Metallica · Ride the Lightning · song 3
For Whom the Bell Tolls tuning.
For Whom the Bell Tolls (Metallica, 1984) is in E Standard, about 46 cents sharp (A ≈ 452), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Song tuning
E Standard +46 ¢
About 46 cents sharp (A ≈ 452).
Measured by TuneLit
46 ¢ sharp
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string +46 ¢.
Metallica · Ride the Lightning · 1984
About For Whom the Bell Tolls
For Whom the Bell Tolls, from Ride the Lightning (1984), opens with a tolling bell, and the high melody in its intro is Cliff Burton's distorted bass, not a guitar. The guitars are in E Standard (E A D G B E) and stay on slow, marching riffs.
This is the sharpest song of the early albums. TuneLit measured it at +46 ¢ on the CD (A ≈ 451.7) and +40 ¢ on the original LP, almost a quarter step above E Standard and far above the album's +8 ¢. The cause is not documented. One story is a sped-up tape; another is that the guitars were tuned to the opening bell, which Lars Ulrich made by striking an anvil and combining it with a bell from a sound-effects recording.
Because the record sits almost halfway between E and F, neither plain E Standard nor a guitar tuned up to F will match it; the Tune button sets E Standard +46 ¢. Tab sites also carry versions retuned to A 440, which are fine for practice but not for playing along. Live, the song is played in E♭ with the rest of the set.
Tip: Tap Tune rather than tuning by ear to E or F: the record sits almost halfway between them, so check your open low E against the first guitar riff.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string +46 ¢, the notes For Whom the Bell Tolls was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. For Whom the Bell Tolls sits 46 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play For Whom the Bell Tolls 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 For Whom the Bell Tolls 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 +46 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and For Whom the Bell Tolls moves down 45 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 For Whom the Bell Tolls in?
E Standard +46 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.