Green Day · Nimrod · song 2
Hitchin' a Ride tuning.
Hitchin' a Ride (Green Day, 1997) is in E Standard, about 8 cents sharp (A ≈ 442), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
8 ¢ sharp
The album's value, measured on the CD: Tune moves every string +8 ¢.
Green Day · Nimrod · 1997
About Hitchin' a Ride
Hitchin' a Ride, the lead single from Nimrod (1997), came out as the band left behind the half-step-down tuning of their three previous albums. On the record it is in plain E Standard: every Songsterr version, including one labelled for standard tuning, writes it that way, and TuneLit's audio check confirms the open low E.
TuneLit measured the Nimrod CD about 8 cents sharp (A ≈ 442), and Tune uses that value. The song's own reading is higher, about 18 cents, but with low confidence, so it keeps the album's setting; if the riff sounds a touch flat against the record, try raising the reference a little more.
The trap is live footage. In 2013 Billie Joe's crew listed Hitchin' a Ride among the older songs he plays on Blue, the guitar kept in E♭ for the Dookie-era material. Played that way, the song sounds a half step lower than on Nimrod. If a concert video sounds a semitone off against your E Standard guitar, tune everything down to E♭ and keep the same fingering. For the studio version, stay in E.
Tip: Use E Standard 8 cents sharp for the Nimrod recording, and E♭ Standard for live videos.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string +8 ¢, the notes Hitchin' a Ride was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Hitchin' a Ride sits 8 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Hitchin' a Ride 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 Hitchin' a Ride 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 +8 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Hitchin' a Ride moves down 8 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 Hitchin' a Ride in?
E Standard +8 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.