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Here is another AC/DC song for your to test your rocking chords and strumming talent. The first AC/DC that we’ve covered here was Back In Black (awesome guitar riff!) and the second one was You Shook Me All Night Long, which also has a very distinct and amazing riffs. And just to think of it, AC/DC really do have great riffs now don’t they?

For this post, we will dissect and learn each riff part of the song “Highway to Hell”.

The song was written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott, with Malcolm Young credited for writing the guitar riff which became an instant classic.

The song came about during their album promotion where they had to go on touring. The whole experience was being on a high way to hell.

The song was released as a single on 1979 and was the opening track for their Album: Highway To Hell.

How to Play Highway to Hell

The song starts with a 3 strums on the open A chord. Those 3 strums are actually 3 8th notes on the last beat of the first bar.

The same 3 strums repeats at the last beat of the 2nd bar with the D/F# chord (5th string muted) twice and G once (5th string muted – G5).

The 4rth bar basically repeats what was done on the 3rd bar.

The 5th bar is also the same pattern as with the 3rd and 4th bar but this time it is immediately followed by the D/F# once and A major once.

Then with an extra A major, the whole intro repeats.

And so that’s the first part of the Highway to Hell intro riff. You can better understand what we discussed here if you will watch the video (several times) and of course open up the tab you see on the right. It will redirect you to Songsterr. It is free but of course if you decided to be a premium member (very cheap) you will be able to help this site by making it earn a very small commission.. like few cents commission :)

How to Play the Chorus

Before the actual chorus notes/chords get played, a steady beat of 8th notes on the A5 power chords can be heard (see image on the right).

The chorus then starts with the A chord followed by D5 major chord then open to G5 followed by again D5.

The same pattern then repeats for the chorus.