The Music Video That FOOLED Guitar Players!

How did this music video fool an entire generation of guitar players? The music video to Thunderstruck by AC/DC shows Angus Young, the lead guitar player of the rock band - playing the iconic guitar riff with just his left hand, with his right arm up in the air.

This could be why an entire generation of guitar players often assume that this is how he actually plays the riff - with just one hand! But, this isn't actually the case.

When you see AC/DC play Thunderstruck live on stage - Angus Young always picks the riff with his right hand. Very rarely if ever does he only play the iconic guitar part with one hand - infact the only time i've ever seen him play it like this is in this music video!

It's also clear that not only does he play the Thunderstruck guitar riff with both hands live, but that's also how it was originally recorded. You can even hear the guitar pick on the strings on the original song - which wouldn't be there if he only played it with one hand.

So if he doesn't play Thunderstruck with one hand on stage, why did he do it in the music video? The simple answer - he's miming! it's a pre-recorded track so it allowed him to be a bit more visually entertaining. Whereas live on stage he needs to actually be able to play the riff properly so he uses both hands & picks it.

But this has deifnitely caused confusion over the years as some guitar players are convinced that he plays it with just one hand - largely because that's what they have seen him do in the music video.

Ultimately you can play the riff however you want, but this video is just to clear up any potential confusion over how Angus Young plays it live vs how he played it on the music video.

Hope you enjoy the video!

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acdc / thunderstruck / thunderstruck music video / acdc thunderstruck live / thunderstruck guitar riff / angus young thunderstruck / angus young guitar / acdc guitar riff / acdc live / how to play thunderstruck by acdc

[MJOwl]

If you’re a guitarist, you know. If you aren’t a guitarist, you’re watching a piece of magic. Panic over

[davidw]

I learned it with one hand thinking it was the right way.. it's easy either way

[Brannyman]

It’s actually harder to play by picking every note, you have to be so controlled with perfect technique. Angus is a beast on guitar, try playing Who Made Who where he picks the melody with no open strings, incredible🤘🤘🤘

[JorgeCanela]

You can clearly hear the pick on the recording. Sorry but that never fooled me...

[JrgenFrderbergTvedt]

1 take ! Thats crazy. Anyway its good for the learning guitar player to be able to do it with hammer on / pull offs as well as with a pick !

[regandunn]

Didn't he remove all the strings but the b string in the studio

[darcybarnes]

I play it with a pick! Saw the video many times but never really thought about it, I have been told i dont play it correctly and this is why. lol

[TheC.O.-VISIT]

It's ok, it was just for the look for the music video. If you watch Dirty Deeds live he does a similar ascending pattern during the guitar solo without picking.

[GibsonTick]

You can hear him picking every note though. It sounds more powerful than hammer ons.

[mikescott]

He did it to fool you, I am not sure why this seems important. Ways I learned to play the guitar which was the time when all phones were still linked via a wired connection
- buy record, put on record player and move the needle for hours trying to figure how to play the songs,
- wait till old enough and go to as many concerts to watch in person
- get with others who are better

I could go on and on but now days with youtube you are given a gift of extremely good and very hard working guys who want to post content my favorite is guitarforce. Also the actual players themselves get on here sometimes to show their riffs. Stick with youtube and some tab, make videos that help young players, this is actually kind of weird video you made here, bit if it's for views then you nailed it.

This seems like click bait and unfortunately i fell for it.

[higorw]

Silence, the gen z is figuring out how music industry have been working for decades.
"OMG! The guys in the video clip are actually miming!"

[americanmariachi]

That's a really good album that this song is on

[Dave-Rough-Diamond-Dunn]

It's because that's how he played Baby Please Don't Go, and parts in other songs, which taught a slightly older group of guitarists about hammer ons and pulloffs, so I guess he just wanted that iconic one handed playing look for the next gen.

[Postmortumaz]

You can one hand it but it sounds different

[cyrillmcduff]

he does the same on mimed performances of dirty deeds

[MikeHart]

I don’t know what I was expecting but it wasn’t the obvious. It’s normal the band isn’t actually playing in their music videos. A music video uses the studio track.

Unless someone thinks it’s a live performance they are watching I don’t see how they can be confused.

[Itchy-Sphincta]

i dont care how or why plays it different its Angus end of story no disrepect intended but us fans couldnt careless tbh take care 🙏

[steingrimolsborg]

what is he talking about? have never heard a single guitarist who believes that.

[Reeses]

It’s because he’s angus and your not and I have seen him play it one handed live.

[keith-]

I’ll tell you why he did mr. rock-n-roll star. It’s because he created or discovered this riff one day when he was finger tapping the strings as he was just diddling around on the neck of his guitar and came up with the riff, so he was only using his finger tapping skills when he created it, therefore he used this technique when making the video for our entertainment. He used his picking skills on the actual recording to make the sound much more detailed. It really irritates me that you are insinuating that he is a fake or something- by the way- who the hell are you?! - nobody- that is who, but everybody in the world knows who Angus is.