TUNELIT

Pink Floyd · 1994 · Studio album

The Division Bell tuning.

E Standard at concert pitch (A 440), measured on the CD. 1 of 11 songs are tuned differently.

The Division Bell album cover

Album tuning

E Standard

At concert pitch (A 440), measured on the CD.

MeasuredCommunity

Tune like thisPlay alongAll 11 songs

Measured by TuneLit

At concert pitch

SourceOffsetEquivalent ASongsSpreadConfidence
CD, Sony Music Japan SRCS 7324 (1994, first pressing)+1.5 ¢A 440.411−1.2 to +3.6 ¢High
 Offset from concert pitch (A 440). Spread: the middle half of the songs, when four or more share the album's pitch. Confidence: how well the notes agree with one grid.

Before we measured, sources said: E Standard, with no pitch given (community).

Standard tuning except Poles Apart in DADGAD, which Gilmour confirmed himself. The CD sits at concert pitch (A 440) on every song.

11 songs · 1 tuned differently

Every song, ready to tune

Tune opens the tuner in that song's tuning, pitch included. Play along opens the song player set to that tuning, so the track plays in yours. What the labels mean

  1. 1. Cluster One

    E StandardMeasured

    Tune Play along

  2. 2. What Do You Want from Me

    E StandardMeasured

    Tune Play along

  3. 3. Poles Apart

    Different tuning

    DADGADMeasured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    How to get there from the album's E Standard: String 6 down a whole step (E → D), String 2 down a whole step (B → A), String 1 down a whole step (E → D); the other strings stay.

    DADGAD (D A D G A D) on the acoustic.

    Gilmour told Guitar World (1994) the song came out of DADGAD, a tuning he thought he had found himself; his tech Phil Taylor named it too. Live he kept a second Gibson J-200 in that tuning.

  4. 4. Marooned

    E StandardMeasured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    Standard tuning: the octave leaps come from a Whammy pedal, not a different tuning.

  5. 5. A Great Day for Freedom

    E StandardMeasured

    Tune Play along

  6. 6. Wearing the Inside Out

    E StandardMeasured

    Tune Play along

  7. 7. Take It Back

    E StandardMeasured

    Tune Play along

  8. 8. Coming Back to Life

    E StandardMeasured

    Tune Play along

  9. 9. Keep Talking

    E StandardMeasured

    Tune Play along

  10. 10. Lost for Words

    E StandardMeasured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    Acoustic in standard tuning; one tab version uses a capo at the 5th fret.

  11. 11. High Hopes

    E StandardMeasured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    Piano and nylon-string acoustic in standard tuning. The closing slide solo is a lap steel in open E minor (E B E G B E), the tuning of the red Jedson he plays it on live.

What the labels mean

Measured
TuneLit measured the pitch on an original CD or LP. The tuning name still comes from the sources.
Official
The band, a member, their producer or their guitar tech said it.
Widely reported
Trusted outlets, guides and tabs agree, but the band did not say it directly.
Community
From community tabs, or from players who tune along with the record.
Disputed
Sources disagree. The likeliest setting is shown; the notes name the other one.

Each song shows one label, the strongest it has, in this order. How we measure recordings →

Questions

What tuning is The Division Bell in?

Pink Floyd recorded The Division Bell (1994) in E Standard at concert pitch (A 440), measured by TuneLit on the CD. Poles Apart uses DADGAD.