Queen · Sheer Heart Attack · song 2
Killer Queen tuning.
Killer Queen (Queen, 1974) is in E Standard at concert pitch (A 440), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
At concert pitch
The album's value, measured on the CD: Tune moves every string −4 ¢.
Queen · Sheer Heart Attack · 1974
About Killer Queen
Mercury's breakthrough single from Sheer Heart Attack (1974), led by piano, with May's multi-tracked guitar solo built with a bell effect, each guitar adding one note in turn. Every tab, including the most viewed, is in E Standard.
TuneLit measured Hollywood Records' 1991 CD. The song itself reads at concert pitch, while the album as a whole sits about 4 ¢ flat (A ≈ 438.9). The 4 ¢ gap is too small for a value of its own, so Tune uses the album's E Standard 4 ¢ flat. In 30-second windows the song stays between 7 ¢ flat and 3 ¢ sharp, so either setting is in tune; you will not hear the difference.
The Japanese mini-LP remaster of 2001 reads within a cent of the Hollywood CD on this album, so the edition does not matter. No verdict from the semitone check either, which is normal for a piano song that rarely plays the open E. Nothing points away from E Standard. If you would rather keep your guitar at A 440, TuneLit's Play along can move the recording by those 4 ¢ instead.
Tip: Tune to the button and check it against the piano chords of the verse; A 440 is only 4 ¢ away and works too.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string −4 ¢, the notes Killer Queen was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Killer Queen sits at concert pitch on the record, so the tuner stays at A 440.
- Then play Killer Queen 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 Killer Queen 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 −4 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Killer Queen moves up 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 Killer Queen in?
E Standard −4 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.