Kyuss · Blues for the Red Sun · song 5
Thong Song tuning.
Thong Song (Kyuss, 1992) is in C Standard, about 19 cents flat (A ≈ 435), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Song tuning
C Standard −19 ¢
About 19 cents flat (A ≈ 435).
Measured by TuneLit
19 ¢ flat
The album's value, measured on the CD: Tune moves every string −19 ¢.
Kyuss · Blues for the Red Sun · 1992
About Thong Song
Thong Song, from Blues for the Red Sun (1992), is Homme's song about flip-flops, one of the two songs from the album whose videos got airplay on MTV's Headbangers Ball. It is in C Standard (C F B♭ E♭ G C). The Songsterr tab builds the guitar part on C and on G at the seventh fret of String 6, with the open low C used as a drone now and then; on the record the low C and a low B♭ are the notes TuneLit hears most.
TuneLit measured the album about 19 ¢ flat (A ≈ 435.2), and the Tune button uses that value. Thong Song is the lowest song on the album: its own reading is about 35 ¢ flat, a sixth of a semitone below the button's setting. The reading is not confident enough for a setting of its own, but if your chords sound a touch sharp against the record, lower the reference a few hertz, to around A 431.
The tuning itself holds no surprises. The check from the audio confirms the open low string as C, and the bass in the tab is in C Standard as well. With the album's offsets scattered this widely, it is worth tuning by ear against the opening riff.
Tip: Tune String 6 to C with the button, then nudge the whole guitar slightly lower until the open C sits still against the bass.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to C Standard, every string −19 ¢, the notes Thong Song was recorded in.
- From E Standard: Every string down 4 half steps. No tuner that knows C Standard? Clamp a capo across fret 4, tune to E Standard as usual, then take it off: every string drops to C 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. Thong Song sits 19 cents flat on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much sharp against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Thong Song 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 Thong Song instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in C Standard −19 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Thong Song moves up 4 half steps and 19 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 Thong Song in?
C Standard −19 ¢: C F B♭ E♭ G C, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.