Guns N' Roses · Appetite for Destruction · song 6
Paradise City tuning.
Paradise City (Guns N' Roses, 1987) is in E♭ Standard at concert pitch (A 440), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
At concert pitch
The album's value, measured on the CD.
Guns N' Roses · Appetite for Destruction · 1987
About Paradise City
The big singalong of Appetite for Destruction (1987), with its chorus up front and a fast closing section. Every guitar and the bass are in E♭ Standard: the tab's G, C and F chord shapes sound as F♯, B and E on the record.
TuneLit measured it at concert pitch (about 0 ¢) on the Mobile Fidelity gold CD of Appetite (UDCD 699), close to the album's 2 ¢, so the setting is plain E♭ Standard at A 440.
This is the one Appetite song where TuneLit's own audio check gets it wrong: it points to E Standard, because the song never rings the open low E♭. The chord shapes settle it, since G, C and F shapes that sound as F♯, B and E only come from a guitar a half step down. If you tuned to the record by ear and landed in E, check again.
Tip: Strum the G shape of the intro against the record: it should sound as F♯, and if it sounds a half step higher, you are still in E Standard.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E♭ Standard, the notes Paradise City was recorded in.
- From E Standard: Every string down a half step. No tuner that knows E♭ Standard? Clamp a capo across fret 1, tune to E Standard as usual, then take it off: every string drops to E♭ Standard. Check each string again afterwards, since a capo pulls the strings a little sharp.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Paradise City sits at concert pitch on the record, so the tuner stays at A 440.
- Then play Paradise City 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 Paradise City 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. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Paradise City moves up 98 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 Paradise City in?
E♭ Standard: E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B♭ E♭, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.