Queens of the Stone Age · Songs for the Deaf · song 3
First It Giveth tuning.
First It Giveth (Queens of the Stone Age, 2002) is in C♯ Standard, about 9 cents sharp (A ≈ 442), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Song tuning
C♯ Standard +9 ¢
About 9 cents sharp (A ≈ 442).
Measured by TuneLit
9 ¢ sharp
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string +9 ¢.
Queens of the Stone Age · Songs for the Deaf · 2002
About First It Giveth
First It Giveth, a single from Songs for the Deaf (2002), is the album's odd one out: Songsterr's main tab tunes the guitars and the bass to C♯ Standard (C♯ F♯ B E G♯ C♯), a half step above the C Standard the rest of the heavy songs use. The song centres on B♭, and the bass part leans hard on that note.
TuneLit's measurement agrees with that tab. The record's low notes sit on C♯ and almost never on C, and the audio check of the low string confirms C♯. The album runs about 9 cents sharp (A ≈ 442.4), and Tune uses that value for this song too; its own reading, about 14 cents sharp, is too close to the album's to count separately.
Two less-voted UG tabs keep the album's C Standard, but the record's low C♯ points to the half-step-higher tuning. If your guitar is already in C Standard for the rest of the album, raise every string a half step instead: it is a small move, and the strings stay at a tension close to the one you just played.
Tip: Coming from the album's C Standard songs, raise each string exactly one half step and check String 6 reads C♯.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to C♯ Standard, every string +9 ¢, the notes First It Giveth was recorded in.
- From the album's C Standard: Every string up a half step. 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. First It Giveth sits 9 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play First It Giveth 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 First It Giveth 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 +9 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and First It Giveth moves up 2 half steps and 91 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 First It Giveth in?
C♯ Standard +9 ¢: C♯ F♯ B E G♯ C♯, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.