AC/DC - Through The Mists of Time - Guitar Lesson

POWER UP

2020 3:32

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About Through The Mists of Time

At 94 BPM in E minor, "Through The Mists of Time" sits in that mid-tempo pocket that AC/DC have always owned, where groove matters more than speed. The song is rooted in a driving, repetitive rhythm guitar part in E Standard tuning, and that consistency is exactly what makes it deceptively demanding: your pick attack, palm muting pressure, and timing have to stay locked for the full duration. The lead work follows the band's characteristic pentatonic blues vocabulary, so if you know your E minor pentatonic box shapes, you have the raw material. The real work is getting the tone and feel right, that slightly behind-the-beat swagger that keeps the riff from sounding mechanical. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the main riff slowed down until your right hand is completely relaxed and the groove feels natural, then bring it back up to tempo. Hard rock rhythm playing rarely sounds as simple as it looks on paper, and this track is a good example of that gap.

• The song is in E Standard tuning and E minor, putting the main riff comfortably in the open-position pentatonic box that AC/DC built their catalog around.
• At 94 BPM the tempo is moderate, but maintaining consistent palm-muting pressure and pick attack throughout the full track is the real physical challenge.
• Looping the verse riff with the Practice Toolbar slowed to around 70 percent is a practical way to lock in the right-hand groove before pushing back to full speed.