Pink Floyd · The Wall · song 14
Hey You tuning.
Hey You (Pink Floyd, 1979) is in E4 A3 D4 G4 B3 E4, about 26 cents sharp (A ≈ 447), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Song tuning
E4 A3 D4 G4 B3 E4 +26 ¢
About 26 cents sharp (A ≈ 447).
Measured by TuneLit
26 ¢ sharp
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string +26 ¢.
Pink Floyd · The Wall · 1979
About Hey You
From The Wall (1979): the arpeggios that open it are played on David Gilmour's high-strung Ovation acoustic, with plain strings, the A, D and G strings an octave up and the low E two octaves up, sounding E4 A3 D4 G4 B3 E4. The electric parts and the fretless bass are in standard tuning.
TuneLit measured an original Japanese double LP (CBS/Sony 40AP 1750~1) whose running time matches the CD within 0.1 %, so the turntable is not the cause. Hey You sits about 26 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 446.8), well above the album's 11 ¢, a quarter of the way to the next half step. Tune opens the high-strung tuning with that offset. At A 440 you sound clearly flat against the record.
You cannot reach this tuning by tightening a normal set: the octave-up strings need thin plain strings. On a normal guitar in standard tuning the same shapes give the same notes, an octave lower on four strings. TuneLit's audio check could not confirm the low string, since the lowest open string here is A3 and the bass carries the low end.
Tip: Without a high-strung set, tune a normal guitar to E Standard, raise the reference to A ≈ 447 (+26 ¢) and play the same shapes.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E4 A3 D4 G4 B3 E4, every string +26 ¢, the notes Hey You was recorded in.
- From the album's E Standard: String 6 up 24 half steps (E → E), String 5 up 12 half steps (A → A), String 4 up 12 half steps (D → D), String 3 up 12 half steps (G → G); the other strings stay.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Hey You sits 26 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Hey 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 Hey You instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in E4 A3 D4 G4 B3 E4 +26 ¢. Choose E4 A3 D4 G4 B3 E4 at A 440 and Hey You moves down 26 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 Hey You in?
E4 A3 D4 G4 B3 E4 +26 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.