Song of the Week

Song of the week · October 5, 2026

Strong Enough

Sheryl Crow

This week I'm digging into "Strong Enough" from Sheryl Crow's Tuesday Night Music Club, a roots-rock acoustic tune that leans right into that country and Americana territory I've been wanting to explore. The chords are friendly, so my real focus is locking into the 6/4 feel, tracking down voicings like G5 and Bm♭6 that match the record, and copying that verse pattern with a pick instead of fingers. Once that's settled, the D-G-Bm-A loop makes a great backdrop for noodling with D major pentatonic.

It's a great way to get comfortable in 6/4 time and to train your ear to hear and match specific chord voicings, while building picked arpeggio or hybrid picking chops. On top of that, the simple looping progression gives you an easy, musical canvas for practicing major pentatonic soloing.

Chords

Rhythm

Chorus: D D U U D D (one pattern per bar of 6/4); verse: steady picked arpeggio

Works on

6/4 time · Pick arpeggios or hybrid picking in place of fingerpicking · Matching chord voicings by ear (G5, Bm♭6)

Warm up with

Triad visualizer — Map the D, G, Bm and A triads on the top three strings across the neck to nail the record's voicings and target chord tones when you solo.

A week with this song

1. Days 1–2: Find voicings for D, G5, Bm♭6 and A that match the record, then play the loop counting 1-2-3-4-5-6 along with the recording.
2. Days 3–4: Work out the verse pattern by ear and play it with a pick or hybrid picking, slowing down until every bar sounds the same.
3. Day 5: Practice the chorus changes Em–D/F#–G–A and Bm–C–G–A with the D D U U D D strum, cleaning up the change into C.
4. Days 6–7: Play the whole song along with the record, then loop the instrumental section and improvise over it with D major pentatonic, aiming for each chord's notes as it changes.