Kyuss · Welcome to Sky Valley · song 1
Gardenia tuning.
Gardenia (Kyuss, 1994) is in C Standard, about 8 cents sharp (A ≈ 442), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Song tuning
C Standard +8 ¢
About 8 cents sharp (A ≈ 442).
Measured by TuneLit
8 ¢ sharp
The album's value, measured on the CD: Tune moves every string +8 ¢.
Kyuss · Welcome to Sky Valley · 1994
About Gardenia
Gardenia opens Welcome to Sky Valley (1994) and was released as a single in 1995. Brant Bjork wrote it, and it was his last album with Kyuss. Homme plays it in C Standard (C F B♭ E♭ G C), and the Songsterr tab has the riff anchored on the open String 6, C, close to half of the guitar's lowest notes, with Scott Reeder's bass on the same C in two octaves.
TuneLit measured the album about 8 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 442.1), and Gardenia reads a little higher still, about 13 ¢ sharp: close enough to share the album's Tune button, C Standard +8 ¢. On the record the low C makes up more than half of the low notes the analysis hears, and the check from the audio confirms it as the open low string.
One Songsterr tab calls itself Gardenia in Drop D; that is not the record's tuning. To play along with the album, keep the six strings two whole steps down. The riff repeats for minutes at a time, so a heavier set of strings (12–56 or 13–56) pays off: a slack C string drifts sharp as it warms up and under hard picking.
Tip: Let the open C ring against the first riff and match it before the drums come in; the whole song returns to that note.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to C Standard, every string +8 ¢, the notes Gardenia 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. Gardenia 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 Gardenia 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 Gardenia 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 +8 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Gardenia moves up 3 half steps and 92 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 Gardenia in?
C Standard +8 ¢: C F B♭ E♭ G C, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.