# alternate picking



## deffjeff (Feb 17, 2011)

I'm learning Thunderstruck by ac/dc and am getting frustrated because I cant do the alternate picking. I try and try but cant do it.
Does anyone have any tips that might help me?


----------



## fudb (Dec 8, 2010)

um, do you mean the repeated lead guitar line that Angus does?

Tip #1: don't pick it. Angus is playing that phrase "legato", it's all hammer-ons and pull-offs.

If you watch the video, there's a few good shots of his left hand at the beginning, you can see his right hand isn't playing. To get the super fluid sound he has, get it up to speed with a metronome, and use a medium to high gain to mask small imperfections.


----------



## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Like fudb says, start slow with a metronome and then slowly speed it up. This is the secret to learning _anything_ on the guitar.


----------



## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

deffjeff said:


> I'm learning Thunderstruck by ac/dc and am getting frustrated because I cant do the alternate picking. I try and try but cant do it.
> Does anyone have any tips that might help me?


Would slowing the song down help? That's what I do for difficult licks or leads.

Run the song with Windows Media Player.
Right click on the player.
Select "Enhancements"
Select "Play Speed Settings"
Move the slider to the desired speed.

The beauty of this enhancement is, it doesn't change the key when you slow it down. Great song. Good luck with it.


----------



## noman (Jul 24, 2006)

fudb said:


> um, do you mean the repeated lead guitar line that Angus does?
> 
> Tip #1: don't pick it. Angus is playing that phrase "legato", it's all hammer-ons and pull-offs.
> 
> If you watch the video, there's a few good shots of his left hand at the beginning, you can see his right hand isn't playing. To get the super fluid sound he has, get it up to speed with a metronome, and use a medium to high gain to mask small imperfections.


I think that is wrong. Here's an interview where you can clearly see that he's picking it.....he says it started out legato but then went to the picking. Start slow and the speed will come............

[video=youtube;seoAaMegQtI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seoAaMegQtI[/video]

(starts at 2:19)


----------



## fudb (Dec 8, 2010)

noman said:


> I think that is wrong. Here's an interview where you can clearly see that he's picking it.....he says it started out legato but then went to the picking. Start slow and the speed will come............
> 
> (starts at 2:19)


It's true he's picking there! Well I'll gladly stand corrected, but if you watch the video (official) for Thunderstruck, about 8 seconds in there's a shot straight down hi neck and there's clearly no picking hand.. hence my answer

[video=youtube;RukUetw0hAM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RukUetw0hAM&amp;ob=av3n[/video]


----------



## noman (Jul 24, 2006)

I think the official music vid has some camera embellishments but I am sure Angus does it both ways! I have seen them a couple of times and I have always played that riff with the pick.......as mentioned earlier, you just have to practice slow and pick up the speed.


----------



## whammybar (May 7, 2008)

Guitar101 said:


> Would slowing the song down help? That's what I do for difficult licks or leads.
> 
> Run the song with Windows Media Player.
> Right click on the player.
> ...


Wow! Very cool thing to know. My only problem is that when I slow it down I get no sound at all. Is there a work around for that?


----------

