Pantera · Vulgar Display of Power · song 1
Mouth for War tuning.
Mouth for War (Pantera, 1992) is in E Standard at A 426, about 57 cents flat, measured by TuneLit from the record.
Song tuning
E Standard A 426
About 57 cents flat (A 426).
Measured by TuneLit
57 ¢ flat
The album's value, measured on the CD: Tune sets the reference A to 426.
Pantera · Vulgar Display of Power · 1992
About Mouth for War
Mouth for War opens Vulgar Display of Power (1992) with a stop-start groove riff full of power-chord slides; Dimebag Darrell later used it in his guitar column to show slides in the style of Tony Iommi. The song is in E Standard (E A D G B E), but in Dime's flat version of it.
This is the album where the famous figure holds: TuneLit measured Vulgar Display of Power about 57 ¢ flat (A ≈ 425.7) on the CD, and Mouth for War about 53 ¢ flat, close enough to share the album value. Its Tune button sets E Standard at A 426. On a normal A 440 tuner that low string reads around D♯ +43, nearer to E♭ than to E.
So neither a concert-pitch E nor a concert-pitch E♭ matches the record: tuned to E at A 440 the riff sounds sharp, tuned to E♭ it sounds flat. Set the reference A first, then tune each string to its normal E Standard note. The next two tracks need care too: A New Level and Walk are a whole step down in D Standard, at the same A 426.
Tip: Set the reference to A 426 before you tune to E, or the opening riff will sound sharp against the record.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard at A 426, the notes Mouth for War was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Mouth for War sits 57 cents flat on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much sharp against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Mouth for War 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 Mouth for War 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 at A 426. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Mouth for War moves up 57 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 Mouth for War in?
E Standard at A 426: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.