Jimi Hendrix · Are You Experienced · song 2
Manic Depression tuning.
Manic Depression (Jimi Hendrix, 1967) is in E♭ Standard, about 18 cents sharp (A ≈ 445), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Song tuning
E♭ Standard +18 ¢
About 18 cents sharp (A ≈ 445).
Measured by TuneLit
18 ¢ sharp
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string +18 ¢.
Jimi Hendrix · Are You Experienced · 1967
About Manic Depression
The second song on both editions of Are You Experienced (1967), in a fast triple metre with Mitch Mitchell's jazz-flavoured drumming and a guitar line that the bass doubles. Unlike most of the album, its most-viewed tab is a half step down, E♭ Standard, for guitar and bass alike.
TuneLit measured it 18 ¢ sharp of E♭ on the 1991 Polydor CD (A ≈ 444.5), the only song on the album measured sharp of A 440. It has its own value, so the Tune button sets E♭ Standard 18 ¢ up. Play it with the album's setting, E Standard 7 ¢ down, and you sit about three quarters of a half step above the record.
The low notes TuneLit hears center on A♭, the open fifth string in E♭ Standard, while the open low E♭ is rarely played, so the audio check cannot confirm the semitone on its own; the tabs decide. A guitar left in E Standard at A 440 sits 82 ¢ above the record, nearly a half step. That is why the song feels almost right in standard tuning and never quite locks in. Some tabs online are rewritten in E Standard; keep their frets and tune down.
Tip: Tune with the song's own button (E♭ Standard, 18 ¢ up) and check your open fifth string, A♭, against the riff's root.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E♭ Standard, every string +18 ¢, the notes Manic Depression was recorded in.
- From the album's 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. Manic Depression sits 18 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Manic Depression 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 Manic Depression 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 +18 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Manic Depression moves up 82 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 Manic Depression in?
E♭ Standard +18 ¢: E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B♭ E♭, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.