Men at Work - Down Under - Guitar Lesson

About Down Under

Few songs are as immediately recognizable from a single bar as "Down Under," and that recognition comes almost entirely from the flute riff that opens it. On guitar, your job is to replicate that melody and lock it in with a tight, bouncy rhythm feel in B major. The groove sits at 104 BPM, which is comfortable but deceptively demanding if you want the reggae-tinged offbeat strumming to feel loose and confident rather than stiff. Written by Colin Hay and Ron Strykert of Men at Work, the song belongs squarely in the Pop Rock tradition but leans on a syncopated, skank-style rhythm that you should spend real time getting under your fingers. The chord movement in the verse is the core workout here: keep your changes clean and your muting deliberate so the rhythm stays punchy. If the offbeat strumming pattern is giving you trouble, isolate just two bars and use the Practice Toolbar to loop it slowed down until the timing feels natural before bringing it back up to full speed.

• The signature melody, originally played on flute, translates well to guitar as a single-note lead line and is a great picking-hand accuracy exercise.
• At 104 BPM in B major, the verse rhythm uses a syncopated offbeat strum pattern that requires solid right-hand control to stay in the pocket.
• E Standard tuning keeps the song accessible, but clean fretting-hand muting is essential to making the staccato rhythm parts sound tight rather than muddy.