Should I teach "Highway to Hell" to a 10-year-old?

My position:

I believe that as a teacher, I’m responsible for teaching both knowledge and character: How to finger tap, and also, usually in more subtle ways, how to be a kind person.  And there are definitely some songs with offensive or “adult” lyrics that I would never teach a child.

But I don’t think “Highway to Hell” is inappropriate.  The speaker in AC/DC’s song “Highway to Hell” is obviously a terrible role model, but the kids I teach know that. Teaching a young person the song wouldn’t make them do evil things, any more than a child dressing up like a vampire for Halloween would give them a thirst for human blood.

What do you think?

Comments 52

  2. Teaching them a rock song that is so tame by today’s standards doesn’t seem wrong to me. I mean, they could be asking to learn “Chicken Hunting” by the Insane Clown Posse (YouTube it).

  3. I’d agree, but I’d add that sometimes it depends on the kid, and it would definitely need to be cleared with the parents. My album collection contains the album in question, and I’ve never tried to hide it from my kids and in fact we’ve jammed to it on more than one occasion. I must admit that I was a little embarrassed when my son told his guitar instructor that he wanted to learn “Beer Run” by Todd Snider, but it could have been worse. In my opinion, you’re never going to successfully protect your kids from all the potentially negative influences out there, so you help them learn to distinguish the good from the bad, to occasionally have fun with the bad, but to understand it for what it is. Otherwise is to deny their, and your own, humanity and potentially set them up for failure later.

  4. Yes, I would also explain the intentions of the song, that is about good ol’ rock n roll from one the greatest hard rock bands of world, being more of analogy of there hard work to reach their status and not just a “highway to hell”

    Also to let a kid miss out on a absolute classic like Highway to hell would be wrong 🙂

  5. Did the kid ask to learn it? If they did, then fine..if not, maybe choose a different song. I’m a guitar teacher too (in the UK), and AC/DC have had a massive resurgence in popularity recently.

    I have had a 14 year old female pupil almost in tears because she couldn’t get AC/DC tickets and many of my kids use SG style guitars.

    I don’t run anything I teach by parents..they trust me and there is a limit to how much molly-coddling a kid should have..AC/DC are freely heard on the radio, so I don’t see a problem.
    If you start second guessing the morality of song you teach, where do you stop? No Beatles (drug references), no Stones, (same) no heavy metal (they all worship the devil!) etc etc

  6. What kids can or cannot learn is ultimately the responsibility of the parents, not the guitar teacher. Having said that, as both a parent and a guitar teacher, I found an album on iTunes that does instrumental covers of up to 30 classic rock hits, including Highway To Hell, without the offending lyrics. It’s the perfect solution. I think it’s called “Classic Rock Masters”, something like that anyway. It’s got a cartoon caricature of a rock guitar player with a yellow background. There are up to 30 instrumental covers quite close to the original versions minus the lyrics. Highly recommended!

  7. Media always have a great effect to everyone, most especially to kids. Though I myself love highway to hell, I have a mind that could perceive what is right from wrong. I am not saying that listening and playing that kind of stuffs are wrong, but it could have some subconscious effect for kids with that kind of music that is build by angst. They are in the age of building up character and should be more exposed to music that could build up a better personality.

  8. Depending on how young they are teach them the song, not the lyrics. But with today’s media and how accessible everything is, there’s a high possibility that they would already know about it anyways, and possibly faking innocence.

    But otherwise offending lyrics can always be changed.

  9. I teach Highway to Hell on a regular basis and find it’s a great introduction to rock/rhythm/power chords etc.. The students I teach (aged 8 – 54) love it. It also gives them an insight into amp setup such as gain etc.. A must as far as I’m concerned

  10. I personally think that you should find a better song to teach it to them. It may offend the parents that their kid is learning to play a song like that at such an early stage in their life.

    If I was their teacher, I would not teach them this song but rather another one that is more appropriate.

    That is my opinion.

    Tal

  13. The chorus is a hard rock classic and pretty easy to play. As such I see playing it as a real confidence booster. As for the lyrics, I’ve been listening to the song since it was released and other than the chorus I have no ideas what the singer is saying.

