A home course in rhythm

Four chords,
no upstrokes.

Most rock guitar courses teach scales, leads, and complexity. This one is built the other way — around the rhythm guitar Malcolm Young spent fifty years refining. Power chords, the downstroke pulse, syncopation, and silence between hits.

Duration8 weeks · Level 01 Gear requiredOne guitar, one amp FormatSelf-paced, free

Download Level 01 PDF All guitar lessons

The setup.

01 — Gear

AC/DC's tone is often associated with cranked Marshall stacks. The discipline beneath that tone is not. Everything in this course can be practised on a single-channel modelling amp at conversational volume.

The rig below is the reference setup this site is written for — the same one used in the Gilmour Method, with a different amp model selected. Anything broadly similar will work: a humbucker or single-coil guitar, a modelling amp or small combo.

Loud playing hides timing errors. Low volume exposes them. Start quiet before reaching for gain.

Guitar

Fender Player II (MIM)

Bridge pickup throughout. Neck-and-bridge combined acceptable for cleaner sections. Single-coils are fine — AC/DC's sound is in the amp, not the pickups.

Amplifier

Fender Mustang ML 25

Switch to a British amp model — '65 Brit, '70s Brit, or the Plexi-style preset. The clean Fender models used in the Gilmour course will not produce AC/DC's tone.

Strings

9s or 10s, nickel-wound

The 9s from the Gilmour setup will work. 10s give a slightly fuller chord at the cost of harder fretting. Not critical at this level.

Room

Low to moderate volume

Loud playing hides timing errors. The rhythm must be tight at conversational volume before being played at full volume. A metronome matters more than a loud amp.

Amp starting point — Level 01 Mustang ML 25

Beginner

British amp model. Gain 4–5 · Bass 5 · Mid 7 · Treble 6 · Presence 6. Reverb off or minimal. No delay. Bridge pickup.

EQ note

Mid-forward EQ is critical. Most modern presets default to scooped settings — these will not work. Cut the gain back if the tone becomes fuzzy; the gain here is lower than most players assume.

The power chord vocabulary.

02 — Reference

A power chord is the root note and the fifth — two notes, often doubled with the octave for a fuller sound. There is no third, which is what gives power chords their neutral, neither-major-nor-minor character. The entire course operates inside this vocabulary.

Fretboards are drawn with the high E string at the top, as if you were holding the guitar across your lap and looking down at the fingerboard. Fret numbers run left to right below the diagram. The root is marked R; the fifth is marked 5; the octave (when used) is marked R again.

E5 — open

The lowest power chord. Strum the low E open, the A string at fret 2, and the D string at fret 2. Mute everything else.

A5 — open

Open A on the 5th string. D and G strings at fret 2. The low E is muted with the side of the index finger.

D5 — open

Open D, A on the G string at fret 2, D on the B string at fret 3. The two lowest strings are muted.

G5 — movable

The movable shape. Index on the root, ring finger across the fifth and octave. Slide it anywhere on the low E string.

C5 — movable (A string)

Same shape, rooted on the A string instead of the low E. Use this for C5, D5, F5 — anything between the A and D strings.

Diagram key

Above each string: X means muted, ○ means open. Inside the fretboard, red circles show where to press. R is the root; 5 is the fifth.

Rhythm notation

⊓downstroke

∨upstroke

P.M.palm mute

𝄽rest / silence

>accent

The course.

03 — Eight weeks

Level 01

Beginner.

8 weeks · Power chords · Downstroke rhythm

AC/DC is built from a small vocabulary of power chords — usually no more than four or five across an entire song. The difficulty is not in the chord shapes. It is in the timing, the consistency of the downstroke, and the spaces between hits.

This course removes lead playing entirely. No solos. No pentatonic. Only the rhythm guitar — the part Malcolm played. Work in short daily sessions. Twenty focused minutes against a metronome will produce more progress than two hours of unstructured playing. If the timing slips, stop and reset rather than playing through it.

Week 1

The downstroke

Build the foundation hit

Content

E5 power chord — open position
Downstrokes only, no upstrokes
Quarter notes at 80 BPM, against a metronome

Drills

Four hits per bar. Four bars. Stop. Restart.
Each hit must arrive on the click, not before, not after
Listen for ring-out — every chord should sustain for the full beat

Figure 1.1 · E5 power chordopen position · low strings only

Low E string open. Index finger on the A string at fret 2 — that's the root. Ring finger on the D string at fret 2 — the octave.

Mute the top three strings with the side of the index finger.

Three strings ringing, three muted. Strum all six — the muted strings stay silent.

Figure 1.2 · The downstroke pulseE5 · 80 BPM · quarter notes

Constraint No upstrokes. The picking hand returns to the starting position above the strings between hits — it does not stay below. This is the difference between a downstroke pulse and strumming.

OutcomeA steady, even pulse on one chord. The foundation everything else is built on.

Week 2

Two chords, clean changes

Move between shapes without dropping the pulse

Content

E5 to A5 — alternating each bar
Then E5 to D5 — alternating each bar
Same downstroke pattern as Week 1

Drills

Four hits on E5, four hits on A5, repeat. 80 BPM.
The chord change happens during the silent return of the picking hand — not during the hit
If the change is rushed, slow the metronome to 70 BPM

Figure 2.1 · New chords this weekA5 · D5 · open positions

Constraint The pulse is not allowed to slow during the change. If it does, the chord change is too late — start preparing the new shape on beat four of the previous bar.

