Metallica · Ride the Lightning · song 4
Fade to Black tuning.
Fade to Black (Metallica, 1984) is in E Standard, about 22 cents sharp (A ≈ 446), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Song tuning
E Standard +22 ¢
About 22 cents sharp (A ≈ 446).
Measured by TuneLit
22 ¢ sharp
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string +22 ¢.
Metallica · Ride the Lightning · 1984
About Fade to Black
Fade to Black is the ballad of Ride the Lightning (1984), Metallica's first, opening on acoustic guitar before it builds to heavy riffs and a long closing solo. The guitars are in E Standard (E A D G B E), like the rest of the album.
Ride the Lightning plays sharp, by an amount that changes from song to song. TuneLit measured the album at about +8 ¢ (A ≈ 442), but Fade to Black sits higher: +22 ¢ on the CD (A ≈ 445.5) and +18 ¢ on the original LP, 14 to 16 ¢ above the rest of the record on both copies. That gap is in the masters, not in one transfer. Its Tune button sets E Standard +22 ¢; at A 440 you would be clearly flat.
Players often quote A 444 to 445 for the whole album. That figure fits this song well but overshoots most of the others, so do not set it once and keep it for every track. Creeping Death shares this song's +22 ¢, while For Whom the Bell Tolls is sharper still. Live, the band plays Fade to Black in E♭.
Tip: Use the song's own +22 ¢, not the album's +8 ¢, and check it against the acoustic intro, where the open strings ring longest.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string +22 ¢, the notes Fade to Black was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Fade to Black sits 22 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Fade to Black 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 Fade to Black 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 +22 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Fade to Black moves down 22 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 Fade to Black in?
E Standard +22 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.