  15. We had a parent ream us up and down because our drum teacher taught their 12 year old how to play smells like teen spirit.

    When the mom called and said he was teaching her child inappropriate songs, I immidiately thought Slayer or the like. I nearly laughed when she said Nirvana.

    Anyway, my belief is there are lines you should not cross when teaching songs to kids, such as a lot of profanity or songs with bad messages (racism, violence, etc). However, I believe that the childs upbringing (i.e. the parents raising their children) is what determines the level of influence a song has on a child.

  18. I think it depends on the child’s upbringing. If good values are intact with the kid then its probably okay to teach such songs just to deal with the guitar playing technicalities and not with the message of the song.

  19. Having been an ex guitar teacher, I would say just teach whatever the kid wants to be taught. A lot of the time, the kid himself has material which he/she is interested in learning. I’m more of the principle that it’s the music that matters, not the lyrics (but then again I don’t pay attention to the lyrics to songs anyway). If a song can teach kids applied music theory or the importance of guitar phrasing, then why not teach them?

    Shadow

  23. I’m a music teacher. When the student first starts I have the parents fill out paperwork and one of the questions is about where the parents want to set the limitations to what I teach their kids music wise. That helps a lot. I do watch content based on their age though. A lot of times kids do want to learn stuff I know their parents wouldn’t want them to learn like some of the screamo stuff where every other word is the F word. Also, there are some songs I just won’t teach based on lyrical content. Personally I find Highway to Hell’s lyrics troubling and that’s on my short list of songs I won’t teach. I explain to the kids that it’s personally offensive to me. Luckily there are plenty of other AC/DC songs like Back in Black that I do teach.

  24. I believe that their is nothing wrong with a kid learning that song… however, I don’t really think you should be teaching it them. (Unless you checked with the parents first) That is a song better left for them to learn on their own and bring to you to get help with. I don’t think it should be suggested by you. There’s a ton of songs out there that rock just as hard with decent or even no lyrics.

  25. Highway to Hell is one of AC/DC’s best.
    I am a Christian but love listening to AC/DC and Black Sabbath -Heaven & Hell.

    Remember, there’s v little or no swearing in really good rock and metal songs, unlike some of the rubbish that is churned out today.

  26. You have to find appropriate songs for sure, but as Australians, pretty much every one of my 80 students has heard it at home because their parents play it or it’s on TV or the radio and they request to learn some ACDC.

    Looking at the HTH lyrics, they’re actually pretty tame, but I teach It’s A Long Way To The Top as the first ACDC song – but it does have *a* drug reference, and also makes a reference to one night stands which some people might find objectionable… so I self edit that stuff when I sing along, and the chart I use doesn’t have lyrics. No biggie.

    Anyway, ACDC have far worse songs to teach than HTH or LWTTT.

    But back on the song suitability thing, Hey Joe is all about shooting your missus because she was cheating… great song, but… *shrug*

  27. If you have enough reservation to ask the question, you can avaoid your dilemna by choosing another song. It’s not like you can’t find another example of anything there is to learn from that song.

  28. I am old enough to remember when that song came out. I was around that age — younger, actually. But I loved it. It influenced me to play guitar, play rock, and appreciate the wildness of the genre with a sense of humor. Now I’m a middle class librarian with two kids, whose minds I warp daily. IOW – they didn’t lead me to Say-tun, as my grandparents worried would happen.

    Kids are smarter than we give them credit for. I agree that you have a role to build character, but part of that can be modeling critical thinking and responsible behavior, even when appreciating music that celebrates irresponsibility. Kids LOVE anything that smacks of the irresponsible, and marketers know it. So I don’t think you’ll be doing your student any harm.

