Radiohead · OK Computer · song 4
Exit Music (For a Film) tuning.
Exit Music (For a Film) (Radiohead, 1997) is in E Standard at concert pitch (A 440), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
At concert pitch
Measured on this song itself.
Radiohead · OK Computer · 1997
About Exit Music (For a Film)
Written for Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet and kept for OK Computer (1997). It opens with Thom Yorke's voice and acoustic guitar, recorded at St Catherine's Court with the natural echo of a stone staircase, then builds with Mellotron choir, drums and fuzz bass (Wikipedia). The acoustic is in standard tuning with a capo at the 2nd fret, as The King of Gear and the Songsterr tab both have it.
OK Computer's album sides on the OKNOTOK LP sit about 10 ¢ sharp, but this song reads 3 ¢ flat (A ≈ 439.2), inside what counts as concert pitch, so Tune opens standard tuning at A 440 with the capo at the 2nd fret. TuneLit's semitone check agrees with the low E. In other words, it is the one song on the album you can play at plain A 440.
Players most often miss the capo, and without it every shape comes out a whole step low. Put the capo on after tuning, then check the open strings again with it on, because a capo can pull strings slightly sharp. And remember that the song sits 13 ¢ below the songs around it: if you tuned up for Subterranean Homesick Alien, tune back down before you start.
Tip: Tune at A 440 without the capo, then clamp it at the 2nd fret and recheck before the first chord.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, the notes Exit Music (For a Film) was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Exit Music (For a Film) sits at concert pitch on the record, so the tuner stays at A 440.
- Then play Exit Music (For a Film) 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 Exit Music (For a Film) 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. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Exit Music (For a Film) moves up 3 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 Exit Music (For a Film) in?
E Standard: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.