Queen · Jazz · song 12
Don't Stop Me Now tuning.
Don't Stop Me Now (Queen, 1978) is in E Standard, about 16 cents sharp (A ≈ 444), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
16 ¢ sharp
The album's value, measured on the CD: Tune moves every string +16 ¢.
Queen · Jazz · 1978
About Don't Stop Me Now
Mercury's piano-driven hit from Jazz (1978). Brian May's only parts are a short guitar solo and backing vocals, so a guitarist mostly plays chords over the piano, all in E Standard on every tab, with barre shapes rather than a different tuning.
Jazz is the sharpest Queen album: TuneLit measured EMI's 1994 CD about 16 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 444). This song reads about 11 ¢ sharp on its own, steady through the song, which is within 8 ¢ of the album, so its Tune button uses the album's E Standard +16 ¢. The difference between the two is too small to hear in a chord; either setting puts you far closer to the record than a 440 tuner.
The piano is the reference here, and a piano cannot be retuned to suit you. If you play along with the Japanese remaster, it reads about a cent higher than this CD on this album, which changes nothing. What matters is not to leave the guitar at A 440: 16 ¢ sharp is enough to make the solo's bends sound flat.
Tip: Tune with the button, then check the F chord of the opening piano bars before the band comes in.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string +16 ¢, the notes Don't Stop Me Now was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Don't Stop Me Now sits 16 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Don't Stop Me Now 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 Don't Stop Me Now 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 +16 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Don't Stop Me Now moves down 15 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 Don't Stop Me Now in?
E Standard +16 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.