Kyuss · Welcome to Sky Valley · song 5
Space Cadet tuning.
Space Cadet (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
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string +8 ¢.
Kyuss · Welcome to Sky Valley · 1994
About Space Cadet
Space Cadet is the seven-minute acoustic piece in the middle of Welcome to Sky Valley (1994), written by Homme and Scott Reeder: acoustic guitars, a clean electric, and Reeder on acoustic bass. It is the one song on the album that is not in C. Both Songsterr tabs put the guitars in C♯ Standard (C♯ F♯ B E G♯ C♯), a half step above the rest of the record, and Ultimate Guitar's tab says to tune down one and a half steps from normal, which is the same thing.
TuneLit's check from the audio agrees with C♯ as the lowest string. TuneLit measured the album about 8 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 442.1); Space Cadet reads about 16 ¢ sharp, just under the 8-cent difference that would give it a setting of its own, so the button sets C♯ Standard +8 ¢. On long open chords you may prefer a few cents more.
If you play the album in order, this is where you retune: up a half step from C after 100°, and back down for Demon Cleaner. On an acoustic guitar, one and a half steps down is slack; a medium set (13–56) keeps it from buzzing. The main tab writes Reeder's acoustic bass in E♭ Standard rather than C♯.
Tip: Tune String 6 to C♯ and check it against the first open chord; if it clashes by a half step, you are still in the album's C.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to C♯ Standard, every string +8 ¢, the notes Space Cadet was recorded in.
- From the album's C Standard: Every string up a half step. No tuner that knows C♯ Standard? Clamp a capo across fret 3, 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. Space Cadet 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 Space Cadet 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 Space Cadet 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 Space Cadet moves up 2 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 Space Cadet in?
C♯ Standard +8 ¢: C♯ F♯ B E G♯ C♯, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.