How to play Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap tab by AC/DC on guitar

Another good beginner song – the difficulty is 2 because the rhythm guitar part is not hard at all. In fact the ActionTab is recorded at normal speed due to the fairly easy powerchord changes! However, if you are going to attempt the solo – that is a different matter. The solo isn’t for new beginners – it is very fast and will take a lot of finger strength and speed. Before exploring it, let’s just look at the main rhythm guitar part.

The song repeats the same main riffs, so once you know them you should have no problem repeating them throughout the song in the right places (shown here anyway).

The entire rhythm guitar is powerchord heaven. The powerchord progressions for all the song parts are as follows:

Intro:

E5 – G5 E5 – A5 E5 – D5 E5 – play x4

Verse:

D5 – D5 slide to E5 at 7th fret and include the low E string (play x3)

D5 – D5 slide to E5 again, but hold the E for less time (play x4)

End with 5 strikes on the E5

Chorus:

A5 – A5 G5 A5 – E5 – E5 D5 E5

A5 – A5 G5 A5 – E5 (hold)

In case you don’t already know, the number ‘5’ next to a Chord just means ‘powerchord’.

Notice that some of the E5 powerchords (at the 7th fret) actually include the Low E string. This is a good way to add more bass to this particular chord, and is used regularly throughout the song. If you prefer, you can use your thumb over the top edge of the fretboard to mute out the low E string when moving to other chords – such as the D5, 2 frets lower.

Now you know all the song parts, so let’s look at the solo! We’ve slowed the speed a little during the fastest parts of the solo, and kept the backing chords in – useful as cues.

The start of the solo is very typical of Angus – lots of nice blues bends and mostly using the E pentatonic minor scale. Keep your 1st finger around the 7th fret and your 3rd finger around the 9th fret for the first part of the solo. Switching between strings can be tricky here, but the nice long bends will give your fingers time to prepare for the faster surrounding solo parts.

To get the solo right you will need to break it into manageable chunks and get each chunk right at a slower pace before building speed – even if a chunk is just a few notes at a time. Use your own discretion when deciding on the size of each chunk. With patience, and plenty of practice, your fingers will begin to learn what to do. Then the speed will come much easier. Once you have one chunk right, then move to the next.

The first half of the solo is mostly around the 7th fret position. Afterwards, it’s a fast sequence of ascending triplets – all played with just the fretboard hand up the E string. It is a sequence of triplets (3 notes played so fast together that they have the same rhythmic value as 1 normal note).

This part of the solo is a very common solo technique so is worth practicing, however it will take time. It is actually easier than it first appears – because your fingers just keep doing the same thing, and shift up by 1 fret. However, the blistering speed will take plenty of practice.

Here is the triplet sequence:

7 – 4 – 0 x8

8 – 5 – 0 x8

9 – 6 – 0 x8

10 – 7 – 0 x8

11 – 8 – 0 x8

12 – 9 – 0 x4

13 – 10 – 0 x4

14 – 11 – 0 x4

15 – 12 – 0 x4

16 – 13 – 0 x4

17 – 14 – 0 x7 – finish with a bend on 17

This is all played using a hammer on / pull off combo with your little finger, pulling off to your 1st finger, which pulls off to the open E string. Repeat and very fast!

Just practice one of the above triplets and keep playing it until you can get faster at it. If your little finger is not happy about this, then use your 3rd if you can – it is stronger and usually easier to control. BUT some people may have difficulty with that at the lower frets due to the larger fret spacings. Use what you are comfortable with.

Once you get a good flow – just constantly repeating one triplet – then move up by a fret and do the same thing. Repeat it 8 times then move up again etc. Once you can do the fast triplet – moving up the strings with it is surprisingly easy because you simply shift your hand up the guitar neck a little each time, while your fingers just do the same sequence of actions on the fretboard.

Don’t worry if you can’t do it as fast as Angus – that WILL take time! Just keep at it and let your fingers warm up. If you practice it regularly you will begin to get it. If you still want to play the solo with the song, and are finding the triplets too fast – then halve how many you play:

Try this:

7 – 4 – 0 x4

8 – 5 – 0 x4

9 – 6 – 0 x4

10 – 7 – 0 x4

11 – 8 – 0 x2

12 – 9 – 0 x2

13 – 10 – 0 x2

14 – 11 – 0 x2

15 – 12 – 0 x2

16 – 13 – 0 x2

17 – 14 – 0 x4 – finish with a bend on 17