Radiohead · The Bends · song 7
Just tuning.
Just (Radiohead, 1995) is in E Standard, about 46 cents sharp (A ≈ 452), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
46 ¢ sharp
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string +46 ¢.
Radiohead · The Bends · 1995
About Just
The fourth single from The Bends (1995), written largely by Jonny Greenwood, who, Thom Yorke said, was trying to fit as many chords as he could into one song. It is in standard tuning: strummed chords in the verses, Jonny's octatonic runs climbing over four octaves, and a solo that a DigiTech Whammy pedal pushes into a high, piercing range. The pedal does that, not a tuning.
This is one of the quarter-tone-sharp songs of The Bends. On the 2016 XL LP it reads about 46 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 451.9), against about 16 ¢ for the rest of the album, and one Ultimate Guitar tab tells you to tune every guitar a quarter step up. Tune sets E Standard 46 ¢ up (on a CD, which this LP outruns by 0.45 %, about 38 ¢); at A 440 you would be almost halfway to the wrong note.
Because 46 ¢ sits close to halfway between two notes, the song page shows a second reading, E♭ Standard 46 ¢ up, and asks you to check by ear. TuneLit's semitone check from the audio could not decide between the two on this song. Every tab writes it in E Standard, and the two that mention the pitch say to tune up, so start with E Standard 46 ¢ up and compare String 6 with the low notes of the riff before trusting either button.
Tip: Start with E Standard 46 ¢ up (A ≈ 452) and compare String 6 with the low notes of the riff before you play.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string +46 ¢, the notes Just was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Just sits 46 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Just 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 Just 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 +46 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Just moves down 46 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 Just in?
E Standard +46 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.