Metallica · Master of Puppets · song 1
Battery tuning.
Battery (Metallica, 1986) 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 and the original LP.
Metallica · Master of Puppets · 1986
About Battery
Battery opens Master of Puppets (1986): a gentle intro of layered acoustic guitars that suddenly turns into fast, downpicked thrash. The whole song is in E Standard (E A D G B E), and the heavy riffs are driven by the open low E on String 6.
Master of Puppets is the one early Metallica album that sits at concert pitch. TuneLit measured the album at +2 ¢ on the CD and +4 ¢ on the original LP, and Battery at about +2 ¢ on the CD and +3 ¢ on the LP, all inside the margin TuneLit counts as concert pitch. Tune sets plain E Standard at A 440, so any normal tuner matches the record.
Watch out when you move on to the next track. The title track measures about 17 ¢ flat, so it has its own setting, and The Thing That Should Not Be is a whole step down in D Standard. Live, Battery has been played half a step down in E♭ since the Load era, so live tabs and videos sit lower than the album.
Tip: Plain E Standard at A 440 is right here; check your tuning against the acoustic intro before the distorted guitars come in.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, the notes Battery was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Battery sits at concert pitch on the record, so the tuner stays at A 440.
- Then play Battery 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 Battery 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 Battery moves down 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 Battery in?
E Standard: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.