Channel: MusicCollegeTV

Category: Education

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Description: 'Turn Up the AC' - Classic Rock Style. Band and individual instrument study piece One of a series of graded music studies that are genre specific aimed at teaching individual instrument styles and techniques. Learn how to play specific musical styles on your instrument and learn how to play in a band. Turn Up the AC Introduction When we use the term ‘Classic Rock’, there are a few band names that always come to mind. ACDC are one of those bands and here we have a piece very much inspired by their sound and musical delivery. Rock music is all about attitude and playing the notes with authority and commitment. If you’ve yet to listen to some Classic rock, then I strongly suggest listening to ACDC and immerse yourself in the sound and feel of their music. They have a unique sound all of their own that’s summed up by double tracked guitars, killer unison lines and a driving rhythm section that glues it all together. Technically this piece isn’t difficult to play and it’s not meant to be, instead it’s all about getting you to really mean what you play and ‘stick it to the man’! Analysis Looking at the piece as a whole, it’s made up of an A and B section that both last for 8 Bars. The A section consists of a heavy rhythmic motif played using the chords of A D and G on the guitar and these chords are replicated on the bass using root notes for the majority of the piece. The last 2 Bars of the A section feature a nice unison riff that alternates between an open E string and a minor 3rd up. In contrast, the B section features a classic guitar and bass riff that really draws on ACDC’s unique sound. As a bass player, this riff is actually a great interval exercise and really gets the fretting hand working. This riff is very much across the beat and my advice is to practice this slowly at first making sure you’re putting all the notes in the right place. As is typical with so many Rock tunes, this piece features a guitar solo over the chords of the A section Here the job of the bass player returns to holding down a solid 8th or quaver note groove, so make sure you’re really laying down a solid foundation for the guitarist to play over. The piece plays out from the B section again and builds to a big A chord at the end. In terms of sound for this piece, you want to be aiming for a big warm tone that really helps hold the piece together. Experiment with your bass and see if you can replicate the sound used on some of ACDC’s hits! Walkthrough This piece begins with just guitar and drums for 6 Bars until the bass enters joining the guitar on the Low E riff. At letter A we continue playing in unison with the guitar. As the bass player, we’re playing the root notes whilst the guitar player is voicing full chords. Although the notation looks easy, pay close attention to the notes that are tied across the bar, as it’s so easy to get tripped up by these. Letter B sees a change of section and again we join the guitar in playing another unison riff. Take your time in getting this line to feel right. The feel of this line is due to the fact that a lot of the notes here are placed on the off-beats of the bar and it’s quite easy to speed up. As you play just make sure you’re letting each note last for its full duration and really get behind each of notes and play them with absolute confidence. Over the last 2 Bars the bass crescendos and builds whilst playing 8th notes or quavers and as always really make the most of any dynamic markings. At letter C the guitar solos for 6 Bars and the bass changes to a supportive role. Make sure you’re playing the quavers short as they’re marked with staccato dots and hit any accents as written, above all enjoy playing these 8th note grooves. The piece ends on the B section, but pay special attention to the slight change to the riff this time around. Just to mix things up a little there’s a sneaky low A in it 5 Bars after letter D! Good Luck!