Queens of the Stone Age · Lullabies to Paralyze · song 7
Little Sister tuning.
Little Sister (Queens of the Stone Age, 2005) is in C♯ Standard at concert pitch (A 440), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
At concert pitch
Measured on this song itself.
Queens of the Stone Age · Lullabies to Paralyze · 2005
About Little Sister
Little Sister, the hit from Lullabies to Paralyze (2005), is played a step and a half down, in C♯ Standard (C♯ F♯ B E G♯ C♯). The first full transcription on UG says so plainly and adds that it is not in C like the albums before it. The song is in C♯ minor, so in this tuning its main power chord rests on the open low string.
TuneLit measured the CD at concert pitch (about 1 cent sharp for the album and essentially 0 for this song), so Tune opens C♯ Standard at A 440. The record's bass reaches a low C♯ that only the lower tuning has, and the audio check agrees with C♯ for the low string.
The most-voted UG tab is the same transcription moved to E Standard for players who would rather not retune, and Songsterr's tab is in E Standard too. Those versions play the right notes, with the C♯ chord fretted at the 9th fret, but the open-string ring and the slack strings of the original are gone. The database marks the tuning as disputed for that reason; your ear against the record settles it quickly.
Tip: Tune down three half steps on every string and play the open C♯ power chord against the record's first bar.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to C♯ Standard, the notes Little Sister was recorded in.
- From the album's E Standard: Every string down 3 half steps. No tuner that knows C♯ Standard? Clamp a capo across fret 3, tune to E Standard as usual, then take it off: every string drops to C♯ Standard. Check each string again afterwards, since a capo pulls the strings a little sharp.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Little Sister sits at concert pitch on the record, so the tuner stays at A 440.
- Then play Little Sister 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 Little Sister instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in C♯ Standard. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Little Sister moves up 2 half steps and 99 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 Little Sister in?
C♯ Standard: C♯ F♯ B E G♯ C♯, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.