Megadeth · Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? · song 3
Peace Sells tuning.
Peace Sells (Megadeth, 1986) is in E Standard, about 42 cents flat (A ≈ 429), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Song tuning
E Standard −42 ¢
About 42 cents flat (A ≈ 429).
Measured by TuneLit
42 ¢ flat
The album's value, measured on the CD: Tune moves every string −42 ¢.
Megadeth · Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? · 1986
About Peace Sells
Peace Sells is the title track of Megadeth's 1986 album and starts with David Ellefson's walking bass line, one of the best-known intros in thrash. The guitars come in on a mid-tempo riff, then the song speeds up for the closing section. Guitars and bass are tabbed in standard tuning, E A D G B E and E A D G.
TuneLit measured the album about 42 ¢ flat (A ≈ 429.5). This song reads about 38 ¢ flat on its own, not far enough from the album to need a separate value, so its Tune button sets E Standard −42 ¢. The check from the audio hears the flattened E as the lowest open string. For bass players this means the same thing: tune all four strings 42 ¢ under A 440 before trying the intro.
A Songsterr version in E♭ has hundreds of thousands of views because the record really does sound lower than E Standard. But E♭ at A 440 is about 58 ¢ under the record, so the bass intro will sound sour against it. Live recordings from 2013 on are different again: by then the band played a whole step down, so a live Peace Sells from those years sits in D Standard.
Tip: Tune the bass too, then play the first bars of the intro along with the record; it is the clearest test of the −42 ¢ setting.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string −42 ¢, the notes Peace Sells was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Peace Sells sits 42 cents flat on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much sharp against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Peace Sells 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 Peace Sells 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 −42 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Peace Sells moves up 42 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 Peace Sells in?
E Standard −42 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.