TUNELIT

Radiohead · 2001 · Studio album

Amnesiac tuning.

E Standard at concert pitch (A 440), measured on the LP. 1 of 11 songs are tuned differently.

Amnesiac album cover

Album tuning

E Standard

At concert pitch (A 440), measured on the LP.

MeasuredFrom tabs

Tune like thisPlay alongAll 11 songs

Measured by TuneLit

At concert pitch

SourceOffsetEquivalent ASongsSpreadConfidence
2LP, XL Recordings XLLP783B (2016 reissue)−0.7 ¢A 439.811−5.0 to +1.2 ¢High
 Offset from concert pitch (A 440). Spread: the middle half of the songs, when four or more share the album's pitch. Confidence: how well the notes agree with one grid.

Before we measured, sources said: E Standard, with no pitch given (community).

From the same sessions as Kid A. Standard tuning where there is guitar, except I Might Be Wrong in Drop D. The 2016 XL LP sits at concert pitch (A ≈ 439.8) with little spread between songs; I Might Be Wrong is the exception, about 14 ¢ sharp.

11 songs · 1 tuned differently

Every song, ready to tune

Tune opens the tuner in that song's tuning, pitch included. Play along opens the song player set to that tuning, so the track plays in yours. What the labels mean

  1. 1. Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box

    E StandardMeasured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    Percussion, synthesisers and an Auto-Tuned vocal (Wikipedia).

  2. 2. Pyramid Song

    E StandardMeasured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    Built on Thom Yorke's piano, with strings (Wikipedia).

  3. 3. Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors

    E StandardMeasured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    Electronic, built on processed sounds.

  4. 4. You and Whose Army?

    E StandardMeasured

    Tune Play along

  5. 5. I Might Be Wrong

    Different tuning

    Drop D +14 ¢Measured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    How to get there from the album's E Standard: String 6 down a whole step (E → D); the other strings stay.

    Drop D: the riff leans on the open low D, and the bass drops to D too. About 14 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 443.6), well above the rest of the album.

    The King of Gear lists Thom Yorke's and Jonny Greenwood's guitars in Drop D, and the Songsterr and Ultimate Guitar tabs agree; the Songsterr bass tab drops the bass to D as well.

    Bass: Bass Drop D +14 ¢ Tune bass

  6. 6. Knives Out

    E StandardMeasured

    Tune Play along

  7. 7. Morning Bell/Amnesiac

    E StandardMeasured

    Tune Play along

  8. 8. Dollars and Cents

    E StandardMeasured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    Edited down from an eleven-minute jam (Wikipedia); standard tuning in the tabs.

  9. 9. Hunting Bears

    E StandardMeasured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    A short guitar instrumental in standard tuning.

  10. 10. Like Spinning Plates

    E StandardMeasured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    Grew out of an early synthesiser version of I Will (Wikipedia); piano and processed sounds, no guitar part.

  11. 11. Life in a Glasshouse

    E StandardMeasured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    Piano with Humphrey Lyttelton's jazz band.

What the labels mean

Measured
TuneLit measured the pitch on an original CD or LP. The tuning name still comes from the sources.
Official
The band, a member, their producer or their guitar tech said it.
Widely reported
Trusted outlets, guides and tabs agree, but the band did not say it directly.
From tabs
From community tabs, or from players who tune along with the record.
Disputed
Sources disagree. The likeliest setting is shown; the notes name the other one.

Each song shows one label, the strongest it has, in this order. How we measure recordings →

Questions

What tuning is Amnesiac in?

Radiohead recorded Amnesiac (2001) in E Standard at concert pitch (A 440), measured by TuneLit on the LP. I Might Be Wrong uses Drop D +14 ¢.

Why does Amnesiac sound out of tune with my guitar?

I Might Be Wrong sits about 14 cents sharp (A ≈ 444), so a guitar tuned to A 440 clashes with it. The Tune buttons on this page set the tuner's reference to match the record, so you only tune the strings.