Megadeth · Countdown to Extinction · song 5
Sweating Bullets tuning.
Sweating Bullets (Megadeth, 1992) is in E Standard at concert pitch (A 440), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
At concert pitch
The album's value, measured on the CD.
Megadeth · Countdown to Extinction · 1992
About Sweating Bullets
Sweating Bullets is the third single from Countdown to Extinction (1992), a swaggering mid-tempo song with Mustaine half-speaking the verses over a choppy, stop-start riff. It was written during the album's second recording session, and its subject is paranoia, which the jittery rhythm mirrors. Guitars and bass are tabbed in standard tuning throughout.
TuneLit measured the album about 3 ¢ sharp and this song about 5 ¢ sharp, close enough to A 440 that its Tune button sets plain E Standard, and any ordinary clip-on tuner gets you there. The check from the audio agrees on E as the lowest open string.
The rhythm is the hard part here, not the tuning: the riff's short, choked notes leave gaps, so a small tuning error is less obvious than on a ringing chord. Songsterr also has E♭ and D Standard versions, the second matching the band's live tuning since 2013; for the album, stay in E Standard. The 2004 remix of the album reads about 2 ¢ higher than the original CD, still effectively concert pitch.
Tip: Tune to plain E Standard, then match a sustained chord from the chorus to make sure nothing beats against the record.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, the notes Sweating Bullets was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Sweating Bullets sits at concert pitch on the record, so the tuner stays at A 440.
- Then play Sweating Bullets 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 Sweating Bullets 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. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Sweating Bullets moves down 3 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 Sweating Bullets in?
E Standard: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.