Aerosmith · Pump · song 5
Janie's Got a Gun tuning.
Janie's Got a Gun (Aerosmith, 1989) is in F Standard, about 12 cents flat (A ≈ 437), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Song tuning
F Standard −12 ¢
About 12 cents flat (A ≈ 437).
Bass: 5-string bass C Standard −12 ¢ Tune bass
Measured by TuneLit
12 ¢ flat
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string −12 ¢.
Aerosmith · Pump · 1989
About Janie's Got a Gun
Janie's Got a Gun, from Pump (1989), is the Aerosmith song that goes up instead of down. Joe Perry tunes the whole guitar a half step higher, to F B♭ E♭ A♭ C F, so the open strings ring in the song's key of F, according to Premier Guitar (2014). The official bass transcription tunes a 5-string bass up a half step too (C F B♭ E♭ A♭), and the sheet music is in F.
TuneLit measured the CD about 12 cents flat against that F tuning (A ≈ 437.1), while the rest of Pump sits at concert pitch, and the audio check hears F as the lowest open string. Tune sets F Standard and the −12 ¢ in one tap. Water Song, the short glass-harmonica piece before it, runs straight into the song.
The trap is the most popular tab, which writes the song in E Standard: its notes do not line up with the record, while the F tuning does. Tuning up raises the tension on every string, so go slowly. If you would rather not retune at all, a capo on the 1st fret of an E Standard guitar gives the same open strings.
Tip: Tune every string up a half step, not down, and check open String 6 against the record's low F; a capo on the 1st fret of an E Standard guitar does the same job.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to F Standard, every string −12 ¢, the notes Janie's Got a Gun was recorded in.
- From the album's E Standard: Every string up a half step.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Janie's Got a Gun sits 12 cents flat on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much sharp against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Janie's Got a Gun along with the record: its lowest open note and your String 6 should ring together without a wobble.
Or the other way round
Move the record into your tuning
Rather keep your guitar as it is? Let Play along move Janie's Got a Gun instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in F Standard −12 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Janie's Got a Gun moves down 88 cents, at its own speed. Slow it down or loop a few bars to learn it, and save the result as a WAV file.
Questions
What tuning is Janie's Got a Gun in?
F Standard −12 ¢: F B♭ E♭ A♭ C F, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.