Acoustic Guitar Riffs–Sheryl Crow, Strong Enough

Here’s a short lesson showing how to play the main acoustic guitar riff from Sheryl Crows’s hit song Strong Enough. This song from the Tuesday Night Music Club album reached number 5 in the US charts in 1995.

 

First up, here’s the tab for the arpeggio played on the intro and throughout the verses.

 

 

The first thing to notice is that this piece is in 3/4 time. There are three beats to each bar divided into 2, 4 and 2 parts respectively. To get the feel of the rhythm you can say the phrase “Grapefruit watermelon apple”, over each bar.

 

Second interesting thing to notice is that open third string in the Bm chord, play the Bm without barring your index finger across the second fret.

 

Have fun learning and playing the song, it’s a really nice sounding arpeggio. Listen to Strong Enough to hear what it sounds like.