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Getting Started with "She Talks to Angels" and Open-E Tuning

Lesson #459 • Nov 10, 2022

About This Lesson

In today’s lesson I’ll walk you through first steps with Open E tuning and She Talks to Angels, the 1990 classic from The Black Crowes. This lesson won’t teach the full song — but instead, will walk you through my suggested approach in learning the 3 riffs heard in the first 30 seconds.

Because this song is in Open E tuning (which I’ll explain), there may be some new territory for you to get familiar with — as there was for me! But with the step-by-step exercises I show you, you’ll be able to get up-to-speed relatively quickly (compared to simply looking at the full tab for each riff, and trying to make them sound good). I hope you enjoy!

Instructional PDF 3 pages

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Follow along with the print-friendly PDF!

It includes all of my notes for this lesson, allowing you to follow along at your own pace. You're free to download, print, and share the PDF across your devices.

To download the PDF, upgrade to premium or log in.

Lesson Discussion

Jump in the conversation with other members of the Song Notes community! Post a comment about this lesson, ask a question, or even upload a video of your progress. All skill levels welcome!

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Jump in the conversation with other members of the Song Notes community! Post a comment about this lesson, ask a question, or even upload a video of your progress. All skill levels welcome!

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Slow Playthrough

Requires membership to Song Notes Premium. A zoomed-in, no-talking playthrough of each of the “exercise” riffs I’ve created to help you learn the 3 main riffs heard in the Black Crowes Recording. For each of the 3 riffs.

Only available to Premium members

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Looking for more Open Tuning lessons?

This is one of the first times I’ve ever explored a “true” open tuning, and must say it was a blast! I did explore Open D tuning once, and have dabbled in Drop-D and Double-Drop-D several times. If you’re interested in lessons on those topics, here’s a few suggestions:

Q&A: How to learn a song played in open tuning?

★ Instructional PDF

Open chords in key of D w/ major & minor triads

★ Instructional PDF

Open chords in the Key of A

★ Instructional PDF

Open chords in the Key of E

★ Instructional PDF

"The Chain" and Double-Drop D tuning

★ Instructional PDF

Two-Finger Shuffle in Drop D

★ Instructional PDF

Playing around in Drop-D tuning


And here’s some of the song lessons I’ve made that use open tuning of one form or another:

Practice Notes for "Mr. Tambourine Man" by Bob Dylan

★ Instructional PDF

Spin You Around (1/24) by Morgan Wallen

★ Instructional PDF

"Dublin Blues" by Guy Clark

$ Song Sheet Available

"Cover Me Up" by Jason Isbell

$ Song Sheet Available

"Welcome to Paradise" by Green Day, in the style of Tyler Childers

$ Song Sheet Available

"Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver

$ Song Sheet Available

Nirvana Riffin' in Drop-D (ft. All Apologies)

★ Instructional PDF

"Whitehouse Road" by Tyler Childers

$ Song Sheet Available

"Harvest Moon" by Neil Young

$ Song Sheet Available

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