Nirvana · Nevermind · song 8
Drain You tuning.
Drain You (Nirvana, 1991) is in D Standard, about 14 cents sharp (A ≈ 444), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
14 ¢ sharp
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string +14 ¢.
Nirvana · Nevermind · 1991
About Drain You
Drain You, from Nevermind (1991), is a bright, driving song with a noisy instrumental break in the middle. Like Come as You Are and Lithium it is tuned a whole step down, to D Standard (D G C F A D), and the main tab's notes match the record.
TuneLit measured the Nevermind CD about 14 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 443.6). Drain You reads a bit higher, about 18 ¢, the sharpest song on the CD but not far enough out for its own setting, so its Tune button sets D Standard +14 ¢. If long chords still beat against the record, nudge Fine-tune up a few cents. TuneLit's check from the audio agrees that the lowest open string is D.
A Drop D version of the tab also circulates on Songsterr, but the main D Standard tab is the one whose notes fit. Live versions differ: in 1991 the band played it at standard pitch, a whole step above the record, as on the December 1991 Del Mar recording, and from 1992 everything went half a step down.
Tip: Lower all six strings a whole step, not just String 6, then nudge Fine-tune up a few cents if the record still sounds a hair sharp.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to D Standard, every string +14 ¢, the notes Drain You was recorded in.
- From the album's E Standard: Every string down a whole 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. Drain You sits 14 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Drain You 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 Drain You 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 +14 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Drain You moves up a half step and 86 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 Drain You in?
D Standard +14 ¢: D G C F A D, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.