Hey everyone. Thanks again for stopping in and taking time out of your busy schedule to give a read and a listen to my work. This week is about writing a song in the style of AC/DC. If you haven’t heard of them, I don’t believe you.
AC/DC doesn’t need a description; just listen to any of their songs and you’ve heard their style and contribution to the music world.
Today’s song is called “Rock Your Life Away” and I wrote it in about the same amount of time it takes to listen to it. I even improvised the vocals/lyrics so it took even less time than usual. This is to show that you, too, can make a rock’n roll song of your own with minimal effort and maximum delivery with the right tools in your arsenal. The main thing to remember is to find a riff/progression/motif that fits the genre and to include the word “rock” throughout your lyrics to remind yourself it is a rock’n roll song. We will go over the form right after you listen to the track so you have a clear roadmap of how you can make your own rock’n roll AC/DC song.
Listen here:
Here is the form I used for this track:
- Intro – just guitar
- Intro – band joins (and stays for the rest of the track, nobody drops out)
- Verse – simplified intro riff for the verse riff
- Prechorus – the 5/V chord (the song is in A major, so the 5/V chord is E)
- Chorus – variation on the intro riff with more pushes on the “and of 4” which is the last 8th note in a bar of 4/4 time that gets tied over to the next bar by either an 8th note or a 1/4 note to create the feeling of “pushing” the music ahead.
- Intro as a break to get back to the verse
- Verse
- Prechorus
- Chorus x2
- Prechorus is used as the presolo
- Solo over the chords and music for the chorus
- Chorus x2
- Intro as an outro
- Intro chords and music with solo for the second half then finish with the home chord ringing out
It may look like there is a lot to this track from the above written form, however, there are only 4 riffs in total and 3 of them are variations of themselves.
The lyrics were fun to sing/write/improvise and, if you read lyrics by AC/DC or other rock bands like them, you’ll find that the general theme is singing about “rock” in one way or another – most of the other themes are drinking, sex, driving, or a combination of them. Let’s take a look at the lyrics.
Lyrics
Verse
You hold the world in the palm of your hand
Spreading your rock all over the land
And everything ya do is everything ya need
Now you’re chargin’ in like your own stampede
Prechorus
Here we go
Here we go
Chorus
You gotta rock the night away
Rockin’ it all like a hurricane
Rock your life away
Rockin’ it every night and day
Verse
The pedal’s down, pressed into the floor
Pushed to the limit but you’re still findin’ more
Another way to break beyond the wall
Another day and you’re takin’ it all
Prechorus
Here we go
Here we go
Chorus
You gotta rock the night away
Rockin’ it all like a hurricane
Rock your life away
Rockin’ it every night and day
Rock the night away
Rockin’ it all like a hurricane
Rock your life away
Rockin’ it every night and day
Prechorus/solo
Here we go
Here we go
Solo
Chorus
You gotta rock the night away
Rockin’ it all like a hurricane
Rock your life away
Rockin’ it every night and day
Rock the night away
Rockin’ it all like a hurricane
Rock your life away
Rockin’ it every night and day
Many singers in rock’n roll use their falsetto (head voice) to deliver their lyrics and as their main method of vocal delivery. With that in mind, I exclusively used my falsetto for the main vocals. In the chorus, I decided to add gang vocals for the “Rock the night away” and “Rock your life away” sections by recording myself singing those lines a couple dozen times using different voices and harmonies and panning them gradually from hard right and left down to centre. The multiple layers and panning gives the illusion of a group of people singing when it’s just you on your own (I used the same technique in this previous blog post).
Guitar solo(s)
A rock’n roll song isn’t a rock’n roll song without a guitar solo or two, so I added two to the mix. I wrote the first one by improvising a few solo tracks and then writing out what I wanted to use in Guitar Pro. This was a combination of composition and improvisation because I just transcribed what I improvised and then put the pieces together so I could then play the whole thing in one take. The first solo actually switches between A major pentatonic(A B C# E F#) and A minor pentatonic (A C D E G). More often than not, if I’m playing any major pentatonic scale, I’m thinking of the relative minor scale so I think “F# minor pentatonic” when I’m playing “A major pentatonic” because they contain the same notes; this has helped quite a few students in their thought process when soloing with any major pentatonic scale.
The second solo was entirely improvisation and was actually an afterthought. I was listening back to the track and thought “the ending needs something else,” so I plugged my guitar back in, hit record, and out came the second solo. It is also a combination of the two above mentioned pentatonic scales. Combining and switching between those two pentatonic scales is a good exercise and method of pulling out different sounds for your given solos; you can always add or bend to and through the blue note/b5 to the minor pentatonic scale to create a more bluesy sound and feeling to your solo (A C D Eb E G).
Parting thoughts
This is the first time I’ve ever sat down and decided to write a rock’n roll song. I started playing guitar in about grade 9 and everybody was listening to “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC and I couldn’t bring my guitar anywhere without somebody asking, “Can you play Thunderstruck!?” so, inevitably, I learned how to play it. I learned a bunch of other AC/DC tracks and then departed from them quite quickly just because I’ve always leaned more towards metal than rock. My time playing those AC/DC tracks – and listening to them either by choice or not for the next 15 plus years – helped get that sound in my ears and in my bones so I could one day write a track like theirs of my own.
If you’re interested in learning this song, how to write your own music, how to practice guitar, or if you’d like access to the guitar pro/tabs that I have made for this song (and all others) then, as always, you’re more than welcome to email me at [email protected] or contact me here at your own convenience. I’m happy to provide guidance and assistance in any way I can and I offer affordable and personalized lessons locally in person in Nanaimo, BC or digitally anywhere you have access to a reliable internet connection.
Thank you for your time, support, and keep up the amazing work in the practice room! I hope you have an amazing week and accomplish some of your goals.
All the best,
– Matt