Queens of the Stone Age · Songs for the Deaf · song 2
No One Knows tuning.
No One Knows (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
The album's value, measured on the CD: Tune moves every string +9 ¢.
Queens of the Stone Age · Songs for the Deaf · 2002
About No One Knows
No One Knows, the hit single from Songs for the Deaf (2002), is in C Standard, and here the source is Josh Homme himself: in a 2024 interview he picked it as his example of a C Standard song that still works as a pop song. Every string goes down two whole steps, to C F B♭ E♭ G C. The riff came from an earlier Desert Sessions track, and on the record Nick Oliveri's bass keeps landing on the open low C, in both octaves.
TuneLit measured the whole album about 9 cents sharp (A ≈ 442.4) and this song with it, so Tune opens C Standard with the reference already raised. A guitar tuned to plain A 440 sounds a little flat against the record; the difference is small, but you hear it on long, ringing notes.
The most-played tabs online include versions in E Standard, Drop C, D Standard and even a 5-string bass arrangement. They move the same notes around for convenience. The record's tuning is the one Homme named, and only C Standard keeps the low open C under your hand the way it is played on the album. With strings this slack, a heavier set stops the low C from flapping.
Tip: Tune String 6 to C first, then check that the open C on String 6 and the open C on String 1 sit exactly two octaves apart.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to C Standard, every string +9 ¢, the notes No One Knows was recorded in.
- From E Standard: Every string down 4 half steps. No tuner that knows C Standard? Clamp a capo across fret 4, 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. No One Knows 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 No One Knows 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 No One Knows 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 No One Knows moves up 3 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 No One Knows in?
C Standard +9 ¢: C F B♭ E♭ G C, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.