Nirvana · Nevermind · song 6
Polly tuning.
Polly (Nirvana, 1991) is in E Standard at concert pitch (A 440), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
At concert pitch
Measured on this song itself.
Nirvana · Nevermind · 1991
About Polly
Polly is the quiet acoustic song on Nevermind (1991), and the only one on the album kept from an April 1990 session at Smart Studios, with Chad Channing. Kurt Cobain played it on a cheap five-string Stella acoustic he never restrung. The record is in E minor and the main tab is in E Standard (E A D G B E).
Unlike the rest of the album, which sits about 14 ¢ sharp, Polly measures right at concert pitch: TuneLit read it at about +4 ¢ on the CD (A ≈ 440.9), inside the margin it counts as A 440. Its Tune button sets plain E Standard at A 440, so this time a regular tuner is exactly right.
Butch Vig said in 1996 that the old Stella sat about a step and a half below E, and later that everything else had to be tuned to it. The record does not sound that way: its notes match the E Standard tab, and TuneLit's audio check agrees on E. TuneLit still marks the tuning disputed because of that account. On MTV Unplugged the band played Polly in E♭, a half step lower than this version.
Tip: Tune to plain E Standard at A 440, not the album's +14 ¢, and check the open strings against the first strummed chords.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, the notes Polly was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Polly sits at concert pitch on the record, so the tuner stays at A 440.
- Then play Polly 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 Polly 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 Polly moves down 4 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 Polly in?
E Standard: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.