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Angus Young Plays AC/DC's "High Voltage" on Acoustic Guitar

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Below, check out a very interesting clip of AC/DC's Angus Young—sitting with a well-worn acoustic guitar—as he discusses the roots of the band's 1976 tune "High Voltage."

The song is a chunky rocker in the key A, but it seems that wasn't just an accident.

"[I thought] it'd be cool if we had a song that had the chords A, C, D, C in it," Young says in the video. "So we more or less threw it together, and I had this 'high voltage' chant I was singing. Phil, the drummer, felt it was rather corny, but it paid the rent."

Actually, the chorus is A to C to D to A, but they made their point. You can watch a high-quality lesson video at the bottom of this story; it shows what Malcolm Young is playing on the song.

The top clip is from Episode 4 of a DVD called Long Way to the Top, which is basically a history of Australian rock and roll—with a few New Zealand bands included in the mix. Enjoy!

Damian Fanelli
Damian Fanelli
Editor-in-Chief, Guitar World

Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.