Musical aspects of these songs (timbre, tempo) – focus on electric guitar:

Thunderstruck:

Thunderstruck starts off with a very distinct guitar riff. AC/DC’s notorious riff in this played in the intro and throughout the song was played by the founder of the band Angus Young which is done so by playing notes in the Mixolydian mode which is the fifth of the seventh musical modes. It comes up when the fifth note is played on the scale. “The G Mixolydian mode is the same as a C major. So what’s the difference? There is no difference; it’s the chords that create the magic. Playing a G Mixolydian scale over a C major chord will sound exactly like playing a C major scale (because they are identical). However, playing a G Mixolydian scale over a G major chord will sound “Mixolydian”(The Guitarist’s Online Survival Kit.,2016-2018). “This riff is often played by different people with the straight hammer-ons and pull-offs” These techniques are done with the left hand by sounding notes. A hammer-on is when the left-hand hold down on the fret while the right hand is still playing. A pull off is the opposite of a hammer on and does the same this but backward and this creates a vibration. (Udjine, 2017).

Angus Young

Welcome to the Jungle:

Much like Thunderstruck, Welcome to the Jungle begins with a distinct electrifying guitar riff played by band member SLASH. The tempo of the riff starting off slow and gradually speeding up as the song begins. The tempo of the riff speeds up and slows down throughout the song. “To produce a muffled sound in the intro use palm muting. In the rhythm part to the introduction to “Welcome to the Jungle” Izzy plays a bunch of power chords followed by a slide. In the main part of an intro riff, there are mostly slides and bend/releases” (UG, 2017). Palm muting is used to gain the effect of a heavier sound while bends, depending on how much the guitarist bends, raises the pitch of the guitar. These are unique techniques many guitarists use to enhance the sound of the guitar in this music.

SLASH

How did electric guitar make these songs succeed:

Thunderstruck:

This intro guitar riff was so distinct because of the way that it was played. It is centered around the melody, one note being played at a time. Its fast tempo, standard tuning of E A D G B E and technique of taping down all the of strings except for B created the interesting and unique sound that led this part of the song to become so popular.

Welcome to the Jungle:

SLASH uses the technique of sliding as well as bending and double stops, this is what creates the incredible guitar riff played in the beginning and throughout this song. This is done by playing multiple cords at once making this riff more cordal than anything else. The technique used at the end of the song during the guitar solo is vibrato. Guns N’ Roses like AC/DC uses the technique of hammer on and pull off as well. All of these techniques used on the guitar throughout the song helped the guitar make a huge impact on how the song sounded and its future popularity and success within the rock industry.