Jimi Hendrix · Are You Experienced · song 8
Fire tuning.
Fire (Jimi Hendrix, 1967) is in E Standard, about 7 cents flat (A ≈ 438), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Song tuning
E Standard −7 ¢
About 7 cents flat (A ≈ 438).
Measured by TuneLit
7 ¢ flat
The album's value, measured on the CD: Tune moves every string −7 ¢.
Jimi Hendrix · Are You Experienced · 1967
About Fire
A fast soul-rock song from early 1967, often described as a duet between Hendrix's guitar and Mitch Mitchell's drums, with Noel Redding's bass driving underneath. It was remixed in stereo for the American edition of the album. Every main tab, guitar and bass, is in plain E Standard, and TuneLit's audio check hears E as the lowest open string, so the semitone is not in doubt.
On the 1991 Polydor CD it measures about 7 ¢ flat, the album's own pitch (A ≈ 438.1), and its Tune button uses that value: E Standard 7 ¢ down. That is a small offset, but the song is short and fast, and a guitar a few cents sharp of the record sounds harsh against the doubled riffs before you notice why.
Many tabs online come from live recordings, Woodstock, the Fillmore or the Radio One sessions, and most of those are in E♭, because Hendrix tuned down on stage from mid-1967. They play the same shapes a half step lower than the album. For the studio version keep E Standard, and practise the riff slowly with the record before trying it at full tempo: the drums push hard and leave little room to correct a sour note.
Tip: Before the first verse, play the opening riff with the record at the album's setting and listen for beating on the open strings.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string −7 ¢, the notes Fire was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Fire sits 7 cents flat on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much sharp against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Fire 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 Fire 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 −7 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Fire moves up 7 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 Fire in?
E Standard −7 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.