Difficulty: Easy

Composer – Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Brian Johnson

Where to find this song- Flick of the Switch track #3

Release Date – August 1983

The Band :
Brian Johnson – vocals
Angus Young – lead guitar
Malcolm Young – guitar
Cliff Williams – bass
Phil Rudd – drums

Ahh, the bad boys of rock. Angus Young is one of the most energetic and flat-out spazzes of ANY generation. With his black sportscoat and schoolboy plaid shorts, he is by far the center point of the band. Bon Scott was the original singer, who actually wanted to be the drummer. After his death, Brian Johnson took over the position and according to many, sounded much like Bon Scott. Some of the band’s music became the theme soundtrack for “Maximum Overdrive,” a movie by Stephen King.

The Main Riff

This song is pretty fun to play. The first and third measures are the same, as are the second and fourth.

How To Play It

Begin by using your 1st finger and barring the second fret on the “D” string and the second fret on the “G” string. Play the “A” string open. After you have played those notes together once, simply form a power chord on the third fret of the “A” string with your
1st finger on that fret. Place your 3rd finger on the fifth fret of the “D” string, and your 4th finger on the “G” string on the fifth fret as well. Play that once. Play the “low E” once
open, and then move your 1st finger to the second fret on the “G” string. Place your 2nd finger on the third fret on the “B” string, and play the “D” string open. That ends the first measure.

To play the second measure, place your 1st finger on the “low E” string on the first fret. Notice here that you will go from the first, then to the second, then to the third, and then to the fourth fret. A good way to remember this is to relate the finger positions that we usually use to the fret numbers. ( Example: 1st finger = first fret, 2nd finger = second fret, 3rd finger = third fret, and 4th finger = fourth fret.) Understand? Pretty easy? Ok. Now, to play this last part of the second measure, simply use your 1st finger on the second fret of the “A” string. Play that once, and use your 2nd finger to play the third fret once. If you just leave your 1st finger where it is, all you have to do is let off of the third fret and you have finished the measure. That is it for the riff!

Riff Resources

Complete Transcription To “Flick Of The Switch” (PDF)

Complete Transcription To “Flick Of The Switch” (Power Tab)