  29. I see no problem at all teaching this song to a ten year old and have taught lots of similar songs to people that age. A kid that age won’t really think about the content of the track anyway and it really does not contain anything that any reasonable person would be offended by.
    Great song though

  32. HELLO THERE TO ALL YOU PEOPLE WITH OPEN MINDS. I’M 61 YEARS OLD IN A FEW DAYS, BEEN PERFORMING SINCE 5 AND TEACHING SINCE 17. I HAVE TAUGHT HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE AND I HAVE LEARNED WHEN I GET A STUDENT WITH PARENTS WHO REALLY DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT MUSIC IS ALL ABOUT….I SORT OF HAVE TO BITE MY LIP AND SAY AGAIN. MUSIC TEACHES MORE THAN JUST PLAYING NOTES. IT CAN REALLY HELP THEIR CHILD TO GROW AS A PERSON BY LEARNING TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES IN FRIENDS, MUSIC, LIFE IN GENERAL. THE WORDS CAN BE BAD, MAYBE THE MELODY GREAT OR VICE VERSA. THE PERFORMER MAY BE THE SAME WAY..THE POINT IS..IT’S LIFE AND MUSIC IS A GREAT THING TO BE A PART OF. LET THE KID LEARN TO MAKE UP THEIR OWN MIND.
    IT’S LATE AND I NEED TO CLOSE..THANKS FOR HAVING A NEAT BLOG TO READ…LATER
    LINDA LEE BYARS

  33. PS…IT’S 12:00PM HERE IN THE KEYS..THIS IS MY FIRST BLOG TO EVER LOOK AT..I’M REALLY LOVIN’ LEARNIN’ THE COMPUTER.YOU CAN REALLY LEARN ABOUT AND MEET GREAT PEOPLE.I’M A SINGER AND KEYBOARD PLAYER HERE IN THE KEYS AND I ENJOY HEARING FROM PEOPLE EVERYWHERE.KEEP MUSIC ALIVE. WATCH THE MOVIE AUGUST RUSH…OH SO GOOD!!!

    LATER,
    LINDA LEE BYARS

  34. This is definitely an interesting question that obviously has sparked some comments. 😀

    As long as a song is something I am comfortable with, and I believe that the parents would not object to the child learning, and as long as I felt the maturity of the child in question could handle the song, then yes, I would not have a problem teaching a song that might be offensive to some. I would try to explain why some might consider the song offensive and suggest that there might be times when that song might not be appropriate, though.

    Oh, and just because a child is 10 doesn’t necessarily mean that they would have the maturity for such a song, which is why, especially for a younger student, I would try to take that into account.

  36. Being a fellow teacher, I have to confess I’ve never considered the moral implications of the song.

    Over the years I’ve had many students want to learn that song and to be frank I usually cringe when they ask for it, (although I know it’s coming.

    I make it a point of discussing the student’s progress with the parent and on reflection always say something like “we’re working on some basic chord progressions” or whatever it happens to be and he/she seems pretty keen to try some Iron Maiden/ACDC/Black Sabbath (I get them all at some time or other) but before we get there he/she has to master this. He/She needs to practice……

    At this point you can usually tell where the parent is at with the student’s musical direction and if there is a problem I’ll know it then.

    To be frank I think the lyrics with those type of bands when they stray off in to fantasy areas and stories of good and evil have to be seen for what they are – Stories no different and no more harmful than Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

    I know that some people see a song like Highway to Hell or Holy Diver(Dio) as containing satanic overtones but in all honesty the fact that a student has requested to learn the song already tells you that they’re exposed to it in any case.

  37. I believe it depends greatly upon the childs maturity, but if the child has already heard the song and has requested it I dont see any problem with that. but of course and song with even mildly offensive lyrics should be talked about and cleared with the parents first.

    oh and btw ac/dc rocks and it aint noise pollution

  38. I’d be more worried about the “tap” thing. Teach him how to play the Guitar. The Young brothers is definetly the better choice to do just that. He needs to learn about song structure and when to play and lay back. How to rock,swing,groove and become a musician. He can learn the typewriter tricks on his own time. Did you know Halen figured that stuff out sittin’ on the crapper.

  39. Oh yea I forgot. Teach them how to use their ears. How to cop songs from recordings. Then they can learn to play what they want and you won’t have to get yourself frazzeled in these moral issues.

