Nirvana · Nevermind · song 5
Lithium tuning.
Lithium (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 Lithium
Lithium, from Nevermind (1991), swings between a calm, bouncing verse and a shouted chorus. Kurt Cobain played it with E-major chord shapes on a guitar tuned a whole step down to D Standard (D G C F A D), so the song sounds in D major even though the shapes look like E.
For the guitar part, think in two halves. The verses are strummed with a clean tone through a run of moving chord shapes, starting on the open E shape, which sounds as D on the lowered strings, and several of the later chords sit outside the home key. The chorus switches to distortion and heavier strumming. Practise the verse changes slowly first, keeping your strumming hand moving through every shift, because the even bounce of the verse is what makes the loud chorus land.
TuneLit measured the Nevermind CD about 14 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 443.6). Lithium reads about 16 ¢, close to the album, so its Tune button sets D Standard +14 ¢. A guitar in plain D at A 440 will sound a little flat against the record. TuneLit's check from the audio agrees that the lowest open string is D.
The published sheet music ignores the lowered tuning, so chord charts written in E sit a whole step above the record. Live tabs disagree for another reason: in 1991 the band played Lithium in E Standard, a whole step higher than the album, and from 1992 in E♭. Use a tab made from the studio version, with D Standard at the top.
Tip: Tune down a whole step to D, keep the tab's E-shape chords as written, and check the first verse chord against the record.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to D Standard, every string +14 ¢, the notes Lithium 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. Lithium 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 Lithium 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 Lithium 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 Lithium 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 Lithium in?
D Standard +14 ¢: D G C F A D, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.