Radiohead · OK Computer · song 6
Karma Police tuning.
Karma Police (Radiohead, 1997) is in E Standard, about 10 cents sharp (A ≈ 443), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
10 ¢ sharp
The album's value, measured on the original LP: Tune moves every string +10 ¢.
Radiohead · OK Computer · 1997
About Karma Police
The second single from OK Computer (1997). Wikipedia says it is in common time and standard tuning, with acoustic guitar and piano as the main instruments, and that its key is ambiguous and changes through the song. Thom Yorke strums the acoustic while the piano carries a riff that resembles part of the Beatles' Sexy Sadie.
On the OKNOTOK LP the album sits about 10 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 442.6) and Karma Police reads about 9 ¢, so Tune uses the album's value, standard tuning 10 ¢ up. Against a piano a small offset shows more than against a band, because the piano's notes cannot bend to meet you; at A 440 your guitar will sound slightly flat against it from the first bar. TuneLit's semitone check agrees with the low E.
The ending is a sound, not a part: in the last minute Ed O'Brien drives a delay effect into self-oscillation and then lowers its rate, so the guitar seems to melt (Wikipedia). No special tuning is involved, and the effect can be left out when you play alone. The chords sit comfortably in standard tuning without a capo; most of the work is a steady strum that leaves room for the piano.
Tip: Tune 10 ¢ up and check against the piano in the first bars, since the piano cannot bend to meet you.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string +10 ¢, the notes Karma Police was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Karma Police sits 10 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Karma Police 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 Karma Police 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 +10 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Karma Police moves down 10 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 Karma Police in?
E Standard +10 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.