OutcomeTwo-chord changes that don't break the pulse. The hand learns to anticipate.

Week 3

Three chords — the Highway to Hell shape

Apply the change pattern to a real progression

Content

A5, D5, G5 — the three chords behind Highway to Hell
Two hits per chord, then move
Tempo: 75 BPM (the original is faster — slow it down)

Drills

A5 (x2) → D5 (x2) → G5 (x2) → D5 (x2), repeat
Each chord rings fully before moving
Increase to 85 BPM only when the pattern is clean for 60 seconds straight

Figure 3.1 · The movable G5 shaperooted on low E · slide anywhere

Index finger on the root (low E, fret 3). Ring finger barres the 5th and octave (A and D strings, fret 5).

Slide the same shape up the neck — fret 5 becomes A5, fret 7 becomes B5, fret 8 becomes C5. The shape is the same, the root moves.

Figure 3.2 · Three-chord cycleA5 · D5 · G5 · D5

Constraint Don't try to play along to the recording yet. The recording is at full tempo with a full band. The point this week is the change, not the performance.

OutcomeA recognisable AC/DC progression at a controlled tempo. The first time the course sounds like something.

Week 4

Eighth notes — the gallop

Double the pulse without losing accuracy

Content

Eighth-note downstrokes on a single chord (E5)
Eight hits per bar instead of four
All downstrokes — no upstrokes yet

Drills

Start at 70 BPM eighth notes (slow)
Count: "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and"
Build up by 5 BPM only when the pulse is even

Figure 4.1 · Eighth-note downstrokesE5 · all downstrokes

Constraint The picking hand will tire. That is the point — Malcolm Young's downstroke endurance was the foundation of his sound. Build it slowly. Stopping when the wrist tightens is correct; pushing through it teaches tension.

OutcomeThe pulse gains weight. Each hit is committed, not skimmed.

Week 5

Syncopation — the held chord

Hit and hold — let the rest do the work

Content

The Back in Black rhythm — E5, then a held silence, then D5 → A5
Counting rests as carefully as hits
The space between chords is the rhythm

Drills

Hit E5 on beat 1, mute, then hit D5 → A5 on the off-beat
The off-beat hit is the difficult one — it's where the pulse swings
Tempo 70 BPM, no faster until the rest sits exactly between hits

Figure 5.1 · Back in Black patternsimplified — focus on the rest

Constraint The rest is part of the riff, not a gap. Mute the strings with the picking hand during the rest — silence is active, not accidental.

OutcomeThe rhythm starts to feel like AC/DC instead of generic rock — because of what is not played, not what is.

Week 6

Palm muting and the chug

Introduce dynamic contrast

Content

Side of the picking hand rests lightly on the bridge
Muted chords ring shorter and feel tighter
Alternate two bars muted with two bars open

Drills

E5 with palm mute — eighth notes — for two bars
Then E5 open — quarter notes — for two bars
The contrast is the goal, not the muting itself

Figure 6.1 · Mute, then releaseE5 · palm muted → open

Constraint Light pressure on the bridge. Heavy pressure kills the chord entirely. The chord should still ring, just shorter and tighter than the open version.

OutcomeDynamic contrast appears. The same chord can now sound two different ways.

Week 7

Song study — Highway to Hell verse

Apply technique inside a real song

Material

Highway to Hell — verse and chorus only
T.N.T. — the main riff (A5 with the "oi" gaps)

Approach

Learn the chord sequence first, no rhythm
Then add the rhythm, slow, against a metronome
Only play along to the recording when the rhythm is solid alone

Figure 7.1 · The Highway to Hell versepower-chord reduction · per bar

Constraint Do not attempt the solo. Do not attempt the bridge. The rhythm guitar in the verse and chorus contains everything practised in weeks one through six — finishing the song is not the point this week. Recognising the earlier weeks inside it is.

OutcomeRecognition that the earlier weeks were not exercises — they were the song.

Week 8

Full song — rhythm part only

Play one song end to end

Task

Pick one song: Highway to Hell, Back in Black, or T.N.T.
Play the rhythm guitar from start to finish, along with the recording
Record the attempt. Listen back. Re-record once.

Rules

Power chords only — no open chords, no leads
The pulse must not slow during chord changes
Rests must sit where they should — silence is part of the song
If the picking hand tires, that is acceptable. Slowing the pulse is not.

Constraint Do not multitrack. Do not edit. The recording is one continuous take, judged against the original on three things: chord accuracy, timing accuracy, and consistency. The notes are easy. The consistency is the test.

OutcomeA complete AC/DC rhythm part, played start to finish, recognisable as the song.

End state — Level 01

You do not yet know many songs. What you have is the engine that drives them.

Clean E5, A5, D5, G5, C5 power chord shapes
Even downstroke pulse at 80–100 BPM
Eighth-note downstrokes for short bursts
Chord changes that do not drag the pulse
Controlled palm muting
One AC/DC song played end-to-end

What comes next

Level 02 · Intermediate.

Most of AC/DC's catalogue is built from these same materials. Level 02 will not add many new chords. It will add open-string riffs (Thunderstruck), syncopated boogie patterns (You Shook Me All Night Long), and stadium-tempo endurance. The vocabulary expands slowly. The discipline does not.