Metallica · Garage Inc. · song 9
Whiskey in the Jar tuning.
Whiskey in the Jar (Metallica, 1998) is in D Standard, about 11 cents sharp (A ≈ 443), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
11 ¢ sharp
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string +11 ¢.
Metallica · Garage Inc. · 1998
About Whiskey in the Jar
Metallica's Whiskey in the Jar is a traditional Irish song played in Thin Lizzy's arrangement, recorded in 1998 for disc 1 of the covers album Garage Inc. and released as a single. Most of disc 1 is half a step down in E♭, but this song, like Sabbra Cadabra, goes a full step down to D Standard (D G C F A D).
TuneLit measured the Garage Inc. set close to concert pitch, about 2 ¢ flat on the CD, but this song stands out at about 11 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 442.8), and about 8 ¢ on the original LP. Its Tune button sets D Standard +11 ¢, so a guitar in plain D at A 440 sounds a touch flat against the record.
The trap is the rest of the album. If you have been playing other disc 1 songs in E♭, your guitar is a half step too high for this one, and all six strings need to come down another half step. D Standard is not Drop D either: every string goes down a whole step, not only String 6. TuneLit's check from the audio agrees that the lowest open string is D.
Tip: Lower all six strings a whole step to D (not the E♭ of most of Garage Inc.), then check against the opening guitar melody.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to D Standard, every string +11 ¢, the notes Whiskey in the Jar was recorded in.
- From the album's E♭ Standard: Every string down a half step. No tuner that knows D Standard? Clamp a capo across fret 2, tune to E Standard as usual, then take it off: every string drops to D Standard. Check each string again afterwards, since a capo pulls the strings a little sharp.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Whiskey in the Jar sits 11 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Whiskey in the Jar 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 Whiskey in the Jar instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in D Standard +11 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Whiskey in the Jar moves up a half step and 89 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 Whiskey in the Jar in?
D Standard +11 ¢: D G C F A D, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.