Radiohead · OK Computer · song 2
Paranoid Android tuning.
Paranoid Android (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 Paranoid Android
The six-and-a-half-minute single from OK Computer (1997), recorded at St Catherine's Court near Bath. Wikipedia describes four sections, all in standard tuning and in 4/4, with several bars of 7/8 in the second; the song opens in G minor on an acoustic with shaken percussion, moves to A minor for the second section and then into its heavy electric passages.
TuneLit measured the album sides of the 2017 OKNOTOK LP: OK Computer sits about 10 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 442.6), and Paranoid Android reads the same, so Tune opens E Standard 10 ¢ up. That is a small offset, but across six minutes of sustained distorted chords and bends it is the difference between locking in with the record and fighting it. The semitone check from the audio agrees with the low E.
Nothing needs retuning between sections, which surprises players who expect a song this varied to change tuning. The difficulty is rhythm and stamina: count the 7/8 bars in the second section and keep steady through the slow third. Tabs split the parts between Thom Yorke's acoustic and Jonny Greenwood's lead guitar; pick one part and stay with it through the changes.
Tip: Tune 10 ¢ up and check against the acoustic in the opening section, which plays almost alone at first.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string +10 ¢, the notes Paranoid Android was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Paranoid Android 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 Paranoid Android 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 Paranoid Android 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 Paranoid Android 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 Paranoid Android in?
E Standard +10 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.