Whole Lotta Rosie by AC/DC Guitar Lesson

Song structure

Jed breaks this song down into its main sections, so let's look at how they fit together first so we know what we're working towards:

As you can see, the song is based around three main parts which are the intro riff, verse riff and chorus and these are what we'll be breaking down for you.

Intro riff

We're in A for this song, although we consider it more like an A blues key as our riff is based around notes from A minor, but we can use major and minor pentatonic for soloing!

We're starting on an open A string and then alternating between the b3rd and the 4th played as powerchords all on the A string. This gives us a C5 and a D5 powerchord. We always play the open A string between the other chords too as a pedal and on the final A we finish on an A5 powerchord.

It's also important to note that the first open A we play comes in on the '+ of 1' and then we play all 8th notes from there ending on the '+ of 4'. Don't forget the bar of silence after this! Here's the rhythm in a diagram to help you visualise the pattern:

Verse riff

The verse riff can definitely be viewed as a modification of the intro riff, where we're playing a chugged A5 chord through what was the bar of silence in the intro riff. And from there we're playing exactly the same powerchord run as we did in the intro. There's a specific rhythm to nail in this part, which we produce by either playing a palm muted low A string or an A5 chord. Jed takes you through the rhythm in the video so watch carefully! If palm muting is new to you it might take a bit of work to get sounding right. The main things to think about are which part of your picking hand you're using to mute and how far up the string you're muting. Generally, it's recommended to use the side of your hand just below your pinky finger to mute, and to start by laying that on the bridge. If you get a nice muted sound there then you're all set! If you want to have more muting just move up towards the neck more. But be aware, if you palm mute too far up you'll end up completely stopping the strings from ringing out, which isn't what we're going for in this tune!

Chorus riff

In the chorus we shift from the driving riff of the verse into a more open, slower sounding progression. It's a really nice contrast in the song and works perfectly under the vocal. The chords we're playing are F5, D5, A5 and G5. Here are those shapes for you:

Finally, to lead us back into the verse riff we have a quick alternating chord progression going from G5 to D5. The timing of this part is really important as it starts with a count of three 8th notes on each chord then speeds up. As Jed explains in the video there are two parts to choose from here. You can go with the chord shapes above, or you can play the single note run. Either way the rhythm is the same - here it is for your reference:

Breakdown

Just after the first solo we go into a breakdown section that takes the main riff but moves it up an octave. It's all in shape 1 of A minor pentatonic using the notes highlighted here:

This part really plays with the dynamics too, so listen out for that and try it yourself!

Lead ideas

There are some great lead parts in this song - too many to go through in a single video, but Jed outlines some really fun ideas! First, let's remind ourselves that the key is A blues, and as we're in a rock song A minor pentatonic is a really good place to start. Here's a diagram for you:

If you'd like to get more into what Jed demonstrates in the video you can try A Dorian too! Here's the shape for that:

Try so see the similarities between the two shapes. A minor pentatonic contains the R b3 4 5 and b7 whereas Dorian adds the 2 and 6 to that, giving you two extra 'flavour' notes to play with! Have fun with this and thank you to Jed for teaching us!