Deep Purple · Machine Head · song 7
Space Truckin' tuning.
Space Truckin' (Deep Purple, 1972) is in E Standard, about 20 cents sharp (A ≈ 445), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
20 ¢ sharp
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string +20 ¢.
Deep Purple · Machine Head · 1972
About Space Truckin'
Space Truckin' closes Machine Head (1972). Blackmore has said the song started with the half-step riffs of the refrain, inspired by the Batman TV theme, and Gillan wrote the space-travel words over them. Of all the famous Deep Purple riffs this is the one that uses the open strings most: the main tab rings the open E, A and D again and again, with short climbs a half step up and back. It is in E Standard.
Here the song and its album part ways. The Machine Head CD sits about 6 ¢ sharp as a whole, but Space Truckin' measures about 20 ¢ sharp on its own (A ≈ 445), so it has its own Tune button: E Standard +20 ¢. With so many open strings ringing, that offset is easy to hear. A guitar at A 440 will sound noticeably flat against the riff, much as it does on the Burn album.
On stage the band turned the song into a long jam that could pass twenty minutes, so live recordings say little about the studio pitch. The tabs and the check from the audio both put String 6 on E, and the riff's open low E makes this one of the easiest songs to tune against once the offset is set.
Tip: Set E Standard +20 ¢, then play the open E against the riff's first bar; it should merge with the bass without any slow wobble.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string +20 ¢, the notes Space Truckin' was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Space Truckin' sits 20 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Space Truckin' 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 Space Truckin' instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in E Standard +20 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Space Truckin' moves down 20 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 Space Truckin' in?
E Standard +20 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.