Guitar Tutorial: Intro “Sweet Child Of Mine” (Two Alternative Fingerings!!)

For this article the tab for “Sweet Child of Mine”, it is Slash’s most melodic intro up to date, even though the idea appeared out of a fingering excercise.

The original is in the key of E and the strings of guitar are detuned one half step. I have written out the tab. for the key of Eb, no need to detune, you can jam along with the original and all will sound fine.
The intro is made out of two parts and only the notes of the first part of each bar changes, the rest of the notes of the intro idea stay the same all the way throughout. If you are a beginner and find it hard to play the whole idea in one go I suggest you try playing only last part first, once you have it under your fingers then move on to the first part. Once you have mastered first part put both parts together and play them as one idea.
Above each bar are the chords which are there to accompany the idea, they are also the chords for the verse of the song.


     Db                                          x2         B                              x2          Gb                                       x2

  E———————–14———13—–   ——————–14—-13—-    ————————-14—-13—–

  B ——-14——————16——–14-  —–14—————16—-14-   ——-14——————16—–14–

  G ———–13–11———————–  ———–13–11—————   –11———13–11——————–

  D –11————————————   -13——————————   —————————————–



      Db                                          x2

  E ———————-14——–13—-

  B ——14——————16——-14-

  G ———–13—11——————–           Repeat Whole Intro Several Times

  D -11————————————


  E —————————————–

What I like about this particular fingering is that for the first bar you can see a powerchord of Db, there is a logic in the fingering and this helps you to remember where to put your fingers. The first note is a Db and if you play the first 3 notes of the intro as a chord you will get a Db powerchord. The logic ends there and there is a lot of movement in the fingering, something which makes playing less comfortable.
Have a look at the next fingering which is all in position, much easier. Make sure you use your pink for the very first note. Big stretches and all the notes jump strings, yes, good one to get smooth with your string skipping. Check it out:

       Db                                    x2           B                                  x2       Gb                                     x2

  E  ————————14—–13—    ————————14——13—  ———————-14——13——

  B  ——-14—————–16——14-  ———-14————–16——14  ——-14—————-16—–14–

  G ————-13————————  —————13——————-  ————13————————

  D ——————16——————-  –13—————16————-   –16————16——————-


       Db                                       x2

   E  ————————14—–13—-

   B ——-14——————16——14

   G ———–13————————–

    D —————-16——————–



When you carefully check the new fingering you will notice that the last part remains the same, also the second bar has not changed at all! It is mainly the first bar, the third and last bar which receive a different fingering.
Try both fingerings to see which one you like best.
Whenever you work out solos, riffs or intros look beyound the notes to see what is going on, which makes it also easier to play eventually.

The album “Appetite for Destruction” does contain many, many good riffs and intros, again I feel Slash has not being able to improve on his compositional ideas, his playing, on the other hand, has improved. Check out his latest soloalbum “World on Fire” and you will notice how smooth his solos and speed are on that recording.

Enjoy and hope to see you soon again.