Aerosmith · 1987 · Studio album
Permanent Vacation tuning.
E Standard at concert pitch (A 440), measured on the CD. 3 of 12 songs are tuned differently.
Album tuning
E Standard
At concert pitch (A 440), measured on the CD.
MeasuredCommunity
Measured by TuneLit
At concert pitch
| Source | Offset | Equivalent A | Songs | Spread | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CD, Geffen 32XD-822 (Japan, 1987) | +3.3 ¢ | A 440.8 | 12 | +0.8 to +5.8 ¢ | High |
Before we measured, sources said: E Standard, with no pitch given (community).
The comeback album, produced by Bruce Fairbairn in Vancouver with outside writers such as Desmond Child and Jim Vallance. The guitars stay in E Standard, with Drop D for Hangman Jury and St. John and a lap steel in open E on Rag Doll. TuneLit measured the CD about 3 cents sharp, effectively concert pitch, except Angel, which sits about 25 cents sharp.
12 songs · 3 tuned differently
Every song, ready to tune
Tune opens the tuner in that song's tuning, pitch included. Play along opens the song player set to that tuning, so the track plays in yours. What the labels mean
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1. Heart's Done Time
E StandardMeasured
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2. Magic Touch
E StandardMeasured
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3. Rag Doll
E StandardMeasured
Notes
Brad Whitford's rhythm guitar is in E Standard. Joe Perry's slide is a lap steel tuned to an E chord (E B E G♯ B E); he wrote the basic parts on a 1939 Rickenbacker lap steel.
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4. Simoriah
E StandardMeasured
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5. Dude (Looks Like a Lady)
E StandardMeasured
Notes
The official bass transcription is in standard tuning, and so are the community guitar tabs.
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6. St. John
Different tuning
Drop DMeasured
Notes
How to get there from the album's E Standard: String 6 down a whole step (E → D); the other strings stay.
Two independent fan transcriptions drop the low string to D.
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7. Hangman Jury
Different tuning
Drop DMeasured
Notes
How to get there from the album's E Standard: String 6 down a whole step (E → D); the other strings stay.
Drop D for the riff; TuneLit's audio check agrees that D is the lowest open string.
Both the Songsterr tab and an older fan tab put the main riff in Drop D. The acoustic bottleneck part has no tab that names its tuning.
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8. Girl Keeps Coming Apart
E StandardMeasured
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9. Angel
Different pitch
E Standard +25 ¢Measured
Notes
Measured about 25 cents sharp (A ≈ 446), well above the rest of the album. The song is in E♭: the electric parts are tabbed in E Standard, the acoustic intro in E♭ Standard. The electric tab hardly ever uses the open low E, so either tuning works once the reference A is set.
The record is in E♭ major. Both Songsterr tabs play the electric guitars in E Standard but the acoustic intro in E♭ Standard.
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10. Permanent Vacation
E StandardMeasured
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11. I'm Down
E StandardMeasured
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12. The Movie
E StandardMeasured
Notes
An instrumental with Mellotron and cellos; it is on the original LP as well as the CD.
What the labels mean
- Measured
- TuneLit measured the pitch on an original CD or LP. The tuning name still comes from the sources.
- Official
- The band, a member, their producer or their guitar tech said it.
- Widely reported
- Trusted outlets, guides and tabs agree, but the band did not say it directly.
- Community
- From community tabs, or from players who tune along with the record.
- Disputed
- Sources disagree. The likeliest setting is shown; the notes name the other one.
Each song shows one label, the strongest it has, in this order. How we measure recordings →
Questions
What tuning is Permanent Vacation in?
Aerosmith recorded Permanent Vacation (1987) in E Standard at concert pitch (A 440), measured by TuneLit on the CD. St. John and Hangman Jury use Drop D; Angel uses E Standard +25 ¢.
Why does Permanent Vacation sound out of tune with my guitar?
Angel sits about 25 cents sharp (A ≈ 446), so a guitar tuned to A 440 clashes with it. The Tune buttons on this page set the tuner's reference to match the record, so you only tune the strings.