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  • She Talks To Angels – Why not Open E?

    Posted by Skyman911 on July 4, 2026 at 8:56 am

    I enjoyed working on this one this week, and may want to work it into my playlist. I’m curious why this wasn’t taught in open E, and was taught in open D? I know Tony says you can capo this one to get to the correct key. Seems like it would have been just as easy to keep this in open E. Was he afraid of folks breaking strings tuning incorrectly?

    MattTX_24 replied 3 months ago 4 Members · 4 Replies
  • 4 Replies
  • Moose408

    Member
    July 4, 2026 at 3:20 pm

    Open D with a Capo on 1 are different notes than Open E so it would not match the song.

    Open D is D-A-D-F#-A-D
    Open E is E-B-E-G#-B-E
    Open D with Capo on 1 is D#-A#-D#-G-A#-D# which is half-step down from Open E tuning.

    You could move the capo to 2nd fret with Open E tuning to match Open D tuning on the 1st fret, but why? Either way you have to change the guitar tuning, so why not change it to Open D where you don’t need a Capo at all?

    • Skyman911

      Member
      July 5, 2026 at 9:32 am

      I’ve been playing this in open E like it was recorded. Just wondering why it was taught in open D. I think @gmhendersonme-com confirmed it was so folks don’t break strings. Not sure how tuning up one note would do this though.

  • gmhendersonme-com

    Member
    July 4, 2026 at 4:03 pm

    Breaking strings was the reason he said he didn’t want to use Open E tuning. And he did mention putting a capo on the 2nd fret to play along with the recording.

  • MattTX_24

    Member
    July 5, 2026 at 2:24 pm

    Comments here are correct regarding string breakage (easier to do in open E).

    I would add – open D just SOUNDS COOL. You wouldn’t get as much of a “whoa” factor if he did the lesson in open E. Open D, especially for a first-timer, makes you think, “whoa… I didn’t know I could get a sound like this.”

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