Metallica · The Black Album · song 8
Nothing Else Matters tuning.
Nothing Else Matters (Metallica, 1991) is in E Standard at concert pitch (A 440), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
At concert pitch
Measured on this song itself.
Metallica · The Black Album · 1991
About Nothing Else Matters
Nothing Else Matters is the ballad of the Black Album (1991), and its famous intro is picked in E minor on the open low E, G, B and high E strings. The song is in plain E Standard (E A D G B E), and because those open strings ring through the whole intro, even a small tuning error is easy to hear.
Most of the album measures about 5 ¢ sharp, but this song does not follow it. TuneLit measured it right at concert pitch, −1 ¢ on the CD (A ≈ 439.6) and −2 ¢ on the original LP, so its Tune button sets plain E Standard at A 440. For once a regular tuner is exactly right, and adding the album's +5 ¢ would leave you a little sharp.
The thing to watch is which recording you learn from. Since the Load era the band has played it half a step down in E♭ on stage, and that includes the orchestral S&M version from 1999, so tabs and videos taken from live shows sit a half step below the album.
Tip: Tune to plain A 440 and play the open-string intro along with the record; the open G and B strings tell you at once if anything is off.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, the notes Nothing Else Matters was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Nothing Else Matters sits at concert pitch on the record, so the tuner stays at A 440.
- Then play Nothing Else Matters 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 Nothing Else Matters 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 Nothing Else Matters moves up 1 cent, 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 Nothing Else Matters in?
E Standard: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.