Megadeth · Cryptic Writings · song 1
Trust tuning.
Trust (Megadeth, 1997) 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 · Cryptic Writings · 1997
About Trust
Trust opens Cryptic Writings (1997) with a drum intro, then an acoustic passage and a tight, punchy riff; it grew out of Absolution, an instrumental demo from the Youthanasia sessions, reached number five on the US Mainstream Rock chart and earned a Grammy nomination. After Youthanasia's E♭, the band was back in E Standard here, and every main tab of Trust, acoustic, electric and bass, uses standard tuning.
TuneLit measured Cryptic Writings at concert pitch, about 1 ¢ sharp, and Trust about 4 ¢ sharp, so the Tune button sets plain E Standard. The check from the audio agrees on E as the lowest open string. On the 2004 remix the album reads within a few cents of the original CD, so the same tuning works there too.
The trap is the E♭ version on Songsterr, which has a large following: it suits players who keep a guitar in E♭ for Youthanasia, but on the record it puts you a half step low. The acoustic part matters too. If you play it on a second guitar, tune that one to the same reference, so the two parts agree when you switch between them.
Tip: Tune both the acoustic and the electric guitar to plain E Standard at A 440 before the song starts.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, the notes Trust was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Trust sits at concert pitch on the record, so the tuner stays at A 440.
- Then play Trust 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 Trust 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 Trust 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 Trust in?
E Standard: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.