Megadeth · Rust in Peace · song 7
Tornado of Souls tuning.
Tornado of Souls (Megadeth, 1990) 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 · Rust in Peace · 1990
About Tornado of Souls
Tornado of Souls is the seventh track on Rust in Peace (1990) and the home of Marty Friedman's most famous solo, a long, melodic, very fast lead over the song's middle section. Every part of the song, both guitars and the bass, is tabbed in E Standard.
The record sits at concert pitch: TuneLit measured the album about 2 ¢ flat and this song the same, so its Tune button gives plain E Standard. The check from the audio agrees on E as the lowest open string. No offset and no dropped string: this is one of the simplest Megadeth records to tune for.
Players who practise the solo slowly sometimes work from re-tuned versions: Songsterr has a D Standard arrangement, matching the band's live tuning since 2013, and solo-only transcriptions. For the album version neither is needed. Because the solo leans on long bends and vibrato against a sustained backing, an accurately tuned E Standard makes it much easier to hear whether a bend reaches its target note. If you play along with the 2004 remix instead, tune a few cents higher: that version of the album reads about 7 ¢ above the original CD.
Tip: Tune to plain E Standard and check your bends in the solo against the record's sustained backing chords.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, the notes Tornado of Souls was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Tornado of Souls sits at concert pitch on the record, so the tuner stays at A 440.
- Then play Tornado of Souls 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 Tornado of Souls 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 Tornado of Souls moves up 2 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 Tornado of Souls in?
E Standard: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.