  40. I think it depends on what your religious beliefs and/or moral code is. For example, if you have a view of reality that is based on a generally literal interpretation of the Bible, then you believe in a real hell full of everlasting destruction. If this is your belief system, then a song that seems to celebrate being on a highway that goes there is probably the last thing you would want teach any kid.
    But if you are even still very moral, but believe these ideas from the Bible are more figurative and allegorical, then the idea of teaching the song will probably be perceived less seriously. And of course if you don’t believe in any absolute moral system at all, there would be even less concern about negative aspects in teaching the song.
    Also, another variable is one’s mental/emotional involvement with the message of the particular song. If you are just a kid trying to learn guitar, you may not even be listening to the words, and as sinister as the teacher may perceive them to be, the young one learning the song could be complete oblivious to the words, and not be very adversely affected.
    But one thing music is for is celebrating things in life, and promoting ideas, so I think its a good idea to ask yourself, what kind of things do you think are a good idea to celebrate?

  41. The chords and rhythms Angus and Malcolm use are PERFECT for beginning guitar students to learn. I have never NOT taught a song because of it’s lyrics.
    I think it’s more important not teach a song if won’t help the student become a better musician. I’ll teach anything that will better a student musically…and of course great rock-n-roll should be offending somebody somewhere:)

  42. I started playing sabbath tunes at 10…now I just wanna play blues…sometimes its the notes and the melody of the song which fits to your soul. At the age of 47 I have heard and played my share of guitarists…Iommi, Clapton, All three kings (well the 4th one was an awesome singer and kinda ok guitarist….Girls liked him…in the 40’s) My point being….teaching students classic rock songs is not wrong…it will build the students character as a guitar player and help build a style and a feeling.

  43. This is really a silly dedate….but if you taught it backwards it would probably have a completely different meaning…inccidently when the band released the album it wasnt a reference to hell as in heaven & hell but more to do with the the the journey which was hell before they started making serious monnies according to an interview with Angus.

  45. If the student is interested then teach it to them! I wish my kid students wanted to learn AC DC. I give guitar lessons in Nottingham and I have one half wanting to learn speed metal and the other half wanting to learn JLS!

  46. I teach that song all the time. If the kid is under 12 I write highway to heck…heck’s bells, heck ain’t a bad place to be…the kids get a good laugh about it.
    I’ve had parents say I couldn’t find that song on you tube
    I just say it’s actually H E double hockey sticks…wink wink.
    No parents have ever had a problem
    Great Blog

  47. Horses for courses (as we say here in NZ). I would give more regard to the wishes of whomever paying for the lesson – and perhaps do them the courtesy of discussing it with them. If the family are Christians and the kid is learning chords to play Gospel songs on a Sunday – then it’s probably not worth going there. But if the student is the child of an ex-Hells Angel and gets dropped off to their lesson on a Harley – then maybe.

  49. You know this is a interesting question. It would depend on the kids musical taste, and if the parents are cool with that. If the kid is into rock, and the parents don’t have a problem, I wouldn’t see a problem. I ask the student what he or she would ultimately like to learn song wise, and if some of them are simple enough, that’s where I start. I do live online guitar lessons, so starting a student off with simple songs that are easy to teach is what works for me. You can ck out my domain by going here.

  50. I realize I’m commenting on a stale blog entry, but this caught my fancy because of the way I interpret songs others see as “Satanic.” For example, I’ve always seen early Black Sabbath as having a positive, anti-drug/anti-war message. The song Highway to Hell has always seemed to me to be an ironic, light-hearted respose to a Grandmother or Great Aunt’s warnings of where a group of young(heh) musicians were headed. They weren’t saying they were on a highway to hell. They were making fun of other people who accused them of being so.

  52. Just discovered this blog, absolutely love it! I felt this post as a definite worthy first entry for me. I’m a guitar teacher and I have a curriculum wholly built around classic rock repertoire, as I’m sure most guitar teachers do. for me, this song falls into the category of “must learn” for students, but because I’ve run into problems with overtly polarizing songs like this before, my policy is: if they ask to learn it, i teach it no questions asked or edits made. But if I make them learn it I go out of my way to record my own covers using garage band so my conscience is clear and I don’t have to worry about angry parents. I keep my parents in the loop for every lesson so if they care about that kind of stuff they have the chance to do something about it.

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