all eighth [A] notes.
We play the A here.
[E] Open E, F sharp.
Open E, [G] G, [F#] F sharp.
_ _ [A] _ _ _
_ _ _ That's the second time. _ _
_ [B] _ _ _ [F#] _ _ _ [A] _
_ _ [D] _ At the end of the chorus, we have that [A] anticipated D.
Now on your chart, since we've been talking about reading basic rhythms, at least in this volume,
you can see that in the second to last bar of the chorus,
we have three quarter notes, and then an eighth note on A, and another eighth note on D.
But that eighth note on D has a tie, a little curved line that connects it to the next bar,
where there's also a D.
That means those notes are combined together and act as one.
So it's just longer.
So we've got one, two, three, [D] four, and one, two, three, four.
You don't re-articulate the note.
They're connected together.
It's called tied together.
So that's helping you read a little bit more rhythms on the page.
So the next bar, we just play straight eighth notes on D,
and then another four after that in the next bar,
and then there's a little riff that gets us into the actual solo section itself,
which is over the chorus changes.
So we've got _ the first section of the build-up here before the solo.
_ _ _ With that tied eighth note. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[A] _ Once you're into the solo, it's like the chorus. _ _
_ _ _ But then we've got this riff. _
_ [E] _ _ [F#] _ [A] We're still getting to the same G and F sharp note again,
but we've put this little pentatonic riff in between _ [E] _ with a little [A] slide _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [F#] like that.
_ _ _ [G#] And then [A] back to the A again.
[F] And I play it a lot of times on the fifth fret, or you can play it [D#] open.
_ [A] Really, it's up to you.
On the chart, we have it written as open. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[F#] _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ Then we do the same thing, _
[G] _ [F#] but down low like that.
[E] So it's with a pickup on the open E, _ [G] but we're still playing the G and the [F#] F sharp.
[E] The G and the F sharp really tie in with the guitar chords that are going on there.
[G] _ _ [A] _ _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ [Am] The last one, we do the high octave.
[A] _ [F#] And then it goes to the chorus, and the chorus rocks out.
That's the rest of the song.
_ And you can take all those little variations on those riffs and play around with them,
and you can use pentatonic.
If you're into jamming on the songs and maybe deviating a little bit from what the record does,
there's a lot of room to play with the pentatonic [A] stuff. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ [A] _ [E] So that gives you [D#] something to mess around with.
[G] The chart on this is a really good one to [F#]
learn some of your basic note rhythms
and try to actually read [D#] those rhythms off the page.
We've got other lessons in this volume that are describing the basic note lengths
and how they're counted out and things.
So this is a good one on this chart to learn.
This is a very simple bass line.
It's a very simple song, period.
But a lot of people like playing this song.
It's a great tune to rock out to.
Very straight ahead.
It's in A. _ _
Basically, _ you're thinking [F#] _ like [A] A major, _ [D#] _ dominant scale.
Although there's not that much riff going on.
But the stuff that is going on would be using mixolydian in A.
So _ [C#] _ _ _ _
[A] _ [F#] _ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
that puts us in the key of D, [B] _ [E] _ harmonically speaking.
_ [B] But [E] the song is centered around A.
Okay, so basically during the verse you don't play anything.
So that's real easy.
Just before we get to the chorus, there's a build up one bar of eighth notes on the low E. _ _ _ _
_ That's it.
Just one bar.
So they're all eighth notes.
Eight of them.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
And then [A] we go to quarter notes in the chorus on A. _ _ _ _ _
[F#m] But then in the second bar you have two notes that correspond with the chord changes in the guitar.
You play a G [G] up high and an F sharp.
[F#] _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ So it's one whole bar.
Two, three, four.
One, [G] two, three, [F#] four.
On beats three and four, that second [E] bar, you hit the G and the F sharp.
[A] _ _ _ _
And you repeat that.
_ Except the second time [G] around, instead of G to F sharp, you go [A] G to A. _
_ So, _ _ _ first [F#] time.
[A] _ Now second time goes like this. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [E] And now the third time he starts getting a little bit more riffy, I guess.
_ [A] _ _ [E] _ _
[F#] We do that riff.
It's all eighth [A] notes.
We play the A here.
[E] Open E, F sharp.
Open E, [G] G, [F#] F sharp.
_ _ [A] _ _ _
_ _ _ That's the second time. _ _
_ [B] _ _ _ [F#] _ _ _ [A] _
_ _ [D] _ At the end of the chorus, we have that [A] anticipated D.
Now on your chart, since we've been talking about reading basic rhythms, at least in this volume,
you can see that in the second to last bar of the chorus,
we have three quarter notes, and then an eighth note on A, and another eighth note on D.
But that eighth note on D has a tie, a little curved line that connects it to the next bar,
where there's also a D.
That means those notes are combined together and act as one.
So it's just longer.
So we've got one, two, three, [D] four, and one, two, three, four.
You don't re-articulate the note.
They're connected together.
It's called tied together.
So that's helping you read a little bit more rhythms on the page.
So the next bar, we just play straight eighth notes on D,
and then another four after that in the next bar,
and then there's a little riff that gets us into the actual solo section itself,
which is over the chorus changes.
So we've got _ the first section of the build-up here before the solo.
_ _ _ With that tied eighth note. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[A] _ Once you're into the solo, it's like the chorus. _ _
_ _ _ But then we've got this riff. _
_ [E] _ _ [F#] _ [A] We're still getting to the same G and F sharp note again,
but we've put this little pentatonic riff in between _ [E] _ with a little [A] slide _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [F#] like that.
_ _ _ [G#] And then [A] back to the A again.
[F] And I play it a lot of times on the fifth fret, or you can play it [D#] open.
_ [A] Really, it's up to you.
On the chart, we have it written as open. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[F#] _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ Then we do the same thing, _
[G] _ [F#] but down low like that.
[E] So it's with a pickup on the open E, _ [G] but we're still playing the G and the [F#] F sharp.
[E] The G and the F sharp really tie in with the guitar chords that are going on there.
[G] _ _ [A] _ _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ [Am] The last one, we do the high octave.
[A] _ [F#] And then it goes to the chorus, and the chorus rocks out.
That's the rest of the song.
_ And you can take all those little variations on those riffs and play around with them,
and you can use pentatonic.
If you're into jamming on the songs and maybe deviating a little bit from what the record does,
there's a lot of room to play with the pentatonic [A] stuff. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ [A] _ [E] So that gives you [D#] something to mess around with.
[G] The chart on this is a really good one to [F#]
learn some of your basic note rhythms
and try to actually read [D#] those rhythms off the page.
We've got other lessons in this volume that are describing the basic note lengths
and how they're counted out and things.
So this is a good one on this chart to learn.